The event, themed “The Bharat Story: Climate, Culture & Compute”, aims to connect entrepreneurs addressing local challenges with the capital, markets and institutional support needed to build businesses serving national and global markets.
A delegation from Aavishkaar Group and Intellecap, led by Vineet Rai and U.K. Sinha, met the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister during the second Sankalp Bharat Summit in Lucknow on December 12, 2025.
The upcoming edition will open with Manu Nair, founder of reusable-rocket company EtherealX. The Bharat Bol founder series will feature Surya Prakash Yadav of UnORG, Lucknow; Tanutejas Saraswat of ShopKirana, Indore, which was acquired by Udaan; Divya Hegde of Baeru, Udupi; Prof. Nagaraja Prakasam of Nativelead, Madurai; Mausmi Ambastha of Shifu Foundation, Patna; and Tushar Suhalka of Regrip, Jaipur/Gurugram.
Vineet Rai, Founder and Vice Chairman of Aavishkaar Group, said the entrepreneurs closest to local problems were developing solutions across climate, space technology, artificial intelligence and livelihoods. He said the priority was to connect these entrepreneurs with capital, markets and institutions so that ideas originating in smaller towns could develop into national companies.
Aavishkaar Foundation’s programmes across 25 districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh have reached more than 30,000 students in over 500 government schools and colleges. Through its Entrepreneur Investment Programme (EIP), the foundation has supported 40 first-generation entrepreneurs, 80% of whom are women.
Among the enterprises supported are Pravidhaan Farmer Producer Company in Gorakhpur, which supports 2,000 farmers, and Shiksha Saathi in Varanasi, which connects more than 237 schools and 6,700 learners.
At Sankalp Bharat, young entrepreneurs participating in the EIP will present their ideas before a jury comprising investors, policymakers and established founders.
Lisa Rodricks, CEO of Aavishkaar Foundation, said the entrepreneurs were focusing on practical challenges in manufacturing, agriculture, skilling and livelihoods. She said the summit would provide a platform to showcase their work and potential as India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem enters its next phase of growth.
Financing underserved enterprises, particularly women-led businesses, will be another major focus of the summit. Sessions covering impact investing, venture capital, capital markets and corporate social responsibility (CSR) will examine how suitable financing mechanisms can reach businesses that have traditionally faced barriers to accessing capital.
The programme will include an angel investing primer for Uttar Pradesh and a Social Stock Exchange masterclass led by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Ajay Sharma of Edelweiss Public Alternatives will speak on “The Two Indias: Which One Are You Building?”, while a UN Women ARISE workshop will help women small and medium enterprise owners access finance.
Under the climate theme, GIZ and Intellecap will convene a closed-door roundtable bringing together government and financial institutions to discuss financing climate adaptation. The discussion will identify opportunities for GIZ’s i-Adapt: The Climate Adaptation & Innovation Hub, which connects adaptation innovation, financing and implementation.
The culture-focused programme will feature a mainstage discussion titled “Climate-Informed, Culturally Relevant: Building Liveable Cities for All India”. The session will examine climate-responsive and culturally rooted urban planning, particularly in the context of Uttar Pradesh’s plans to develop 100 new townships over five years.
The computing theme will bring together EkStep Foundation, Caret Capital and JanAI to explore how open digital infrastructure, job-matching platforms and local-language voice artificial intelligence can expand access to identity, employment and services beyond metropolitan India.
Syna Dehnugara, Director of Sankalp, said climate, culture and computing were closely connected in Bharat. She said decisions about urban development, the preservation of livelihoods and the deployment of technology would influence whether India’s next phase of growth was inclusive and sustainable. She added that these interconnected issues would be central to the discussions at Sankalp Bharat.
Through its sessions on entrepreneurship, financing, climate adaptation, urban planning and digital infrastructure, the summit will examine how innovation, capital and opportunities can reach entrepreneurs developing solutions for Bharat and taking them to global markets.
The detailed summit agenda is available at https://event.sankalpforum.com/sankalp-bharat-26#programme.
Intellecap, part of the Aavishkaar Group, works to build enabling ecosystems and channel capital towards creating and nurturing a sustainable and equitable society. Founded in 2002, the organisation operates across agriculture, livelihoods, climate change, clean energy, financial services, gender and inclusion, healthcare, water and sanitation. It has delivered more than 800 global engagements across over 70 countries and syndicated investments exceeding USD 2 billion in capital.
Through its presence in India and Africa, Intellecap provides consulting, research and investment banking services to multilateral agencies, development finance institutions, social enterprises, corporations, investors, policymakers and donors. Its common action platform, Sankalp Forum, is one of the largest global inclusive development platforms, bringing together stakeholders to shape markets in support of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030. Further information is available at www.intellecap.com.
Aavishkaar Foundation is the Aavishkaar Group’s Section 8 arm, focused on mass entrepreneurship in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. The foundation works across 25 districts, bringing entrepreneurship education to government schools and colleges. It believes that focused intervention within a concentrated geographical area can help establish a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in a shorter period and deliver measurable impact. Further information is available at aavishkaarfoundation.in.
About The Author
Comment List