Mumbai, December 3, 2024 – Presented by the Aavishkaar Foundation, the recently concluded Sankalp Bharat Summit 2024 in Varanasi was the largest celebration of home-grown innovators, featuring ground breaking enterprises making waves on the global stage and laid emphasis on local and regional startups shaping the future of Indian entrepreneurship. The convening also positively engaged over 300+ startups and 700+ stakeholders at the Rudraksh International Convention Centre.
Themed around ‘From India to the World: Impact Unicorns Shaping the Future’ and a first time convening in Varanasi, the Summit delivered on its commitment to showcase local businesses from India’s heartland, unlocking their potential impact. Through ~50 engaging sessions, the Summit featured local innovators and Impact Unicorns to discuss, define, and drive forward the critical levers of sustainability and innovation, with entrepreneurship at the heart of it..
The Summit which featured inspiring messages around entrepreneurship from renowned industry pantheons including the Principal Secretary of Uttar Pradesh, Alok Mishra, bought together some of the best minds in the businesses to build this momentum of opportunity and capital for India’s startup ecosystem to thrive in smaller cities. Speakers such as Dr. V Anantha Nageshwaran, Chief Economic Advisor, Govt. of India, Amit Chandra, Chairman , Bain Capital, Archana Jahangirdar, Rukam Capital, Satya Prakash Singh of SIDBI, Hama Makino from DFC, Rob Davies of British Investment International Goverdhan Singh Rawat of NABARD, among others all shared their perspectives on topics like Building Unicorns, How to Scale Globally, the Climate Economy and how to build UP into a trillion dollar economy.
A pivotal feature at the Summit was the Sankalp Bharat and Artha Impact Awards which rewarded a cash prize of over INR 40 lacs to outstanding early stage enterprises. The category winners were Growit India who won the Bharat Impact Leader Award, while the Bharat Rural Innovator award went to Medoplus Services and the Global Impact Trailblazer Award went to Janitri.
Sankalp also hosted an exclusive ShelterTech award sponsored by Habitat for Humanity which was won by Pavin+ and a Circular Innovations Award sponsored by CAIF, an Intellecap initiative, went to innovative circular economy startup Canvaloop and finally the Sankalp Tech Revolution Award went to Trinano Technologies. While Aavishkaar Group also launched its annual Impact Report, the Summit concluded with recognition of Aavishkaar Foundation’s flagship Youth Entrepreneurship Program for Schools and Colleges, and the Entrepreneur Investing Program for budding and established businesses from Uttar Pradesh.
According to Vikas Bali, CEO, Intellecap, “Local entrepreneurs are the true architects of India’s economic renaissance. By transforming innovative ideas into thriving businesses, they’re not just creating jobs, but weaving a new narrative of economic empowerment that resonates from the smallest village to the largest metropolis. Our local entrepreneurs are the heartbeat of India’s economic potential, driving sustainable growth, fostering innovation, and proving that homegrown talent can compete on a global stage. And we’re convinced that Sankalp is and will remain the go-to platform for all ecosystem stakeholders to build innovative solutions that are sustainable and scalable.”
Supported by global partners like Aavishkaar Foundation, Artha Impact, Energy Catalyst, British International Investment, Bertelsmann Stiftung, The Gates Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Frontier Markets and Utkarsh Small Finance Bank among others, the Summit was a clarion call to enable and empower innovators who reside in the smaller towns and cities and to bring their transformative solutions to the forefront.
