Next Bharat Ventures Launches 'The Why Club' to Empower Impact Entrepreneurs Next Bharat Ventures has also announced the opening of applications for the next batch of their Residency Program which is scheduled to commence from May 19th 2025.
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Next Bharat Ventures, a subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation, has announced the launch of The Why Club, a pioneering community designed to support impact entrepreneurs in India.
This initiative brings together 13 purpose-driven startups, with half of the founders being women, selected from the inaugural cohort of Next Bharat's Residency Program. By fostering collaboration and shared learning, this marks a significant step towards building a strong peer-driven ecosystem for social impact entrepreneurship.
As part of this initiative, Next Bharat Ventures is assessing the investment readiness of its cohort members, with plans to provide select startups with funding between INR 1 crore and INR 5 crore. The cohort consists entirely of impact entrepreneurs from Tier II and Tier III regions, tackling challenges in rural livelihoods through sustainable agriculture, organic food production, and fair trade practices.
Vipul Nath Jindal, CEO of Next Bharat Ventures, said, "We want The Why Club to be the world's largest self-sustaining, co-dependent community of impact entrepreneurs. We are on a mission to create a separate category of social impact driven entrepreneurship in India, where we have witnessed that founders often face their toughest challenges in isolation—our goal is to ensure that they never feel alone in their journey. With that thought, we are creating a platform where they can work side by side with their peers, exchange knowledge, resources, and inspiration while gaining access to capital and global networks."
The initiative offers a structured support system, including the Pay-it-forward-fellowship, a recurring community-driven funding model designed to help founders sustain and scale their ventures. Members will also receive mentorship from seasoned entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and grassroots leaders, along with access to market opportunities and strategic business development support. Furthermore, the club will actively foster India-Japan collaborations to enable global expansion for impact-driven startups.
Next Bharat Ventures adopts a patient capital approach, focusing on long-term, sustainable entrepreneurship rather than rapid scaling. The firm aims to nurture Elephant Entrepreneurs—founders who prioritise resilience, community impact, and sustainability over quick returns. This approach aligns with India's vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, which emphasises the role of grassroots entrepreneurs in building a resilient and inclusive economy.
The first cohort of The Why Club includes: Aakriti Srivastava (Bahula Naturals), Aishwarya Jhawar (Ekatra), Bapan Das (GRDT Farmers), Jayanti Mahapatra (Manikstu Agro), Kuldeep Patel (Phasal Bazar), Nivedita Rai (Karghewale), Payal Nath (Kadam Haat), Prerna Agarwal (Samakhya), Rakesh Gupta (Gramshree), Satendrasingh Lilhare (Bastar Se Bazaar Tak), Selvakumar Varadharajan (Vilfresh), Shubhra Devi (Meira Foods), and Satyam Bhandari (Heart in Hills).
Applications for the second cohort of the Next Bharat Residency Program are now open for early-stage impact entrepreneurs.
