IEF Entrepreneurship Foundation and Impact Hub have partnered to support the development of sustainable Impact Hubs in India. The initial focus will be to develop two Impact Hubs, one in a large metro and another in a smaller tier 2 town. 

They will be the first locations in the country since Impact Hub’s major rebranding effort in 2013, welcoming a key market into our global network and a valuable contribution to local entrepreneurial ecosystems and individual entrepreneurs.

IEF works to empower and energize the countless small-scale entrepreneurs conducting business in India. It is one of the leading Indian organizations in providing learning and development tools, hard- and soft-skill development programs, and networking and showcase platforms for local entrepreneurs and small and mid-size businesses.

“Enterprise creation is not a solitary activity. It needs a community that supports the growth and success of the enterprise and the entrepreneurs who dream it,” said Bhairavi Jani, Chairperson, IEF Entrepreneurship Foundation. “We see our collaboration with Impact Hub as an opportunity to build a local support system for entrepreneurs in India’s small towns and large metros alike. Our hope is to facilitate and mentor a community across India that is connected to a network of knowledge and enterprises across the globe, led by the entrepreneurs themselves.”

Impact Hub is a rapidly expanding global network of more than 16,000 social innovators. Our 90+ locations on five continents host a diverse community of entrepreneurs, practitioners, investors, and organizations; offer collaborative working and meeting space; and provide a variety of incubation and acceleration programs to drive entrepreneurial action for a more just and sustainable world. All Impact Hubs are initiated, developed, and run by local teams. They are both deeply rooted in their local markets and communities as well as globally connected through platforms like Impact Hub Passport and enabled to scale solutions worldwide.

IEF and Impact Hub are currently working to identify teams of local entrepreneurs interested in bringing Impact Hubs to large metro cities in India, such as New Delhi, Gurugram, and Pune, as well as smaller tier 2 towns such as Gangtok, Rajkot and Guntur.

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Selected teams will begin an Impact Hub onboarding process, with dedicated support throughout from seasoned co-founders and various experts from within the network.

Upon approval as Impact Hub Candidates, IEF will facilitate connections with mentors, angel investors, and potential partners to help each founding team establish relevant learning and acceleration programs, attract member entrepreneurs, improve management, and ensure sustainable development.

Once both teams have successfully completed the onboarding process and become official Impact Hubs, several opportunities for collaboration between IEF and Impact Hub have been identified for further development and exploration.

“Innovations focused on positive social and environmental impact need to be well grounded in their local context and developed together with the communities they aim to serve,” said Petr Skvaril, Impact Hub Global Partnerships Manager. “Successful innovations then need to be supported in scaling beyond the location of their origin and work in a diversity of new contexts. Our partnership with IEF will help us identify and support local founding teams in translating the Impact Hub model for the Indian market. Over time, they will build a network of Impact Hubs across India that will be connected to a global network – providing both a local support and global access to thousands of Indian entrepreneurs.”

Impact Hub has been present in developing and emerging economies since the opening of Impact Hub Sao Paulo in 2008. In the past nine years, we have run several successful seed programs and have been steadily growing our membership throughout Central and South America, Asia, and Africa. As an example, Impact Hub Yangon in Myanmar joined the network in November 2016 and is already planning their programmatic activities as well as attending regional gatherings to strengthen their impact. At the same time, Impact Hub Accra in Ghana is about to celebrate its two-year anniversary and has organized incredible incubation programs for a constantly growing community after expanding their space and team.

Equipped with knowledge on how to establish thriving start-up ecosystems in challenging contexts, Impact Hub looks forward to fostering entrepreneurship in India with IEF and finding passionate entrepreneurs to join our expanding network.

Curious to learn more? Register on our Impact Hub Maker’s site and discover how to open an Impact Hub of your own!