Sambhav Foundation (A LabourNet Initiative), in partnership with DXC Technology has launched ‘Upjeevika’, an incubator to create social impact.
Upjeevika is an initiative to identify and support social enterprises with the potential to create resilient livelihoods in India. This comes at a time when an unprecedented global health crisis has led us to reimagine the way we plan to collaborate and build a future as a society.
Upjeevika 2021 began in May with a three-month ‘Telemedicine Livelihoods Challenge’. This challenge is pan-India, inviting solutions to last-mile delivery challenges in the telemedicine domain. The drive is to generate ideas that could help telemedicine succeed in low resource settings and directly impact thousands of livelihoods while fortifying the healthcare backbone of the country.
Early stage ventures with a minimum viable product, or teams with an idea at the proof-of-concept stage will be invited to propose scalable livelihood solutions. A team of experts from the world of science and social innovation will evaluate these ideas, provide feedback to the participants, and sort through the participating teams to find those with the potential to scale.
The ideas that emerge as winners will get the opportunity to be incubated and receive the required ecosystem, expertise, and mentoring from Upjeevika so that they can evolve into a sustainable social change.
Gayathri Vasudevan, Chairperson – LabourNet said, “To build resilience in any sector, innovation is required in four very important areas. Innovation in skill enhancement can help workers and micro-entrepreneurs increase their earning potential and sources of income. Innovation in market linkage can provide better access to opportunities. Innovation in financial support systems can help individuals access the capital they need to transition to micro-entrepreneurship. And innovation in social security can help reduce workers’ risks by ensuring access to healthcare, insurance, and income security.”
Lokendra Sethi, Head – Human Resources, DXC Technology India said, “At DXC, we believe in setting the right examples in the society and making meaningful impact. We are proud to support Sambhav Foundation in this incredible journey of creating Upjeevika. This initiative is aligned with DXC’s vision of building a better future for our youth and creating sustainable livelihoods.”