The Buddha Fellowship is a social responsibility initiative by The Buddha Institute. Extended over a period of 24 months, it is a mentoring program for the Buddha Fellows. Six Buddha Entrepreneurship Clinics (BECs) are organised during this period to support them.
The Buddha Fellowship is a social responsibility initiative by The Buddha Institute. Extended over a period of 24 months, it is a mentoring program for the Buddha Fellows. Six Buddha Entrepreneurship Clinics (BECs) are organised during this period to support them.
The Program builds capacity of Buddha Fellows by linking them with rural community, unlocking grants and private capital, providing mentoring by leading experts and by enabling access to labs and facilities.
Connect with rural communities 
Access to labs and facilities for research and development 
Expert guidance on aspects like business strategy, operations, technology integration and marketing 
On-going mentoring both at the grassroot level and in specially designed Buddha Entrepreneurship Clinics.
Linkages with funding opportunities (Support up to INR 25,00,000 or USD 35,000) 
A growing network of experienced and mature Buddha Fellows who are traversing a similar journey Geographic Expansion - We will enable you to test your idea in a new geography or market. Experts will guide you to think deeper and perfect your solution. You can lean on the Buddha Entrepreneurship Network to rapidly gain traction.
NGOs in our network will help you garner trust within the community. These communities can help you source raw materials for your business.
Product Diversification - Mentors will guide you in conducting feasibility study to diversify the portfolio of your products and services, including finding a niche in a crowded marketplace. Diversifying may require adopting technologies to process and store.
Similarly, sourcing from scattered geographies and supplying to a distant market requires large amount of working capital. We will help you on all such fronts.
Stabilization and Growth - We will support you in creating a long-term strategic plan for your development enterprise. With a view on operational success, we will also assist you in gaining ess to the required human and financial resources towards realising your vision.
Our team will actively help you secure grants or subsidies under relevant government schemes.
Every quarter Buddha Fellows come to attend this offsite problem-solving workshop, which are called Buddha Entrepreneurship Clinic, where they meet with subject experts and mentors and come up with their own solutions. Buddha Fellows learn from Each Other's experience as well in these quarterly clinics.
Buddha Fellows are progressive in their thinking, passionate about creating an equitable society, and resilient in realising their dream. They take risks, have a problem-solving attitude, are innovative, and can deal with ambiguity.
Tangibly, we are looking for individuals who meet the following criteria
Development entrepreneurs in operation for at least two years are eligible to apply. The organisation must be registered as a for-profit organisation and should have direct impact on vulnerable communities. Preference will be given to women, dalit, and tribal entrepreneurs.
Maximum up to INR 25 lakhs
There’s a basic 10-month program that every accepted Fellow must go through. Following a review, the most promising Buddha Fellows will have an opportunity to go through an advanced 14-month program to scale their operations.
Agriculture, Livelihoods, Health, and Environment
The program is not residential however Fellows may have to come for rural immersion as well as Buddha Entrepreneurship Clinics, which will be hosted six times in 24 months
No
We prefer our Buddha Fellows to be in the age range of 22-30 years. Exceptional candidates of any age may apply.
Between 15-20 every year
Yes, NRIs who are directly impacting vulnerable communities in India are eligible to apply
Project Name: Swarambh, ( Buddha Fellow since May 2018 )
My Motivation
"I wanted to be a job creator. My mission is to empower the youth in Tier 2 and Tier 3 regions by bridging the gap towards gig economy and freelancing"
Preeti Singh along with her mentor Byomkesh Mishra pioneered “Swarambh”, an outreach program for gig inspired youth from tier 2 and tier 3 towns of Uttar Pradesh. After graduating with a Masters degree from IIT Kharagpur, Preeti joined Schlumberger, USA. But the zeal of becoming a development entrepreneur was always there. With this mission she started her exploration journey with Buddha Fellowship.
Here she was exposed to various projects of non profits. Fellowship gave her access to a network of eminent mentors which helped her succeed in this exploration journey.
