'Balance of profit and impact': Ronnie Screwvala on social entrepreneurship and Swades Foundation’s journey

People believe that impact and making money shouldn't be clubbed together, but it's crucial to first understand how to accelerate both effectively, according to Ronnie Screwvala, Co-founder of upGrad and Swades Foundation.

“This balance between impact and making money is a guilt complex, and it won't get you anywhere, because in India, if you want to solve problems at scale, you need the resources, the capital, the money. You don't need subsidies. If you got subsidies, you'd never be able to make that impact,” he emphasised in a fireside chat at TechSparks 2024 with YourStory Founder and CEO Shradha Sharma.

Screwvala clarified that he does not see himself as a social entrepreneur. "The reason I'm saying this is that either I want to run a not-for-profit or I'll run a for-profit. I think this in-between doesn't work,” he explained.

He further reflected on his journey of starting a non-profit when he was in his early 20s.

“The not-for-profit space was a good balance. It was a culture-setting moment for the organisation," he shared. "Was I clear why I was doing it? Not at all.”

Screwvala also touched upon a trend among Gen Z of giving back to society and volunteering, adding that he believes a lot of the time people get so obsessed with what they're doing that they either suddenly burn out or question their purpose in life.

He also reflected on how starting his non-profit provided him with a sense of balance that has stayed with him throughout his journey.

“I was very fortunate that it happened when it happened, and it gave me a constant balance in life. If you're having that, and then if you're going to sit down in the rural villages and understand their problems, there is no way you can come back with a swagger or get excited about being a unicorn. Because the minute you know how the other half lives, it just is a levelling process for you,” he said.

The start of his non-profit journey also happened at a time when he was working with borrowed money and there was no venture capital at that time, he added.

Speaking about the origins of his non-profit, Screwvala shared an interesting anecdote about how four Columbia students, visiting to work on a village project, reminded him of the 2004 film Swades where Shah Rukh Khan's character returns from NASA to bring water to his village. This would subsequently go on to inspire the creation of his foundation by the same name.

Swades, which began life 15 years ago as SHARE (Society to Heal Aid Restore Educate), raised Rs 10 crore from the Social Stock Exchange, making it the biggest listing on the exchange so far. With 150 individuals across industries contributing to the fundraise, it has also seen the widest participation among the eight projects listed so far on the exchange.