Deadline: 7-May-23
Are you a non profit startup working on resilient livelihoods, and looking for mentoring, ecosystem connects & grants to accelerate your scale & impact? If you are interested then apply now for The/Nudge Accelerate Program.
The/Nudge Accelerator is a program to accelerate early-stage nonprofits that have the potential to achieve outsized sustainable impact. Over a period of 12-24 months, The/Nudge CSI Partners work closely with the founders and their core teams to get their ideas in the best possible shape – ready to fundraise, hire and scale. Alongside, they offer an a grant of INR 50 lakhs in the first year and upto INR 150 lacs in the second year, a network of world-class mentors, and connects to potential partners who can accelerate their path to scale readiness.
Apply to the second livelihoods focused cohort of The/Nudge Accelerator
- Innovation Grant
- Dedicated Mentoring
- Sector Connects
What do they offer?
- Dedicated mentoring (12-24 months) by some of India’s most admired leaders.
- Grant of INR 50 lakhs in the first year and upto INR 150 lacs in the second year.
- They connect you to a supportive network of founders, experts and administrators.
- Help with key milestones like brand building, funding, product-market fit etc. in an accelerated manner.
What can I use the grant for?
- While the grants will be mainly of an unrestricted nature, they will be subject to the following restrictions.
- no more than Rs 12 lacs a year out of the Seed / Scale grant can be used for founder’s salary / stipend
- in Seed grants, the organisation will need to have reached a MVP stage in the first 6 months with Accelerator
- after accounting for the founder’s stipend, at least 50% of the remaining Seed grant and at least 70% of the remaining Scale grant should be spent on direct program costs.
- 50% of the grant is unrestricted, and the remaining 50% should be spent on the program
What happens during the incubation/acceleration?
- The deep hands-on support for 9 – 12 months includes
- 1-on-1 mentoring by a CSI partner through virtual interactions every two weeks. This helps entrepreneurs achieve strategic clarity and refine their business model.
- focussed support on organisational structure through horizontal mentoring with subject matter experts
- 1-on-1 weekly support by the SocEnt portfolio manager, as a thought partner, and skin-in-the-game collaborator in the success of their incubatees.
- face-to-face as well as virtual immersion events, usually held in Bangalore during the various bootcamps. These are designed to help entrepreneurs to meet fellow cohort members, immerse in The/Nudge CSI DNA through interactions with some of India’s most admired leaders, forge a bond with the The/Nudge SocEnt portfolio manager, and the The/Nudge CSI Partner assigned to be their mentor and most importantly, to get ready to scale their product.
Eligibility Criteria
- Early-stage startup (1-5 years) with a well defined program.
- Registered as a section 8 company, a trust or a society.
- Your solution provides resilient livelihoods for the poorest of the poor or acts as a change transmitter providing financial, marketing or technology agency to the underserved for resilient livelihoods.
- Core team across functions in place.
- You have raised money from other sources.
Selection Process
- Their selection process begins with online applications. Shortlisted applicants will be required to submit a detailed business deck (PPT), followed by interviews with The/Nudge SocEnt team and CSI Partners. The/Nudge SocEnt team will do a site visit to assess the viability and model impact of the most promising applicants.
For more information, visit The/Nudge.