Social Entrepreneurship Auroville (SEA)

SEA is a new project from AVAG, coordinated by Gijs Spoor, who is a social entrepreneur himself and has been working on social enterprise in rural India for over 10 years. The topic of enterprise development is a key strategic intervention area identified by Village Action based on analysis of the dynamics within the villages where AVAG operates The overall aim of the project is to support social entrepreneurs in the Auroville bioregion and beyond so that they can generate maximum social and ecological impact. The activities are minimal to start with and will be developed over time, based on evidence from the field indicating clear needs /demand. Projected approach July September:
1.

Action research activities following the method of Customer Development (see Steve Blank). Questions include: do youth who originate from the bioregion feel inclined to develop a career as social entrepreneur in their home village/region? Are obstacles as we assume them to be -eg unsupportive parents and heavy education loan burdens? Are existing enterprises interested to develop their business further? And what kind of support would they most benefit from /appreciate? Is there a viable (growing) market for enterprise based loans for the AVAG MFI system? If yes, what are the implications for the loan application assessment system?

Incubation of AuroConnect, a social enterprise co-working Hub hosting both startups as well as business support professionals. This support is temporarily and will be phased out within 6-12 months; 3. Exploring strategic support from partners like UnLtd India, VILLGRO, DASRA, Great Lakes management institute, etc. and collaboration with AV based units such as AIAT, ABC, IRD, SEDAB, etc.
2.

Governance: Gijs will report monthly to the AVAG meeting (held last Thursday of the month) with both narrative and financials Gijs is responsible for fund raising and recruitment AVAG executives will support Gijs in identifying relevant target groups and introducing the SEA team to the AVAG groups for further collaboration