● Portfolio of 21 companies drove year-on-year income growth of 75% for farmers including tribal farmers, 93% for artisans, and 25% for street vendors.
● Fresh investments of INR 20.76 Cr announced across healthcare, mobility, agriculture and the informal economy
● Next Bharat Ventures’ second INR 2000 Cr fund gets backed by investments from 5 Japanese LPs
Next Bharat Ventures (NBV), a new-age impact first fund backed by capital from Japan, today unveiled its Impact Report 2026, highlighting how businesses serving India's Next Billion across the rural and informal economy can create measurable social impact while building commercially viable and scalable enterprises. The report records ~20,00,000 people reached through 21 portfolio companies, alongside strong commercial momentum across key sectors since Next Bharat’s investment.
NBV has committed INR 20.76 crore in seed funding with the goal of building a Y Combinator inspired ecosystem for impact-driven entrepreneurship in India. This includes INR 9 crore investment for Blackfrog Technologies, whose Emvólio is India’s first patented, WHO-PQS prequalified activecooled vaccine carrier designed for last-mile delivery in remote and infrastructure-constrained regions. The solution has reached 251,512 beneficiaries in India to date, and also has a global presence in Africa.
● INR 7.5 Cr for eBik, which builds electric mobility solutions for gig workers, hawkers and delivery personnel. Its e-cycles and e-karts currently benefit 6,000 people
● INR 2 Cr for CIBOS, which provides solar-powered cooking solutions for street vendors
● INR 1.26 Cr for Velaan Mart, which connects farmers directly with institutional buyers
● INR 1 Cr for SGB Agro, which develops low-vibration farm equipment to reduce manual labour
Vipul Nath Jindal, Founder and CEO of Next Bharat Ventures, commented, “Impacting 2 million lives is an important milestone for us, but our ambition is to scale that impact exponentially from here. With Fund II, we want to back businesses that can improve the livelihoods of India’s Next Billion and address some of the most persistent gaps in access. We have been deliberate in choosing LPs who deeply resonate with our mission and take a long-term view of capital. This is why Japan has been an important market for us, with Suzuki continuing to anchor our fund alongside several other Japanese institutions. Going forward, we will focus on entrepreneurs solving last-mile gaps in healthcare and harnessing technologies such as AI for social good.”
The Impact Report 2026 focuses on the outcomes being driven for the country’s next billion people representing India 2 and India 3. India 2 comprises the informal economy in urban India such as gig workers, street vendors and waste pickers, and India 3 includes the livelihood led economy in rural India of farmers and artisans. So far, Next Bharat Ventures has backed 5 startups working in the informal economy which have cumulatively impacted 14,70,610 lives and report a revenue growth of 60.05%. It has also invested in 16 startups working in the rural economy whose revenue has increased by 186.13% and impacted 4,98,797 lives.
The findings point to a portfolio generating measurable value at both the enterprise and community level, with ~80% of the startups already on the path to profitability. This commercial growth is complemented by measurable improvements in the incomes of the communities they serve, with 75% year-on-year income growth among farmers and tribal farmers, 93% among artisans, and 25% among street vendors.
At the launch of the Impact Report 2026, Amitabh Kant, Former CEO of NITI Aayog, said, “India’s next phase of growth will depend on how effectively we unlock the economic potential of the country’s next billion people. Next Bharat Ventures is playing an important role in this journey by moving beyond our metropolitan centres and backing entrepreneurs across India 2 and India 3 to build enduring businesses. By helping these enterprises scale, Next Bharat Ventures can contribute to making India’s growth more inclusive and deeply rooted across the country.”
Fujitani Masao, Executive General Manager, New Business, Suzuki Motor Corp, said, “Our support continues for Next Bharat Ventures with the launch of Fund II. We believe that India’s next wave of growth will come from creating pathways for impact driven entrepreneurs building solutions to address the problems of their communities. Our partnership reflects Suzuki’s commitment to supporting this ecosystem and helping create opportunities that can drive meaningful, long-term impact.”
The report highlights that revenue across Next Bharat Ventures’ agriculture portfolio has grown 246.66%, reaching more than 214,000 farmers, customers, producers and livelihood beneficiaries. There has been a 60% revenue growth reported by the startups working across the intersections of education, accessibility, and healthcare who have impacted 17,15,372 lives. Startups working in the space of arts and livelihoods reported a revenue growth of 24.72% and impacted 39,795 lives.
Since receiving investment, companies like Graduate Farmer, a poultry farming startup, have recorded 8x revenue growth, increasing monthly farmer incomes from INR 15,000 to INR 25,000. Manikstu, creating a technology-enabled goat farming ecosystem for farmers in Odisha, has seen 5x growth in revenue reaching 25,000 farmers increasing their annual income from INR 40,000 to INR 1.5 lakh.
Haqdarshak has enabled welfare scheme access for approximately 1.4 million informal workers, and Atypical Advantage has created access to dignified livelihoods for 5,000 Persons with Disabilities (PwDs). Kadam Haat, which trains rural artisans to turn wild grass into eco-conscious lifestyle products, expanded its artisan network from 400 to 6,500 increasing annual incomes from ₹7,000 to ₹55,000. Similarly, artisanal marketplace MeMeraki scaled its network to 400 heritage artists, expanding monthly incomes from ₹25,000 to ₹32,000.
With the upcoming deployment of Fund II, Next Bharat Ventures is looking to invest in companies working in the domains of healthcare and AI, creating impact in the livelihoods of India’s next billion people. The Impact Report 2026 ultimately presents a thesis that extends beyond conventional impact investing. When enterprises solve fundamental problems plaguing India 2 and India 3, the impact they generate can become part of the very engine that makes the business commercially sustainable.
Next Bharat Ventures (NBV) is a new-age impact first fund backed by capital from Japan, dedicated to empowering the Next Billion in India. NBV backs impact-driven entrepreneurs building profitable, scalable, and self-sustaining businesses that improve the quality of life for millions across rural and informal Bharat.
NBV believes that the next wave of India's economic growth will be driven by entrepreneurs solving fundamental challenges at scale. By transforming the informal and rural economy into a core engine of Bharat's growth story, NBV enables millions to participate meaningfully in the country's economic future.
At its core, NBV brings together founders driven by Intent, Impact, and Business; entrepreneurs who are building institutions, not just startups. These businesses are designed to achieve meaningful scale while delivering sustainable financial returns, proving that impact and profitability can grow hand in hand.
Through capital, strategic partnerships, market access, technology enablement, and a strong founder community, NBV is building a new generation of companies capable of serving millions of Indians and creating enduring businesses that define the future of Next Bharat.
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