“The potential for crowdfunding is immense in India for many reasons: First, the total size of philanthropy and personal crowdfunding market is estimated to be greater than $60bn. India has the highest number of NGOs in the world at 33 lakh and less than 1% of their fundraising is completely online as compared to 7% in US. Secondly, India has about 350 million people who indulge in giving to various religious and social causes every year, which is the largest in the world. Thirdly, internet penetration and credit card penetration is increasingly rapidly, bringing more and more people online.”- Piyush Jain, CEO & Co-founder, Impact Guru.
Impact Guru is an online fundraising and
crowdfunding platform that helps non-profits, social enterprises, startups, and
individuals raise money or donate to causes or projects.
crowdfunding solution that combines social or donation crowdfunding, rewards
crowdfunding for individuals, nonprofits, social enterprises, or startups for
all their fundraising needs – be it small or large. The company was incubated
at Harvard Innovation Lab’s Venture Initiation Program in USA in 2014 and PACT
at Impact Hub in Singapore in 2015. Impact Guru has offices in Mumbai, New
Delhi, Singapore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and San Francisco.
crowdfunding platform that helps non-profits, social enterprises, startups, and
individuals raise money or donate to causes or projects.
crowdfunding solution that combines social or donation crowdfunding, rewards
crowdfunding for individuals, nonprofits, social enterprises, or startups for
all their fundraising needs – be it small or large. The company was incubated
at Harvard Innovation Lab’s Venture Initiation Program in USA in 2014 and PACT
at Impact Hub in Singapore in 2015. Impact Guru has offices in Mumbai, New
Delhi, Singapore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and San Francisco.
In an exclusive interview with Startup Terminal; Piyush Jain, CEO & Co-founder of Impact Guru tells more about the venture and future goals.
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| Piyush Jain, CEO & Co-founder, Impact Guru |
Excerpts:
ST: What inspired you to make your mark in the field of
entrepreneurship?
entrepreneurship?
Piyush Jain: I believe everyone has
the desire to give, the problem is, many don’t know how? I recall one defining
moment, when I decided that I wanted to give back to the society when I
volunteered for an orphanage in India. That experience taught me that I was
lucky to be born with some privileges – to have a family, to live in a home, to
go to school, while a significant section of society wasn’t so fortunate.
the desire to give, the problem is, many don’t know how? I recall one defining
moment, when I decided that I wanted to give back to the society when I
volunteered for an orphanage in India. That experience taught me that I was
lucky to be born with some privileges – to have a family, to live in a home, to
go to school, while a significant section of society wasn’t so fortunate.
My dream was simple, to enable people, to give. To empower individuals to
support their favourite cause by engaging their family and
friends…this dream inspired, into the conception of Impact Guru, a
crowdfunding platform. For me, Impact Guru is a constant reminder to
myself, of that one defining moment.
ST: When did you start your venture? Please tell us more about
your venture.
your venture.
Piyush Jain: The company was
incubated at Harvard Innovation Lab’s Venture Initiation Program in USA in
2014. Impact Guru has offices in Mumbai, New Delhi, Singapore, Jakarta,
Kuala Lumpur, and San Francisco.
incubated at Harvard Innovation Lab’s Venture Initiation Program in USA in
2014. Impact Guru has offices in Mumbai, New Delhi, Singapore, Jakarta,
Kuala Lumpur, and San Francisco.
ST: What business opportunities do you see particularly
in your sector- online fundraising and crowdfunding platform?
in your sector- online fundraising and crowdfunding platform?
Piyush Jain:The potential for
crowdfunding is immense in India for many reasons: First, the total size of
philanthropy and personal crowdfunding market is estimated to be greater than
$60bn. India has the highest number of NGOs in the world at 33 lakh and less
than 1% of their fundraising is completely online as compared to 7% in US.
Secondly, India has about 350 million people who indulge in giving to various
religious and social causes every year, which is the largest in the world.
Thirdly, internet penetration and credit card penetration is increasingly
rapidly, bringing more and more people online.
crowdfunding is immense in India for many reasons: First, the total size of
philanthropy and personal crowdfunding market is estimated to be greater than
$60bn. India has the highest number of NGOs in the world at 33 lakh and less
than 1% of their fundraising is completely online as compared to 7% in US.
