Next Bharat Ventures Launches Rs 340 Crore Fund

The social impact investment firm will focus on fostering a community of impact entrepreneurs and adopt a patient capital approach of funding to create sustainable, long-term impact.

Next Bharat will nurture social impact startups in the domains of agriculture, financial inclusion, rural supply chain, and rural mobility.

MUMBAI: Next Bharat Ventures IFSC Private Limited – a subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation announced the launch of a Rs 340 Crore fund, that aims to act as a growth catalyst for the social impact startup ecosystem in India. Next Bharat is a social impact investment fund dedicated to fostering impact entrepreneurs who are creating value for Tier II and below geographies. “Next Bharat” aims to empower India’s next billion by supporting these impact entrepreneurs. The primary mission is to cultivate and nurture a deep-rooted community of impact enablers in the country, who are solving social problems with sustainable business.

A flagship feature of Next Bharat is its immersive 4-month “Next Bharat Residency Program,” designed to equip entrepreneurs with essential knowledge, access, and networks (Cause, Contribution, and Community) – Creating a close community within themselves.

Next Bharat Residency Program Details

The company’s flagship initiative, the ‘Next Bharat Residency Program’ includes a 4-month immersive residency for early-stage entrepreneurs. The applications for the residency program are now open for all the early-stage passionate impact entrepreneurs. The application process is inclusive, with an easy application format to ensure broad participation, including WhatsApp-based submissions with a maximum 2-week application review time. The application deadline is set for 31st July 2024, and the program is scheduled to commence on 14th October 2024. The selection criteria focus on entrepreneurs who are impact-first, have a clear problem-solving approach, and are committed to contributing to the rural community or the informal sector of India.

Lifelong Community Membership

People selected for the program will remain part of the Next Bharat community for life, receiving ongoing support and resources even after its conclusion. It’s a platform featuring extensive mentorship sessions by industry leaders, providing opportunities for founders to collaborate and connect and form a meaningful support system to help start and run their businesses. Post the residency program, the selected startups will get 1 Crore to 5 Crore Rupees of equity Investments. The objective is to equip these ventures with the essential knowledge, networks, and resources including Risk Capital, to enable them to achieve scale and become small and medium-sized enterprises.

Suzuki’s Vision for Bharat

Toshihiro Suzuki, President and CEO of Suzuki Motor Corporation said, “Bharat has about 1.4 billion people, but we have only reached about 0.4 billion with our mobility business. Our goal is to connect with the “Next Billion” people of India, extending beyond mobility and becoming a part of India’s future story.

Launch of Next Bharat Ventures

As part of this mission, we are launching Next Bharat Ventures, Suzuki’s first investment fund in India, which will focus on nurturing and empowering impact entrepreneurs. These impact entrepreneurs, who are passionately solving the problems of India, will also get access to the Suzuki Group network and resources.

Leadership and Innovation

Vipul Nath Jindal, an IIT Hyderabad alumnus, has spearheaded this initiative from day one. With over five years at Suzuki Japan, he has successfully led greenfield projects like the Suzuki Innovation Center in the past.

Integration with Suzuki Innovation Center

The Suzuki Innovation Center, which was established along with IIT Hyderabad 2.5 years ago, will also now become a part of Next Bharat Ventures as one of its verticals. The Suzuki Innovation Center will continue to work on Open-Innovation and Indo-Japan ecosystem building for social good.

Remarks by Vipul Nath Jindal

Speaking on the launch of the firm, Vipul Nath Jindal, CEO and Managing Director of Next Bharat, commented, “We are embarking on this journey to cultivate an impact entrepreneurship ecosystem that is profoundly community-oriented. The Next Bharat investment framework focuses on horizontal scaling, aiming to create hundreds of profitable SMEs over a fund cycle, rather than concentrating on creating just two or three unicorns per fund cycle.”

Ecosystem Synergies

Vipul mentioned, “There are existing stakeholders in the ecosystem who are already enabling these amazing impact entrepreneurs in many ways. Our long-term ambition is to work closely with these stakeholders and bring them together to build compounding synergies within the ecosystem.”

About Next Bharat

Next Bharat is established with the focus to unite “Impact Entrepreneurs” who are tirelessly working to solve problems of the Billion Indians, who are a part of the rural economy or the informal economy of India. A 100% subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation Japan.

Objectives of the Residency Program

Through its flagship initiative, the “Next Bharat Residency” Program, the firm intends to create an end-to-end support ecosystem for Impact Entrepreneurs, who are not only passionate about solving a socio-economic problem but also equally have a strong business acumen to grow and scale their startups. The ultimate objective of the program is to empower Impact Entrepreneurs to tackle critical social challenges making the rural and informal economies pivotal elements of Bharat’s growth journey.

(India CSR)