This youth-based action fund is looking to raise $100k to help teens identify social issues and make an impact
Founded in 2018, Pranav Unni led YUVAM, is working to create an exclusively focussed, potentially large-scale fund to invest in the social movements of teenagers and help build a better world.
YUVAM Action Fund, a youth-based platform is in the process to raise about $100,000 from its partner investors in 2020. The investment will also include $10,000 to $30,000 in the seed-stage round and $5,000 to $10,000 for one-time grants.
A major portion of the fund raised by the platform will be used to invest in the individual ideas of teenagers from India, the United States, and Indonesia, directly through a combination of equity and grants. YUVAM’s first cohort will also include one beneficiary from each of these countries.
Founded in 2018 by Pranav Unni, a class 11 student from New Delhi, the platform was established to encourage and equip young teenagers to take ownership of problems around them, and to work towards bringing change in their immediate and larger communities.
According to Pranav, there are no large funds set up with an exclusive focus on teenage entrepreneurs. There have been smaller experiments, but a substantial amount of money and resources have never been committed to helping young people build movements.
Pranav says, “Typically, ideas and movements led by teenagers are not taken seriously. I knew it was time for an upward thrust for our ideas. YUVAM was founded to bring the focus on teens and the movements they are building.”
The youth-based platform that helps teenage entrepreneurs, has also roped in a global non-profit organisation, Ashoka, to help identify social innovations led by teenagers. The funds raised will also be invested in various activities like selection, collaboration, platform-building, among others.
The main objective of the selection process is to focus on the individual than the idea, believing that the person will transform the right idea, says a mentor from Ashoka.
This is where YUVAM comes in. The platform helps, “to create an exclusively focussed, potentially large-scale fund to invest in the social movements of teenagers, and help build a better world for our collective future.”
The action fund intends to help build an ecosystem to ensure that the voices of these teenagers are heard, right feedback is received, and the means to collaborate towards scaling are achievable.
Hiteshwar, who joined YUVAM as its Chief Collaborator, feels changemaking is a lonely journey. Hence, it is important to build a strong network of peers - adults and youth alike, who can take the idea to become a movement.
(Edited by Suman Singh)
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