Secondly, India has about 350 million people who indulge in giving to various
religious and social causes every year, which is the largest in the world.
Thirdly, internet penetration and credit card penetration is increasingly
rapidly, bringing more and more people online.
Impact Guru has already partnered with nonprofits such as World Vision India,
Oxfam, SOS Children’s Village, Habitat for Humanity; CSR departments of Tata,
Godrej, and Wockhardt; impact focused organizations such as Dalberg and Asha
Impact; international Indian community organizations such as TiE in a
relatively short span of time since its launch in August 2015.
ST: How has been your entrepreneurship journey so far?
Piyush Jain: Well, I would say both.
We have successfully managed to raise a seed round of US $500,000 (Rs 3.3
crores) so far from RB Investments, a Singapore based venture capital firm, and
Fundnel, a private investment platform based in Southeast Asia in April 2016.
Since our launch in August 2015, Impact Guru and its partners have raised more
than Rs 329 crores/ US$49mm to support more than 1000 causes
and organizations, which has accelerated our revenue growth. We will
continue to seek more investment funding given the large market opportunity in
front of us while identifying new revenue streams and accelerating revenue
growth to achieve break even as soon as possible.
We have successfully managed to raise a seed round of US $500,000 (Rs 3.3
crores) so far from RB Investments, a Singapore based venture capital firm, and
Fundnel, a private investment platform based in Southeast Asia in April 2016.
Since our launch in August 2015, Impact Guru and its partners have raised more
than Rs 329 crores/ US$49mm to support more than 1000 causes
and organizations, which has accelerated our revenue growth. We will
continue to seek more investment funding given the large market opportunity in
front of us while identifying new revenue streams and accelerating revenue
growth to achieve break even as soon as possible.
ST: As an entrepreneur, what challenges do you face in your day to
day professional life, if any?
day professional life, if any?
Piyush Jain: Of course, there are
quite a number of challenges that come with being an entrepreneur, especially
in the crowdfunding sector where we still need to educate a lot of our clients
as well as our employees on what crowdfunding is and how it works. The biggest
challenge, though, is to be able to achieve more with less resources. We are
still a new company and though we are growing tremendously, we need to
constantly be very judicious about our resources. The biggest learning here is
how to use what you have in the best way possible to achieve your goal.
quite a number of challenges that come with being an entrepreneur, especially
in the crowdfunding sector where we still need to educate a lot of our clients
as well as our employees on what crowdfunding is and how it works. The biggest
challenge, though, is to be able to achieve more with less resources. We are
still a new company and though we are growing tremendously, we need to
constantly be very judicious about our resources. The biggest learning here is
how to use what you have in the best way possible to achieve your goal.
A more day-to-day challenge is to tackle things as they come.
There are some problems you can’t foresee and those are usually the ones that
need quick solutions. When you are leading a team, everyone looks up to you to
have all the answers. But, sometimes you don’t have the answers because you are
learning in the whole process too. However, it’s important to motivate your
team at that point by providing the best answer you can.
There are some problems you can’t foresee and those are usually the ones that
need quick solutions. When you are leading a team, everyone looks up to you to
have all the answers. But, sometimes you don’t have the answers because you are
learning in the whole process too. However, it’s important to motivate your
team at that point by providing the best answer you can.
Entrepreneurship is a unique journey for each one. One has to walk
the road to know what it’s like.
the road to know what it’s like.
ST: How big is your team? Are you planning to hire more?
Piyush Jain: The Team Size is
around 30 people, yes we will be recruiting more people in this year.
around 30 people, yes we will be recruiting more people in this year.
ST: What are your future plans?
Piyush Jain: My main goal over the
next 5 years is to make Impact Guru, India’s #1 fundraising platform for
nonprofits, social enterprises, personal causes, and creative ideas. We
will look to achieve that ambition by expanding in new markets, developing new
products and services, and having relentless focus on execution.
next 5 years is to make Impact Guru, India’s #1 fundraising platform for
nonprofits, social enterprises, personal causes, and creative ideas. We
will look to achieve that ambition by expanding in new markets, developing new
products and services, and having relentless focus on execution.
