Scaling Social Startups

Building <div>inayak Acharya is the Founder and CEO of the venture-backed, World Bank awarded social enterprise ThinkZone which works towards improving the educational outcomes of children from low-income communities using a ‘tech plus touch' model &amp; activity-based pedagogy.&nbsp;<br><br>Binayak is a Laureate Global Fellow, MassChallenge Alumnus, and a CEMEX-TEC global social entrepreneur. He has worked with the World Bank as a Global Education Practice Consultant. Binayak has also been associated with Unitus, a venture capital firm as a Startup Scout and with Larsen &amp; Toubro as an SAP BI Consultant.&nbsp;<br><br>An alumnus of Xavier Institute of Management - Bhubaneswar, Binayak is passionate about inclusive development and has worked widely in emerging markets for several years. His background spans in the areas of Early Grade Education, Impact Investment, ICT4D, Public Policies, Education Technology, Skills Development, and Livelihoods.&nbsp;</div>

Building <div>Prior to founding Ergos in early 2012, Kishor briefly worked at Barclays Bank Plc, in their Premier Banking Group. He worked with ACC Limited across the various functions based out of Motihari (Bihar) where he handled rural marketing. He also worked with ICICI Bank and group, and Future group, where he managed close to 100 crore portfolio onexchange traded agriculture commodity derivatives products in Bangalore. A veteran in the field of agriculture, Mr Jha is from an agriculturist family in Madhubani district in Bihar where he learned agriculture not by only professional engagement, but its imbibed skill inculcated by generations and ancestors. Mr. Jha is responsible for providing overall direction and leading the company to achieve transformational growth. Known for his vast knowledge in the field of agriculture, Mr. Jha has more than a decade experience in running agriculture and farm related businesses like agri-financing, agri-procurement, commodity trading and warehousing. He has been closely involved with the agriculture movement and farmer communities in Bihar, and Karnataka. An expert in the commodities sector, he has been associated with leading Indian and global corporate in different roles for procurement, warehousing and stocking of agri-commodities. He has also been associated with leading Indian banks in retail banking.<br><br>He was the winner of the “Master Entrepreneurs- CNBC-South Zone” award by CNBC in November 2014.<br><br>Kishor earned a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from PUMBA and SIBM in Marketing and Foreign Trade. He also earned a Bachelor in Physics from Magadh University.</div>

Building <div>Nidhi Pant is the Co-Founder of S4S Technologies, a food start-up that leverages technology to help farmers preserve their products. Born in Uttarakhand and raised in Bombay, to farmers turned scientist parents who believed in the saying, ‘We rise only by lifting others,’&nbsp; Nidhi is a chemical engineer turned farmer turned entrepreneur. She has won the Women Transforming India Award by NITI Aayog in collaboration with the United Nations (UN) and has also been listed on Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia. Nidhi received her BA in Chemical Technology from the Institute of Chemical Technology (Mumbai).</div>

Building <div>An alumnus of IIFT Delhi, I always felt something was missing in my job. Whenever I went back to visit my parents, I came across a lot of traditional weavers with whom I used to end up chatting and they used to pour their hearts out about lack of work and menial wages. Their amazing skills were awe-inspiring but I came to know that their livelihoods were a question mark in many cases. These conversations were etched deeply in my heart and prodded me on to a path of working to improve the livelihood of these disempowered communities. Taking a plunge into an industry with no prior experience or knowledge was one of the biggest risks I took in my career. Passion and belief in the weavers and the urge to make a difference in the lives of many such communities across India is what drove me to take the plunge. ‘The idea isn’t about working with a single weaver or a couple of weavers but adopting the entire family of weaver and empowering them. Thereby, making our own family bigger, one weaver at a time’.&nbsp;</div>

Building <div>Uttam acquired his Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering and his Masters in Product Design from IIT Delhi. His expertise lies in the areas of Sustainable solutions, Environment, Consumer Behaviour, Technology trends, Creative Thinking and Problem Solving.&nbsp;<br><br>He believes “Less is More” and is very passionate about thinking and designing products that blends sense with simplicity. He has a deep interest in the areas of sustainability and loves to play with natural materials. His designs have won several prestigious awards.&nbsp;<br><br>Uttam also holds several patents and design registrations in the areas of sanitation, consumer products, medical devices and many more. Professionally, Uttam has over 14 years of experience and has worked in the areas of Automobiles, Medical Products and Devices, Consumer Electronics, Heavy Electrical Products, Livelihood Creation and Socially Inclined Solutions to name a few. He has created several products which have received wonderful reviews in the design community in India and Abroad.&nbsp;<br><br>Uttam has been the Key Speaker and Jury Member for several national and international conferences, workshops and competitions on innovations in sanitation organized by Unicef, UNESCO-IHE, TNFIS – Finland, AWEX Belgium and Government of India.&nbsp;<br><br>Presently Uttam serves as the Founder &amp; CEO at Ekam Eco Solutions and Advisory Board Member to SCNO India. He also serves as the Core member of the Advisory Committee to a Consortium on sanitation by Jagran Pehal, Reckitt &amp;amp; Benckiser and Govt. of Bihar and Advisory Council of World Sustainability &amp;amp; World CSR Day.&nbsp;<br><br>More here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/banerjeeuttam</div>