Swarambh has raised INR 3.6 crore (USD 400,000) from Axis Bank Foundation, helping her outreach thousands of youth.
https://medha.org.in/swarabh-turning-passion-into-profession/
Organisation Name: MLAND, ( Buddha Fellow since May 2018 )
IIM Ahmedabad, Organisation Name: MLAND
An IIM Ahmedabad 2018 graduate, Madhu has beaten all odds to make his dream of becoming a development entrepreneur come true.
Madhu is using precision agricultural practices like Greenhouse and Shadenet Cultivation for maximizing income per unit area for farmers of Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh.
Starting with 1.25 acres, Madhu initially invested INR 60 lakhs (USD 80,000) to grow exotic flower variety Dutch Rose. Madhu is not just bringing a new mode of cultivation to Guntur farmers but also increasing their income 5X. Through the INR 1.5 crores (USD 200,000) he has raised so far, he aims to scale his enterprise to more greenhouses, and diversifying to grow chilli seedlings.
Madhu’s biggest motivation comes from the time he spends in the fields cultivating flowers with the help of farmers.
Buddha Fellowship provided Madhu the right platform to learn different development entrepreneurship models, gain practical experience, learn from the expertise of mentors and arrange finance. He successfully marketed custard apple pulp in Hyderabad during Buddha Fellowship, which boosted his confidence to pursue his own project of growing Dutch Rose in a greenhouse.
Founder, SRIJAN
Founder CEO, GoodGovern Former ED, AXIS Bank
Professor, IIT Mumbai
Former Member, Management Committee, ITC
CEO, Alpha Advisor Partners, USA
Founding Member, Jan Swasthya Sahyog
Retd. IAS Officer
Promoter, INI Farms
Founder, B-ABLE
Professor, IIM Ahmedabad
Dy. Director General, IRENA, Abu Dhabi
Sapiens Bioscience
3 Lines Venture Capital
SBC Global
Acacia Group
Nvidia
Deutsche Bank
IBM
3 Lines Venture Capital
Uniplus
NextGenAero
IBM
Wealthfront
Caring Friends
Applied Solar Technologies
IPG Mediabrands India
University of Hyderabad
Chairperson Arghyam
Shreyareth University
KenTree Business Advisory
The Buddha Institute is a dedicated platform of entrepreneurism, mentorship and support for socio-economic change for young minds who are driven to change the social reality in India and in other developing economies. We encourage the creation of an eco-system for sustainable, problem-solving models among the poor leading to improved livelihoods.
The support we provide to development entrepreneurs comprises a distinguished group of eminent mentors, partnerships with government and private sector, financial support, a thriving community base, an immersion program, freedom to pilot ideas fearlessly, quality clinics for learning, and an overall nurturing attitude of the management team strengthened by an inspiring founder.
An initiative of SRIJAN, The Buddha Institute is hosted under Education for Employability Foundation, registered as a public charitable trust. With initial funding from Axis Bank, Ford Foundation, and 50 individual donors, we have established a Board of Trustees, an informal council of advisors, and a strong management team.
Think your idea can make a greater impact? We are accepting applications now.
VISION - Shaping a progressive, inclusive India and the world, through entrepreneurial change-makers
MISSION - Nurture entrepreneurial ecosystems that add value for greater good, by bringing together diverse stakeholders on common platforms
GOAL - By 2030, 1000 development entrepreneurs collectively impact the lives of at least 1 million marginalised families of India
Ved Arya is long time leader in India's development. A distinguished alumnus of IIT Kanpur, and post graduate of IIM Ahmedabad, he is the founder of SRIJAN, SIDS, and The Buddha Institute, and founder convenor of the RCRC coalition. He is an Ashoka Fellow, UN Environment Program Fellow, Hubert Humphrey Fellow and Business Standard Social Entrepreneur of the year 2018.
- Ved Arya
Research and Knowledge Support
Theme Leader
Finance & Accounts
Finance & Accounts
SRIJAN stands for Self-Reliant Initiatives through Joint Action. It's a grassroots action organisation started in 1997 and has lifted 125,000 rural families out of poverty, across six states in India. For its work SRIJAN has been recognised by the Vodafone Mobile for Good Awards, and ICICI-CNBC Inclusive India Award.
