CHENNAI, October 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
Villgro, a social enterprise incubator, will expand its education portfolio with funding support from US-based Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.
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Over the coming years, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation's funding support will enable Villgro to incubate and provide seed funding to at least a dozen companies (or ideas) that are focused on enhancing learning levels for school-going children or improving employability and income levels of youth from urban low income families in India.
As India's oldest social enterprise incubator, Villgro has developed a unique approach of working with entrepreneurs at multiple phases of their startup journey - including pre-product, pre-revenue and pre-scale - and offering a combination of mentoring, talent infusion and networks critical to startups working in various sectors.
"This partnership will significantly strengthen our work as one of India's leading social enterprise incubators. We are grateful for the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation's support in enabling Villgro's expansion in the education sector," said PR Ganapathy, President (India), Villgro.
The Dell family Foundation's funding support is a part of its strategy to catalyse mission aligned, market based solutions for the urban poor in India.
"Education for low-income students has not traditionally been a focus for incubators, seed funds and angel investors due to the complexities of operating in this market and the high variability in financial returns. This has inhibited the number of quality, customer-centric, education-focused social enterprises," says Geeta Goel, Director of Mission Investing at the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. "With its strong track record, hands-on engagement and focus on scale and sustainability, Villgro is suitably positioned to play a catalytic role in incubating this sector in India."
Marking the next step in Villgro's model of incubation and sustainability, part of the funding from the Dell family Foundation will go towards Villgro's social impact investment fund, which in turn will be focused on investing in companies in the education space.
About Villgro
Villgro is one of India's oldest and foremost social enterprise incubators, supporting innovators and social entrepreneurs during their early stages of growth. Since 2001, Villgro has incubated 103 such enterprises, generated around 4000 jobs, secured Rs. 873 million in follow-on funding, and touched over 6.8 million lives. www.villgro.org
About the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation
Founded in 1999, the central mission of the US-based Michael & Susan Dell Foundation is transforming the lives of children living in urban poverty through better health and education. Since 2006, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has invested more than Rs. 745 crores (USD $120 million) in transforming the lives of children living in urban poverty in India. In addition to its focus on education and health, the foundation also seeks to increase family economic stability as a prerequisite of progress on either front.
Media Contact : Aditi Seshadri, [email protected], 044-66630400, Head of Communications, Villgro
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