Youth entering
per year
Jobs are created
per year
of Indian graduates
unemployable
UPSC Candidates
Applied
government
jobs
success rate.
Youth entering
Workforce annually
of Indian graduates
unemployable
of current workforce
skills outdated by 2023
unemployment in youth
Versus older age groups
UPSC applicants for
1000 jobs in 2024
The country’s progress now relies on individuals who are ready to take initiative, create value, and open doors for others. Instead of waiting for the right opportunity to appear, many are beginning to wonder—why not create one? Yet, despite 80% of young people believing they have the skills to start ventures of their own, only 20% actually do. To unlock this potential, India needs to build stronger systems, education, and support networks that make entrepreneurship a confident and attainable choice.
Udhyam Shiksha, the education arm of Udhyam Learning Foundation, works on scale within government school education systems to nurture entrepreneurial mindsets and build 21st century skills among India’s youth, helping them shape their own futures. Through our hands-on curriculum taught in classrooms from grades 9th to 12th, students learn through real world projects, coached by teachers who are trained to be mentors.
The goal is simple yet powerful — to unlock the natural creativity and problem-solving abilities within every young person, so agency starts early, not after graduation!
Recent additions
Program running dates
Recent additions
Program running dates
Learners
Govt. Institutions
Educators
Learners recieved $25 each
The Udhyam Shiksha curriculum is supported by Shiksha’s award winning learning product Udhyam Saathi, which includes an AI mentor/support tool on Whatsapp and a web application. Together, these aim to support students and teachers by providing visibility about the program journey and the appropriate guidance and resources that enrich the learning experience. The Udhyam Saathi platform evaluates student submissions, provides rich feedback, and program progress insights to teachers and stakeholders, helping in an increased level of program completion
The Udhyam Shiksha curriculum is supported by Shiksha’s award winning learning product Udhyam Saathi, which includes an AI mentor/support tool on Whatsapp and a web application.
Together, these aim to support students and teachers by providing visibility about the program journey and the appropriate guidance and resources that enrich the learning experience. The Udhyam Saathi platform evaluates student submissions, provides rich feedback, and program progress insights to teachers and stakeholders, helping in an increased level of program completion
Shiksha has a 4 year curriculum that fosters entrepreneurial mindsets in youth facilitated by teachers at scale in government schools. Across all grades, students select unique real world project ideas based on their interests and contextually relevant opportunities which are aligned towards social innovation, community concerns or local economic challenges. All entrepreneurial projects are done in teams with robust real world engagement. Students conduct local need assessment, market research, build prototypes, interview customers, speak with mentors, take expert guidance, and present their solutions.
At Udhyam, we don’t just run programs, we build evidence for change. Research helps us refine our approach, earn the trust of governments and funders, and ensure that every young person’s potential is not only seen but strengthened. From 10-year longitudinal studies to independent World Bank trials, Udhyam’s work is backed by evidence that shows how entrepreneurial mindsets transform lives
In partnership with McGill University, we are conducting a longitudinal study to track the long-term impact of entrepreneurial mindset education over a decade. Even within the first year, students in Uttarakhand are showing measurable differences in communication and critical thinking between treatment and control schools. Stay tuned for more from this exciting on-going research!
Complex social challenges rarely exist in isolation. They are shaped by overlapping systems,
When Jeeva first approached Udhyam Vyapaar, she was already someone with tremendous potential.
In the bustling lanes of Subhash nagar, Shirpur, Jayshri Ravindra Pardhi has been
India is a country of villages. The majority of the Indian population is
Entrepreneurship programs equip students with invaluable skills, empowering them to become innovative leaders
In the vast and complex landscape of Indian education, where systemic challenges often
Shankar Maruwada is the Co-Founder and CEO of EkStep Foundation, a philanthropic mission he co-founded in 2015 along with Nandan Nilekani and Rohini Nilekani, to improve basic education for 200 million children in India. The Foundation has co-created an open-source free to use digital infrastructure called Sunbird (www.sunbird.org) which works towards achieving this purpose. DIKSHA, the national school education platform, is one of multiple national initiatives that leverage Sunbird to provide access to digital content for learners and for capacity building of teachers. He has more than 25 years of experience across corporate, entrepreneurial, nonprofit and government sectors. This allows him to bring the best of thinking from different lenses, which he has used in shaping EkStep’s mission and its strategic choices of achieving population scale impact for learning, using technology. Shankar is deeply passionate about leveraging technology for large scale transformation in society. He was part of the startup team at Aadhaar; in fact, he was responsible for naming it. He also set up one of India’s first data analytics companies – Marketics. This cross-sectorial experience and interdisciplinary approach has been a driving force in pursuing scale solutions, innovations and collaborations for EkStep’s education mission. He also mentors startups, social entrepreneurs and not-for-profits. Shankar is a member of the National Steering Committee tasked with developing the National Curriculum Frameworks based on the National Education Policy, 2020. He also been on multiple Government committees and task forces, including DIKSHA, NDEAR (National Digital Education Architecture), iGOT (Integrated Government Online Training). His alma mater IIT Kharagpur’s motto of ‘yogah karmasu kaushalam’ (Yoga is excellence at work) and its message of ‘Dedicated to the service of the nation’ is also his chosen path in life. He is also an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
R. Natarajan, fondly called Nats, co-founded Foundation partners in July 2018 advising companies on scaling, governance and profitability. Prior to this he was Chief Operating officer at UC RNT Fund, managing USD 400 Mn and Managing Director at Helion ventures, a VC firm with Asset under management of over USD 1 Bn for 10 years, and in various leadership roles in Tavant Technologies Inc., US, and Wipro for 13 years. He is a qualified finance professional and a certified black belt in Six sigma by Motorola University. He is on the Board of studies at Christ University and in the Advisory board of Shasun College for Women in Chennai, Bethany High school Bangalore and Byramjee Jeejeebhoy School and College at Mumbai. He also serves on the Board of PHFI (Public Health Foundation India) and also a trustee of Youth For Seva, a large NGO focusing on self-reliant communities powered by selfless individuals for the last 13 years, currently whose volunteers cross 1 lac and beneficiaries cross 10 Cr across 14 states.
