About Us

About Us

USAID’s MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership: India-Yash has launched the ‘Yash Entrepreneurs Program’, an incubator and accelerator program to support innovative market-based models to leapfrog outcomes in Family Planning (FP) and Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH). Anchored by USAID, this multi-donor project has been designed to contribute to the achievement of India’s family planning goals. The program aims to shape the social enterprise ecosystem in this space - while leveraging partnerships with key public and private sector players in India.

The MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership: India-Yash project is led by Jhpiego, a Johns Hopkins University affiliate and partners. Yash Entrepreneurs Program is being implemented in partnership with Villgro.

The initiative will help scale 20 investment-ready enterprises across 2 cohorts by providing them with access to intensive mentoring by technical and business experts, strategic partnerships, technical assistance support, and other benefits that will help them scale their reach to ‘Bottom of Pyramid’-focused markets.

Key Fields of Intervention

Yash Entrepreneurs Program will focus on supporting social enterprises operating in the following key fields of intervention:

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Sexual Health

Enterprises having innovation-based products or services that:

  • Improve accessibility to family planning methods including contraception specially at the last mile
  • Enable capacity building of healthcare providers
  • Promote male engagement in SRH-focused decision making
  • Increase awareness on SRH/FP issues faced by adolescents and youth through age-appropriate information
  • Deploys innovative financing mechanisms including electronic vouchers like e-RUPI and micro-loans to reduce financial barriers to accessing SRH products or services
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Menstrual Health

Enterprises having innovation-based products or services that:

  • Create awareness and promote menstrual health through digital technologies
  • Increase access to affordable menstrual hygiene products including single use or reusable pads, cups, period underwears etc.,
  • Innovative technologies to safely dispose used sanitary pads or mitigate their environmental/climate impact
  • Enable last mile access of menstrual hygiene products/services in resource constraint settings
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Self-care & Decentralizing SRH Services

Enterprises having innovation-based products or services that:

  • Enable men and women to evaluate and manage their contraceptive choices, track ovulation and fertility/pregnancy
  • Promote SRH-management of individuals through digital technologies in various settings including telemedicine
  • Promote SRH-focused selfcare among LGBTQ persons
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Sexual Reproductive Health & Climate Change

Enterprises having innovation-based products or services that:

  • Enable easy access to SRH/FP support during climate-related disasters
  • Create resilient health systems to tackle climate induced SRH conditions
  • Access to finance for SRHduring climate related disasters
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Integrated Family Planning Service Delivery Innovations

Enterprises having innovative products or services that integrate SRH/FP into:

  • primary healthcare service platforms
  • RMNCH+A interventions
  • Women’s cancer screening programs
  • Platforms that promote awareness and enable management of mental wellness related health conditions
  • Programs supporting adolescents with substance misuse behaviors
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SRH and Disability

Enterprises having assistive & accessible technologies and inclusive solutions that:

  • Make SRH information more accessible to persons with disabilities (PwD)
  • Ensure last-mile delivery of SRH services to PwDs who otherwise face barriers in accessing health facilities
  • Hold potential for integrating SRH activities into existing operations serving PwDs in the areas of livelihood, gender-based violence, education, healthcare etc
  • Have developed an interactive online or offline platform/ community dedicated to helping people with disabilities or functional limitations to improve their lives eg match-making, relationship counselling etc
  • Have developed impactful advocacy, Social and Behaviour Change (SBCC) tools, nudges or trainings that prompt stakeholders, including those in SRH healthcare like providers, frontline workers etc, to overcome conscious and unconscious biases so as to offer more inclusive, customised and dignified care to PwDs

Incentives

Selected social enterprises will get access to acceleration support to gain access to markets through capacity building, training, mentoring and networking. The startups will receive support to enable greater impact on ground with a focus on under-represented groups, including women & girls in remote sections of the country.

Financial assistance of up to
INR 10 L to top 20 start-ups towards Technical Assistance
Additional funding support of up to
INR 1 Cr to top 6 start-ups for rapid scaleup in the market

Add on support for eligible start-ups
Access to Villgro’s flagship ‘Diagnostic and Solutioning Panel’ to identify and mitigate risks associated with the business
Access to Jhpiego’s ‘Strategic Partnerships’ to foster, support and scale innovations
Structured Mentorship with Technical Assistance Support
Investment Readiness Support and Access to Capital
Access to a robust platform of Partnerships and Value-Added Networks
Follow-on Funding Support from Villgro and the associated Investment Ecosystem

Timelines

Program timelines to help you stay on track

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Applications

15 February, 2023 to 17 March, 2023

  • Submit online application form. Applications will be evaluated on a rolling basis

Screening and selection phase

18 March, 2023 to 31 March, 2023

  • Selection of enterprises based on presentation/interviews

Onboarding to Cohort-2

01 April, 2023 to 30 April, 2023

  • Completion of diligence documentation and other formalities

Who Should Apply

If you are a social or technological enterprise working to solve the problems and fill the gaps in the Sexual and Reproductive Health space (details here), then apply now

Eligibility Criteria:
  • Must be a legal entity as defined as per Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Govt. of India or other relevant laws
  • Must have developed products/ services relevant to one or more of the themes defined above
  • Are a mid to late-stage enterprise that is Minimum Viable Prototype (MVP) ready and with initial market traction
  • Through interventions (product/service) must be able to create a strong and measurable impact on the target population
  • Preference to enterprises set up by women entrepreneurs and businesses with gender-inclusive products/services
Apply Now

Evaluation Criteria

Parameters we will use to evaluate your business

  • Uniqueness and potential of the solution to address the challenges of the Sexual & Reproductive Health space
  • Robustness of the operational and commercial model
  • Potential for replicability and/or scalability
  • A diverse team with technical, commercial and administrative profiles. Additional weightage for women-led teams or teams with a significant number of women.
  • Assertive social impact strategy and ability to measure it
  • Ability to use the financial support in a positive and concrete way towards the development of the entrepreneurial project.
Evaluation Criteria

Contact Us

Please reach out to us for queries on cohort selection process, support to incubatees, partnerships, investment and financing opportunities for our cohort enterprises.

Key Stakeholders


This event is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the terms of the Cooperative Agreement #7200AA20CA00002, led by Jhpiego and partners. The contents are the responsibility of MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.

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