Kushinagar

Aavishkaar Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Development Program expands to Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh

Aavishkaar Foundation, part of the Aavishkaar Group, hosted the 3rd leg of its flagship ‘Entrepreneurship Development Program’ in Kushinagar on 12th & 13th April at Jagriti Enterprise Centre – Purvanchal (JECP), Deoria.

The 3rd leg of Aavishkaar Foundation’s initiative included the ‘Young Entrepreneurship Programme’ where 3 Schools and 2 Colleges won INR 75,000 each for their winning business ideas totalling INR 5,50,000. It also included an ‘Entrepreneur Mentorship Programme’ where 7 local entrepreneurs from Purvanchal directly pitched their business ideas and won cash awards totalling 13 Lakhs INR.

Aligned with the Foundation’s larger objective of ‘Economic Entrepreneurship to Social Equity’, this was the 3rd program after the success of its two editions in Varanasi in April 2023 and Ghazipur in November 2023 . The ethos behind the initiative is rooted in Aavishkaar Foundation’s overall mission to “Build a ‘Learning Ecosystem’ to trigger entrepreneurial curiosity among youth in Uttar Pradesh”.

Commenting on the initiative, Vineet Rai, Founder and Chairman, Aavishkaar Group said, “We are thrilled to announce the expansion of our initiative, the Youth Entrepreneurship Program, to Kushinagar and Deoria for its 3rd Edition. Recognizing the untapped potential of these regions, Aavishkaar Foundation is eager to extend the Group’s global expertise in nurturing the startup ecosystem. We are also delighted to launch an unique Entrepreneur Mentorship Program which will recognise and reward local entrepreneurs. Our mission remains steadfast: to empower the youth of Purvanchal to embark on their entrepreneurial journeys. Through this expansion, we aim to catalyse transformative change and uplift the entire region, focussing especially on fostering women, youth
and the economically disadvantaged as the next generation of regional entrepreneurs”

About the Programme

With the vision to inculcate entrepreneurial curiosity amongst the youth and lay the founding blocks towards a thriving ecosystem in Eastern UP, the ‘Entrepreneurship Development Program’ comprised of the ‘Young Entrepreneurship Programme’ for the schools and colleges of Kushinagar and the ‘Entrepreneur Mentorship Programme’ for local entrepreneurs.

Building on the momentum created from the two editions in Varanasi and Ghazipur, the ‘Young Entrepreneurship Programme’ attracted some of the brightest and most curious young minds in Kushinagar to present innovative solutions rooted in the context of their communities. Out of 100 Business Plans evaluated, 15 finalist teams presented impactful and sustainable business ideas to an esteemed Jury comprising of Industry stalwarts. The Young Entrepreneurship Programme’ saw participation from 1500 students across 10 Government Schools and 5 Government Colleges, from which 5 winning teams were identified with 3 schools and 2 colleges winning top honours.

This time the initiative in Kushinagar also included an ‘Entrepreneur Mentorship Programme’ designed for young local entrepreneurs. 10 entrepreneurs from Purvanchal, mentored and helped them pitch their business ideas and 7 of them won cash awards totalling 13 Lakhs INR.

Meet the 3 School Winners as part of ‘Young Entrepreneurship Programme’

From the Government school’s cohort, Kasturba Kanya Ucchatar Madhyamik Vidyalaya won the ‘Smt. Sushila Rai Award for Women in Entrepreneurship’, for their ‘Fruit Jam’ business idea. Kendriya Vidyalaya Gangrani won the ‘Chandrashekhar Azad Award for Innovation, Courage and Conviction’, for their ‘Earthtote’ idea. Jai Prakash Narayan Sarwoday Balika Vidyalay Sirsiya won the ‘Rani Lakshmi Bai Award for Leadership’, for their ‘Sanitary Napkin’ Business Idea.The awards consisted of a cash reward of INR 75,000 each to the winning teams from the three Schools, a shield and a laptop to each participating institute.

Meet the 2 College Winners as part of ‘Young Entrepreneurship Programme’

From the Government college teams that participated, Buddha PG college won the ‘Smt. Sushila Rai Award for Women in Entrepreneurship’, for their ‘Female car training, travelling, and riding service centre’ idea. MMIT, Kushinagar college won the ‘Veer Abdul Hamid Award for Rural Youth Entrepreneurship’, for their ‘Wedding Wonderland’ idea. The awards consisted of a cash reward of INR 75,000 each to the winning teams from the two Colleges, a Shield and a Certificates to each of the members.

Meet the 7 Local Entrepreneur Winners as part of ‘Entrepreneur Mentorship Programme’

Aavishkaar Foundation also showcased an ‘Entrepreneur Mentorship Programme’ and provided an opportunity to 16 promising early-stage entrepreneurs from Purvanchal to pitch their ideas and 7 local entrepreneurs were awarded 13 Lakhs INR in prize money.

Surya Mishra and his enterprise, ‘Aashray Hygiene Industries Private Limited’ won the ‘Swati Rai Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship’ and was awarded 4 Lakhs INR. Kalyani Kirti Singh and her enterprise ‘Anshima Terakriti and Handicraft’ won the ‘Madan Mohan Malviya Award for Inclusive Entrepreneurship’ and was awarded 3 Lakhs INR. Anita Roy from Shree Mythili Enterprises was awarded 2 Lakhs INR. Vandana Tilak from Sui Dhaga, Deepika Singh from Atrangi Kalakari, Abhishek Kushwaha from Abonics India Pvt Ltd and Arpit Kumar from Vasundhara Organics were each awarded 1 Lakh INR.

Key Highlights

The Way Forward

Aavishkaar Foundation’s mission is to “Build a ‘Learning Ecosystem’ to trigger entrepreneurial curiosity among youth in Uttar Pradesh”. The Group has ambitions to take this program to a million school and college students in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Also, the Foundation intends to invest in 1000 entrepreneurs from Purvanchal over the next 5 years and intends to bring its flagship ecosystem building initiative “Sankalp Forum” to Varanasi and Eastern Uttar Pradesh, this year.