1 million jobs exist for 12 million youth entering the job market, annually. The key to bridging this gap lies in shaping their mindsets from job seekers to self-reliant, agentic and entrepreneurial individuals capable of succeeding in the complex real world. This shift offers a sustainable solution to the Indian unemployment crisis.
The program is designed for higher secondary school students, & run in 3 phases:
Phase 1: Pre-seed money
Phase 2: Post-seed money
Phase 3: Mentorship
Phase 1 involves students forming a team and coming up with a business idea. Then they conduct market research and gather feedback on their idea. This is followed by developing a prototype and presenting their idea to apply for seed money.
During Phase 2 the teams use the seed money to create a product or service and market/sell it. In this phase of 4 to 6 weeks, they get to purchase raw material, understand concepts of costs, revenue and profit & loss; and the art of selling. The greatest lesson however, is in developing the key entrepreneurial mindsets – experimentation, grit, communication and collaboration.
Selected teams move to Phase 3 where they get to work with business mentors & take their businesses to the next level of growth.
A WhatsApp chatbot engages the students and provides them with relevant inputs, nudges and support.
The program has spread from one state (Delhi) reaching 250,000 students in 2021-22 to 4 states (Delhi, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh & Telangana) reaching over 500,000 students in 2023-24.
Students have come up with 50,000+ business ideas, 1000+ entrepreneurs and professionals have signed up as their mentors, 300+ students have received admissions in colleges based on their performance in the program, and a 100 member alumni platform supports student businesses beyond the program.
The goal is to make this experience accessible and aspirational for all youth. This is achieved through partnerships with state governments and other NGOs. By sharing these stories through pan-India media, we aim to inspire and further enable grassroots entrepreneurship at scale.
Our curriculum is open source and downloadable on demand from our website. If you’re a state education department, a school or an NGO interested in adopting our program, connect with shyam@udhyam.org or harish@udhyam.org. We can walk you through the program and provide training resources, tools and support to roll it out in your location.
