In December, the ANDE South Asia Convening delivered an impactful exploration of its compelling theme, “Big Ideas for Small Business.” Building on the energy of ANDE’s Global Annual Conference 2024, the event gathered visionary leaders, innovators, and practitioners for three days of meaningful dialogue and collaboration. The event was a testament to the power of collective action, fostering a vibrant exchange of ideas that will continue to drive positive change for entrepreneurs across South Asia.
Co-hosted with NAB Bangladesh and supported by BetterStories Limited, ICIMOD, nVentures, PTH Venture Studio, SAFAL Partners, and World University Service of Canada (WUSC – EUMC), the convening focused on key issues shaping South Asia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Participants engaged in thought-provoking discussions, shared best practices, and explored innovative solutions to empower small businesses in the region. Here’s a glimpse of what was discussed and explored during each of the sessions at #SAC2024.
Day 1: Regional Ecosystem Building for SGBs I: Uncover how strategic regional cooperation, infrastructure development, and digital innovation can catalyze economic growth, broaden market reach, and alleviate poverty across South Asia.
Session 1: Climate-Resilient Businesses: The Power of Incubation in Mountainous Regions
Anu Shrestha Joshi, representing ICIMOD Nepal, kicked things off by drawing attention to the crucial efforts being made to protect the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region, emphasizing the alarming impact of climate change, particularly on mountain communities and small businesses, which endure vulnerabilities like inaccessibility, marginality, and increasing climate-induced disruptions. Adding to this, Samanata Thapa, co-founder of Startup Discovery Asia, brought an exciting perspective on empowering climate innovation in Nepal and South Asia. She shared how her team is bridging gaps in investment readiness, creating green jobs, and fostering inclusivity. From running the Climate Champion Competition to offering free office hours for startups and hosting community mixers, Startup Discovery Asia is all about energizing the climate startup ecosystem.
Erad Kawsar of Build Bangladesh highlighted their focus on impact investment through a star lens: gender equality, climate change, digital innovation, inclusivity, and intergenerational well-being. Erad discussed addressing critical challenges and driving sustainable solutions in Bangladesh by working with innovative startups like Green Dye, which produces organic dyes to combat river pollution, and Pop Tower, which harvests water from rain and moisture in the hill tracts. On a similar note, Adnan Faisal highlighted ScaleX’s climate solutions, including the establishment of the Climate Innovation Center, which addresses climate adaptation and mitigation challenges through private enterprise and integrated vertical interventions. He also spoke about the transformative role of startups in reshaping industries, emphasizing that founders act as “designer-leaders” who innovate and reengineer value chains to enable their solutions’ adoption. Build Bangladesh and ScaleX stand as powerful reminders that change is not just possible, but already underway.
Gerrit Jan van ‘t Veen of World Startup highlighted their dedication to building entrepreneurial ecosystems through the Changemaker Platform, which champions social, environmental, and regenerative entrepreneurship while promoting transformative system changes and large-scale prototyping. Gerrit expressed optimism about the future, stating:
Together, the panel explored actionable ways to localize startup support and build community-driven ecosystems. Their message was clear: creating climate-resilient businesses in regions like South Asia means tapping into local expertise and working towards inclusive, and sustainable growth.
Session 2: The Venture Studio Debate: Is South Asia Ready?
Day 1 continued with a thought-provoking debate on venture studios and the dynamic landscape of South Asia’s venture ecosystem, addressing key challenges, uncovering growth opportunities, and sharing insights into the region’s entrepreneurial future.
Gigi Mathews, Regional Director of Partnerships at Enviu, explained why the venture-building studio model works well in South Asia. She highlighted the region’s incredible diversity and emphasized the importance of creating an enabling ecosystem for success. She explained how, unlike traditional startups, building impact-driven ventures in South Asia required collaboration with multiple stakeholders, including governments, industries, corporates, and investors. Sharing quick learnings from her venture-building studio model:
Chalinda Abeykoon, nVentures, emphasized reversing the traditional venture model by raising funds first, navigating cultural shifts, and addressing hurdles in sales, marketing, and innovation politics. Chalinda stressed on the importance of understanding game theory, especially for entrepreneurs and investors, striving for win-win situations.
Highlighting funding as the biggest challenge for startups and venture studios in South Asia, Minhaz Anwar, BetterStories, stressed the need for government and ecosystem support to address infrastructural gaps and founder readiness, prioritizing foundational improvements for sustainable success. The discussion also explored the cultural nuances specific to South Asia. Omar Abedin from PTH Venture Studio shared his thoughts on the cultural shift needed in South Asia when it comes to failure. He believes failure should be seen as a valuable lesson, not something to fear. Omar also highlighted how venture studios can help prepare startups for funding and provide the tailored guidance they need.
Overall, the speakers emphasized the need for mutual confidence, long-term investment in innovation, and incentivizing collaboration through government transparency and private sector involvement.
Session 3: Future-Proofing SMEs: The Power of Digital Infrastructure
The last session of Day 1 brought an engaging discussion on how digital infrastructure can drive inclusivity, sustainability, and policy changes to support resilient businesses.
Santona Malakar from SAFAL Partners opened the conversation by emphasizing the vital role of SMEs in South Asia’s economy.
She highlighted the challenges SMEs face in today’s fast-changing digital world and the importance of empowering them with the right tools. Adding to the conversation, Radip Tandukar introduced GeoKrishi, a digital agriculture platform addressing Nepal’s farming hurdles. He explained how GeoKrishi is transforming the sector by boosting productivity, cutting input costs, and providing an integrated ecosystem for markets, financing, and digital payments—all designed to put farmers at the center of innovation.
Also, Gihan Mendis introduced EngenuityAi’s initiatives for empowering small farmers in Sri Lanka. Their free intelligent farm management tool combines templates for optimized farming, satellite insights, and a marketplace. He explained, “This harvest engine, it’s a full-cycle engine, an intelligent farm management application that helps from seed to plate, collecting data and providing support to farmers. And the best part? It’s entirely free for the farmer. We offer it to them at no charge.” The focus is on ensuring that smallholder farmers can access the same resources and markets as larger entities.
Abhishek Modi, from Satwa Knowledge Institute, discussed leveraging Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) to drive social impact at scale in India. He described the role of ‘Samaaj, Sarkar, and Bazaar’ (society, government, and market) as pivotal in creating a self-sustaining ecosystem and driving DPI initiatives.
The session underscored the importance of leveraging diverse capital, fostering ecosystem collaboration, and addressing inclusion barriers to drive sustainable and impactful growth of digital public infrastructure.