Abhishek Rungta

It’s a great honor to get an opportunity to help find the right businesses to receive the angel investment from government (tax payers money!)

These meetings are a once-a-month affair. I enjoy these meetings for several reasons:

1) It gives me hope. I hear entrepreneurs coming from far-flung places in India doing innovation that makes me look at them in awe.

I have met an entrepreneur building farm-to-fork traceability using blockchain in the North East. I also meet folks who manufacture bricks made of concrete to replace the traditional red bricks. I have also met and learned from a young group that is building English learning tools in rural Orissa.

These are just some examples of people at grassroot level who are trying to make a difference.

2) It also helps me understand the problems most grass-roots entrepreneurs face.

They cannot properly present and communicate their value proposition as well as their competitive advantage. Though the panelists ask them to speak in the local language, it is still not the language but the way ideas need to be articulated to get buy-in from others.

They need a lot of mentorship. Not the ones where people are aiming to build billion-dollar companies, but the ones where people are standing on their feet, trying to innovate, trying to build a better India and world.

I really want to think deeply about how I can be of any use here.

3) I see talented government officials in action closely, which gives me positivity

These meetings are extremely well organized. The organizing teams are extremely empathetic and courteous to the presenters and the judging panel. They keep improving the process and communicate effectively.

I also see the depth of knowledge of some of the officials who sit in these meetings, which is very reassuring.

So, overall, I love these once-a-month meetings that give me hope, knowledge, and positivity. India will be a huge force in the next two decades.

It will also be a GOOD FORCE FOR THE PLANET.