Bharat Livelihood Challenge

A virtual hackathon aimed at empowering early-stage startups building impactful solutions in jobs, skilling, and income enhancement for urban Bharat.

Bharat Livelihood Challenge

A virtual hackathon aimed at empowering early-stage startups building impactful solutions in jobs, skilling, and income enhancement for urban Bharat.

About the Program

By 2030, nearly a billion Indians will be of working age, and almost half will be youth. However, urban India’s low and middle-income communities face persistent employment challenges, from skills mismatch to language and geography barriers, underemployment, and lack of upward career mobility.

IIMA Ventures, in collaboration with Apna, has launched the Bharat Livelihood Challenge—a virtual hackathon aimed at empowering early-stage startups building impactful solutions in jobs, skilling, and income enhancement for urban Bharat.

Program Objectives

Identify and back startups focused on employability and income outcomes for urban low-income segments.

Provide access to capital, coaching, and market connects to validate and scale startup solutions.

Foster collaboration between startups, and large-scale platforms like Apna to create real-world impact

WHAT WE OFFER

Fast-track entry to IIMA Ventures’ flagship, Bharat Inclusion Accelerator

Up to $50K in financial support for prototyping or early growth

1:1 mentoring support in validation, GTM, fundraising, legal etc

Pilot with employers and training partners to unlock real-time insights and drive data-backed improvement.

Platform integration and co-marketing opportunities with Apna*

FOCUS AREAS

    Digital skilling platforms focused on vernacular languages, microlearning, and sector-specific skills

    Career mobility solutions for gig and contract workers (career pathing, credentialing, upskilling for better opportunities)

    AI-driven job matching and assessments for non-English speaking and non-degree holders

    Part-time, full time, remote, flexible gig jobs

    Micro-entrepreneur enablement and income augmentation models (e.g., homepreneurs, freelancers, creators)

Who Can Apply

Early-stage Startups

  • Early-stage startups (prototype or MVP stage preferred)

High-impact Scalable Ideas

  • Open to individuals, teams, or organizations working on high-impact, scalable ideas

Solutions Serving Urban Low and Middle Income Segments

  • Solutions must focus on Jobs, Livelihood, and Skilling for Urban Low and Middle-Income Segments of Bharat

Frequently Asked Questions

The applications are being accepted till August 30, 2025. 

Only one application per innovation will be considered. If multiple entries are submitted for the same idea, only the strongest version will be reviewed. Duplicates with less detail or unclear responses may be rejected.

Problem Relevance: Alignment with the theme and pain points of the urban workforce
● Innovation: Uniqueness of the idea, technology leverage, or business model
● Feasibility: Clarity of execution, go-to-market plan, and realistic resource requirements
● Scalability: Potential for expansion across geographies and user segments
● Impact: Ability to improve income, employability, or job access

 

The funding support for selected startups will be provided by IIMA Ventures under the Bharat Inclusion Initiative, which aims to back early-stage innovations that drive impact across livelihoods, financial inclusion, and skilling in underserved communities.

Please visit our program website https://iimaventures.com/bharat-inclusion-initiative/ to learn more about the Bharat Inclusion Initiative.