Impact Bangalore Report 2014

Social sector, Entrepreneurship, Research, Ecosystem, Publication Design, Report, Strategic Consulting

Impact Bangalore Report is one among the first impact ecosystem studies of a city in India. Bangalore is the city of our choice since it is the unofficial startup capital of India and the IT boom of the last decade has given Bangalore a vibrant startup ecosystem. We felt there is a strong need to understand and document the dynamics of this ecosystem.

The Story 

Bangalore is the city of our choice since it is the unofficial startup capital of India and the IT boom of the last decade has given Bangalore a vibrant startup ecosystem. We felt there is a strong need to understand and document the dynamics of this ecosystem. Since starting our project conversations from 2012, our team of four had grown to become nine people who had leveraged their networks and initiated deep conversations with diverse stakeholders. We concluded that while the commercial startup ecosystem had naturally taken centre stage, there was emergence of an impact ecosystem which also needed due attention. We were also curious to know whether the impact ecosystem was mere hype or was it for real. Thus, we began the process of investigation. Our attempt in this project was to go beyond the fact reporting work done in previous market studies, and share ground realities and local stakeholder perspective. We also wanted to understand the players, regional as well as national, in this ecosystem, what challenges and opportunities do they see, and how they want to/are influencing the ecosystem. Interestingly, the insights in this report are not just about what views we have shared but also how these stakeholders think/approach their involvement in the ecosystem reflecting the current state of the ecosystem.

We started with primary research, organized a few events and participated in events organized by other communities. We mobilized peers and friends, and met and spoke with over 50 key players in Bangalore – startups, social enterprises, NGOs, incubators, accelerators, impact investors, funds, foundations, mentors, online communities, support organizations, academic institutions, co-working spaces, industry bodies, philanthropists and corporates. In the report, we profiled some of the key stakeholders and our conversations with them. We have also covered our research findings, our candid observations of people and trends, and of the way conversations shaped up to the lessons we derived from them. We have shared a few ideas of approaching a ‘collaborative’ platform, top 10 recommendations to solve some of the challenges and leverage existing opportunities.

Why this report has global relevance?

• This report can help global and Indian organizations to partner or explore opportunities in Bangalore’s impact ecosystem. It gives an overview of the ecosystem players that are Bangalore based or influence the city’s ecosystem as a national player.
• This study format/ approach can be applied to ecosystem study of cities across the world to understand their local market better for new opportunities.
• Another ecosystem or city can do a similar study to explore “twin” city partnerships between Bangalore and the other city. This report can be applied to spawn models of collaboration with another city like Bangalore & Singapore, Bangalore & Berlin or Bangalore & Toronto.

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