NEEV — Seed grants for first-generation entrepreneurs.
When a family arrived in Agroha with nothing, every household gave them one brick and one rupee. A thousand households meant a house and an operating shop by the end of the first day. No single family gave enough to feel it. The newcomer received enough to change everything.
The obligation was not repayment. It was to give a brick to the next family that arrived. NEEV is that system, run again, for people trying to start something today.
Ek Rupaya — the corpus
Every member contributes a small fixed amount each year. It is deliberately small. The point is not that anyone gives much; it is that everyone gives. A thousand members make a corpus that no single donor could match, and no member feels it.
Ek Eent — the brick
Not everything a founder needs is money. Ek Eent is the in-kind register: a first purchase order, warehouse space for six months, an introduction to a distributor, a lawyer who takes the call. Members pledge what they have rather than what they can spare.
Open to all.
Applications are open to all, irrespective of caste, community, religion, gender or place of birth. We assess stage, need, merit and the quality of the plan. We do not assess background.
- ◆An early-stage business or a clear plan to start one.
- ◆Demonstrated need.
- ◆A viable route to revenue.
- ◆Willingness to be mentored.
- ◆A commitment to pass the brick on when able.
Independent, on the record.
An independent grants committee assesses every application on stated criteria. Outcomes are published — approved, deferred and declined — with anonymised reasoning.
Recusal is mandatory where any committee member is connected to an applicant. No grant may be made to a director's relative without unanimous independent approval.
Apply for a grant
Tell us about your business, what you need, and where you are today.
Contribute one rupee
A small annual contribution, given by many, becomes the corpus that funds the next brick.