1. Entrepreneurial Finance

To drive and help create an effective financial ecosystem to support enterprise-creation and growth through research, dissemination and outreach activities, and to identify and pursue new innovative models to enhance financial resources at different stages of the entrepreneurial journey, from concept development to post-revenue generation.

Rather than work at the level of the individual entrepreneur, our objective in this area is to cause positive change that has a beneficial impact on many entrepreneurs.

Current research areas:

1. Entrepreneurial finance ecosystem using a complex adaptive system perspective
2. Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs: factor focus, current state, issues
3. Leveraging existing financial resources: “Wikify Entrepreneurship in India”
4. Supply and demand of capital; smoothing volatility; enabling flow
5. Information asymmetry: issues, causes, solutions
6. Financing entrepreneurship
7. Incubation capital
8. Debt financing: tools and vehicles
9. Equity financing: tools and vehicles
10. New vehicles for early-stage financing
11. Platform to enhance capital flow to entrepreneurial developmental initiatives

Brief background
This study is an effort under the larger umbrella of WCED’s goal to enhance access to finance for aspiring entrepreneurs, startups and growth-oriented small and medium enterprises. The scope of this study involves studying the role that credit guarantee vehicle has played in India, critically assessing the need for such a vehicle, and thereafter proposing ways to enhance the effectiveness of such a vehicle. 

Key objectives
1.     Consolidate rationale, objectives and effectiveness of credit guarantee schemes in India and elsewhere
2.     Explore alternative guarantee schemes with a similar purpose of enhancing access to finance for entrepreneurs
3.     Explore innovations in credit guarantee schemes elsewhere and their impact
4.     Define an effectiveness framework and analyse the existing credit guarantee schemes (especially that in India) against the framework based on primary and secondary research
5.     Evaluate the perspectives of various stakeholders involved (trust, banks and entrepreneurs)
6.     Evaluate the need for a credit guarantee scheme in terms of outlay and impact
7.     Provide recommendations to the stakeholders (policy makers, credit guarantee trust and member lending institutions)
8.     Design pilot initiative(s) and thereby propose approaches that address gaps   

Current stage

Baseline stage: Existing landscape in India and abroad has been consolidated, document circulated to faculty for inputs.
Primary Research stage: Objectives for this phase drawn up based on Phase 1 and critical inputs. The research methodology and design is under process.

3. Social Marketplace for Social Enterprises

Brief background

The idea of “Social Marketplace for Social Enterprises” is aimed at bridging the interaction gap between funders and agents of change. This marketplace should serve as a platform where social enterprises across sectors can list themselves, provide details of their credentials (aim, past activities, social impact achieved, feedback from stakeholders, etc) and projects for which they seek funding and in turn, funding organisations can use this space for informed funding. A good amount of research work and implementation in this area has resulted in several social marketplace models coming into existence in many countries. Coming to the Indian scenario, this entire process is in the nascent stage. In the background of mammoth of developmental needs in India and the wide scope of involvement of social enterprises in this, it’s crucial to make sure that good performing organisations get recognition and adequate funding for their impact, and proper sense of accountability and efficiency gets imbibed in their work. This initiative can result in opening up of the social enterprise landscape for scientific scrutiny and making of well-thought decisions, resulting in greater capital inflow in development the sector, better level of efficiency and higher human welfare. This study intends to bring out a framework for such a marketplace in the Indian context.  

Key objectives

1. Study the landscape of Social Enterprises in India and issues and challenges associated with it
2. Build a case for “Social Marketplace for Social Enterprises”
3. Consolidate various models of Social Marketplace in practice
4. Develop framework of Social Marketplace for India
5. Identify areas of further research in this direction
6. Design pilot initiative(s) and thereby propose approaches that address gaps   

Current stage

Baseline stage: Literature survey and consolidation of various models of existing Social Marketplace is completed. Preparation of a white paper is in progress. This will be circulated to a wide range of audiences for inputs and a working group will be formed to substantiate next stages.