‘We want to reach out to 10 million farmers in three years, ensure 30-40 good innovations in public health’ Premium

Bengaluru-based Social Alpha which drives innovation and entrepreneurship in critical sectors such as climate, healthcare and livelihoods has been doing so without restricting itself to the conventional roles of an investor, incubator or NGO. A not-for-profit initiative, it supports high-impact start-ups early on from the R&D stages and attempts to create new markets in the process, thereby attracting more investor interest in sectors that much needed it but lacked it so far.

Bengaluru-based Social Alpha which drives innovation and entrepreneurship in critical sectors such as climate, healthcare and livelihoods has been doing so without restricting itself to the conventional roles of an investor, incubator or NGO. A not-for-profit initiative, it supports high-impact start-ups early on from the R&D stages and attempts to create new markets in the process, thereby attracting more investor interest in sectors that much needed it but lacked it so far.

The organisation has so far supported more than 300 ventures and made over 80 investments. Manoj Kumar, founder of Social Alpha, talks to The Hindu about the importance of investing in and creating markets for high-impact sectors, the need to go beyond consumer internet start-ups, and the role of India in solving problems of the Global South.