“Every human being deserves a dignified life out of poverty, and it’s well in our collective means to achieve that goal.”After 17 years of starting, scaling and turning around various businesses in some of the largest and most respected organisations globally, Atul started The/Nudge Foundation to do poverty alleviation work. Atul is now serving both The/Nudge and Givelndia as their CEO. Over his 5-year stint at InMobi as its Chief Business Officer, Atul helped scale the organisation to a global leader in mobile advertising, with operations in 20+ countries. Atul also served on the Board of Mobile Marketing Association. Prior to InMobi, Atul was the Head of Mobile Business for Japan & Asia-Pacific at Google. Atul has also done various general management, business development and sales roles across technology companies, including Adobe, Samsung and Infosys. Atul also served EndPoverty, a non-profit, as Chairperson for two years, working on various aspects of poverty, including water, sanitation, education, skill development, sustainability and women empowerment, and continues to serve as their Board Member. Atul has been named in the #40underForty list by The Economic Times in 2017. Atul holds a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the Indian School of Business and a B-Tech from the National Institute of Technology.
Binny Bansal is an Indian internet entrepreneur, who co-founded Flipkart, the leading e-commerce marketplace in the country. At Flipkart, he donned several hats including Chief Operating Officer, Chief Executive Officer, Group CEO, and Chairman. Post his graduation in Computer Science & Engineering from IIT Delhi, Binny worked at various companies, including a stint at Amazon India. In October 2007, along with his Amazon colleague, he co-founded Flipkart, an online book store based out of Bengaluru. In 2018, Binny steered Flipkart to close the largest global M&A deal in e-commerce, when Walmart acquired a majority stake in the company at an enterprise valuation of $22 billion. Binny is currently an entrepreneur-investor and mentor in the startup ecosystem. He has invested in several early stage startups, including Stellaps, Ather, Increff, Inshorts, Tracxn and Goodera. Growth stage startups include Acko, Cure.fit, Rupeek and GreyOrange, to name a few. Binny also co-founded xtolOx Technologies, offering technology tools, learning platforms and consultancy services to enable growth stage startups scale 10x. In December 2019, Binny relocated to Singapore with his family. Binny was ranked 26th among India’s 50 Most Powerful People in 2017 by India Today, and was awarded the 2016 “Asian of the Year” award by Straits Times of Singapore.
Narayan Ramachandran is an accomplished investment professional and social entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in global finance and developmental economics. He previously served as the Country Head of Morgan Stanley India and was the lead portfolio manager of its Global Emerging Markets and Global Asset Allocation teams, managing assets worth over $25 billion. Narayan is currently the Chairman and CEO of KludeIn I Acquisition Corporation and co-Chairman of Unitus Capital, India’s largest social enterprise bank. He is also actively involved in social impact through InKlude Labs, which scales interventions in education and public health, and serves on several boards including Vivriti Asset Management and Caspian Debt. Narayan holds a B.Tech. in chemical engineering from IIT Bombay and an MBA from the University of Michigan. He is known for connecting ideas, people, and capital to drive impactful change in areas such as social enterprise, environment, and global finance.
Abhishek Poddar is a prominent Indian industrialist, art collector, and patron of the arts. He is the Founder-Trustee of the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) in Bengaluru, to which he has donated a substantial portion of his family’s art collection and the initial leadership gift. As Managing Director of Matheson Bosanquet, an 80-year-old company specializing in tea production, trading, and export, and Director at Sua Explosives & Accessories, a leading manufacturer of mining explosives in India, Poddar balances business leadership with cultural philanthropy. He also serves on advisory committees of several esteemed organizations including the India-Europe Foundation for New Dialogues and the Lincoln Centre Global Advisory Council. Recognized among Asia’s 2018 Heroes of Philanthropy by Forbes, he is deeply committed to promoting India’s rich artistic heritage.
He was born in Kolkata, attended Lamartiniere for Boys and The Doon School, and graduated from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata.
Ireena Vittal is a leading adviser on sustainable growth, digital transformation, and organizational scale-up. She serves on the boards of Asian Paints, Godrej Consumer, Diageo PLC, and Compass PLC, and advises nonprofits in education, legal reform, rural livelihoods, water, and urbanization. A former McKinsey partner for 16 years, she worked with global companies and co-authored influential reports on economic growth, agriculture, and urbanization. She holds a degree in Electronics from Osmania University and a PGDBM from IIM Calcutta.