Why You Should Apply To The Sankalp Unconvention Entrepreneur Scholarships

Budding social entrepreneurs can access global networks and contemporary ideas at zero cost! Read on to find out how two organizations have come together to make this possible.

If you’re a budding social entrepreneur, what are some of the most important things you’re looking for?

Money, of course, always, but also advisors, service providers, talent and more – a supportive network that could help you in your entrepreneurial journey, help build your business, and most importantly, expand the true social impact of your enterprise.

If you’re a social entrepreneur in India, the annual Sankalp Unconvention Summit, held in Mumbai, is one of the biggest and most important platforms for social enterprise. Since 2013, Intellecap’s Sankalp Forum and Villgro’s Unconvention have come together to bring attendees a convergence of global knowledge, investment and dialogue, geared towards building a more inclusive ecosystem of high impact, pro-poor businesses

It makes sense then that a Summit such as this be populated the most by entrepreneurs – the people who are working at the community level, innovating to solve some India’s most difficult problems – who would truly benefit from the networks and ideas that come together at Sankalp Unconvention Summit 2014.

It is in this context that Villgro and Intellecap have initiated the Sankalp Unconvention Entrepreneur Scholarships to encourage high-potential, early-stage social entrepreneurs to attend the Sankalp Unconvention Summit 2014, to be held in Mumbai on April 9-11, 2014. The video below shows how the scholarships have helped many social entrepreneurs realise their dreams so far (if you cannot view the video here, please click on this link):

Says Michelle Abraham, co-founder of Villgro’s Unconvention platform:

The Entrepreneur Scholarships are an initiative to encourage growing for-profit social enterprises to join in the dialogue and get hands-on learning from the diverse sessions, making the summit more inclusive.

Scholarship winners are entitled to a free all-access pass to the Summit, which includes the opportunity to network with fellow entrepreneurs, investors, donors, foundations and other stakeholders, recognition on various forums, mentoring opportunities and more. Sambodhi Ghosh, co-founder of Aakar Innovations and Entrepreneur Scholar 2013, has this to say:

This is a great initiative. Usually it’s very difficult for start-ups to attend conferences like the Sankalp Unconvention Summit and meet the amazing people there. The kind of interactions we had were very exciting and I was glad and grateful I had the opportunity to be there.

Who can apply?
Anyone with a for-profit social enterprise model that comes under the IDEA stage or SEED stage.

What do winners get?

• Free all-access conference pass to attend the Sankalp Unconvention Summit 2014
• An additional award of Rs 10,000 for participants travelling from outside MUmbai
• Opportunity to connect with 1000+ attendees, including fellow entrepreneurs, investors, donors, foundations and other stakeholders
• Recognition on the Sankalp Forum and Unconvention platforms
• Mentorship opportunities and knowledge sessions at Sankalp Unconvention Summit 2014
• The opportunity to be fast-tracked into Villgro’s pre-incubation programmes: Entrepreneur-in-Residence and SEED

Applications to the Sankalp Unconventiom Entrepreneur Scholarships 2014 close on March 9, 2014.

Apply now at http://unconvention.co.in/entrepreneur-scholarship