Meet the six Indian ventures that made it to the Unreasonable Institute Marketplace 2012

Boulder, Colorado based green and social enterprise accelerator the Unreasonable Institute has announced the 46 ventures that are part of the Unreasonable marketplace.Of the number of applicants the institute received this year, they chose 46 Finalists to be showcased on the Unreasonable Marketplace. The Unreasonable Marketplace is where people around the world get to decide which of these 46 Finalists will ultimately become Unreasonable Fellows.

Although the cost of attending the Unreasonable Institute is $10,000, they do not allow the selected entrepreneurs to pay. Instead, they are challenged to raise that $10,000 on the Unreasonable Marketplace. The first 25 Finalists to do so become Unreasonable Fellows and will attend the 2012 Institute.

Out of the 46 ventures in the marketplace, the following 6 are from India:

• The Tipping Point (Zameen Organics) by Gijs Spoor: Connecting buyers to groups of farmers to ensure markets for farmers and helping them to sell under a high-quality brand to improve incomes dramatically. They've worked so far with 10,000 small cotton farmers and organized them so they can trade directly with global fashion grands, traded over $3 million in fairtrade certified cotton, and raised $200,000 in equity capital.
• Rural Development Marketing by Ravi Chandra: Training low-income women to turn waste into incense and compost, providing livelihoods, consumer products, and eliminating waste.
• Green Basics by Ramana Kills: Has provided skills training to 2500 individual farmers in seed multiplication thereby helping them to produce their own breeder seeds for the future. They've raised Rs. 2.8 million in investment.
• Trashion (Conserve India) by Shalabh Ahuja: Hiring low-income people (ragpickers) to collect waste and turn it into beautiful products sold at markets across the world (like in Crate and Barrel). Trashion has reached 600 beneficiaries and has generated export revenues of over $500,000
• Prakti Design by Mousine Serrar: Prakti Design has distributed nearly 10,000 clean cookstoves that cut fuel use by 50% via partners like USAID, the World Food Programme,
• Sustainable Solid Waste Management by Amuthasekharan Nachiappan: Hiring low-income women (currently employing 1,000) to collect and sort waste for recycling and reuse, creating both livelihoods and reducing waste.

To check out all the ventures and contribute to the entrepreneurs' campaigns click here.