Suzuki's Next Bharat Ventures Launches ‘The Why Club,’ Reveals Inaugural Cohort of 13 Impact Entrepreneurs

• After a 4-month Residency Program, Next Bharat Ventures has announced its first cohort of 13 start-ups selected from a pool of 1500+ applicants
• The impact investment firm has committed an initial funding of total INR 9 Cr to select start-ups from The Why Club and implemented an annually recurring ‘Pay-it-forward’ fellowship for the members
• With a vision to build a self-sustaining, intent-driven community, The Why Club champions ‘Elephant’ entrepreneurs who are focused on creating lasting impact. The members will be provided with access to capital, mentorship, and strategic support.
• Next Bharat Ventures has also announced the opening of applications for the next batch of their Residency Program which is scheduled to commence from May 19th 2025 entrepreneurs.

Next Bharat Ventures, a subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation, has announced the launch of The Why Club, a community built for and by impact entrepreneurs. This initiative brings together 13 intent-driven start-ups, where 50 percent of the founders are women. These start-ups were selected from the first cohort of Next Bharat’s flagship Residency Program. This marks a significant step in enabling a robust peer-driven ecosystem for Impact entrepreneurship in India.

As part of this initiative, Next Bharat Ventures is evaluating the investment readiness of the cohort members and plans to offer select startups additional funding, ranging from INR 1 Cr to INR 5 Cr each, to support their growth and scale their impact. The first cohort is composed entirely of impact entrepreneurs from remote rural areas across Tier 2 and Tier 3 regions. They are committed to addressing critical gaps in rural livelihoods, driving transformation through sustainable agriculture, organic food production, and fair trade practices.

Sharing the vision for the initiative, Vipul Nath Jindal, CEO of Next Bharat Ventures, said,

We want The Why Club to be the world’s largest self-sustaining, co-dependent community of impact entrepreneurs. We are on a mission to create a separate category of social impact driven entrepreneurship in India, where we have witnessed that founders often face their toughest challenges in isolation—our goal is to ensure that they never feel alone in their journey. With that thought, we are creating a platform where they can work side by side with their peers, exchange knowledge, resources, and inspiration while gaining access to capital and global networks.

The Why Club offers a structured support system to its members, ensuring they have all the resources needed to scale their impact. This includes the ‘Pay-it-forward-fellowship,’ an annually recurring community-driven funding mechanism designed to help founders sustain their entrepreneurial journeys. Members will also benefit from mentorship by seasoned founders, venture capitalists, and grassroots leaders, along with access to market opportunities and support for strategic business development. Additionally, the club will also actively facilitate India-Japan collaborations to help impact-driven start-ups expand globally.

The investment philosophy of Next Bharat Ventures centres on identifying and supporting intent-driven entrepreneurs who are deeply anchored in the causes they work for. The selection process prioritizes intent, commitment, and long-term impact potential along with conventional business metrics. Stepping away from conventional funding models that are focused on rapid scaling and valuations, Next Bharat Ventures adopts a patient capital investment approach to create ‘Elephant Entrepreneurs’. These entrepreneurs are resilient to economic fluctuations, and prioritise community impact and sustainability over quick returns—focusing on long-term, meaningful change.

With increasing government focus on agritech, rural livelihoods, and sustainable businesses, The Why Club is uniquely positioned to nurture the next wave of impact-driven founders who can contribute to India’s journey towards becoming Viksit Bharat by 2047. This vision was echoed at the Next Billion Forum conducted in December’24, where prominent leaders like Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa and former CEO of NITI Aayog; Mr. Toshihiro Suzuki, President of Suzuki Motor Corporation; and Mohandas Pai, Chairman of Aarin Capital, highlighted the critical role of grassroots entrepreneurs in building resilient, self-sustaining communities.

The first cohort of Next Bharat Ventures comprising of the inaugural Why Club members includes:

1. Aakriti Srivastava, Founder & CEO of Bahula Naturals
2. Aishwarya Jhawar, Co-Founder of Ekatra
3. Bapan Das, Founder of GRDT Farmers
4. Jayanti Mahapatra, Founder & CEO of Manikstu Agro
5. Kuldeep Patel, Director & CEO of Phasal Bazar
6. Nivedita Rai, Co-Founder of Karghewale
7. Payal Nath, Co-Founder & CEO of Kadam Haat
8. Prerna Agarwal, Founder of Samakhya
9. Rakesh Gupta, Founder of Gramshree
10. Satendrasingh Lilhare, Co-Founder of Bastar Se Bazaar Tak
11. Selvakumar Varadharajan, Founder & CEO of Vilfresh
12. Shubhra Devi, Founder & CEO of Meira Foods
13. Satyam Bhandari, Founder of Heart in Hills

The applications for Next Bharat’s second Residency Program are now open for all the early stage passionate impact entrepreneurs.

About Next Bharat Ventures

Next Bharat is established with the focus to unite “Impact Entrepreneurs” who are tirelessly working to solve problems of the Billion Indians, who are a part of the rural economy or the Informal economy of India. A 100% subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation Japan, Next Bharat Ventures IFSC Private is a INR 340 Crore fund, dedicated to supporting early-stage, intent-driven entrepreneurs through capital, mentorship, and market access.

Through its flagship initiative, the “Next Bharat Residency” Program, the firm intends to create an end-to-end support ecosystem for Impact Entrepreneurs, who are not only passionate about solving a socio-economic problem but also equally have a strong business acumen to grow and scale their startups. The ultimate objective of the program is to empower Impact Entrepreneurs to tackle critical social challenges making the rural and informal economies as pivotal elements of Bharat's growth journey.

Visit: https://nextbharat.ventures/

Suzuki to Invest in NDDB Subsidiary to Setup Biogas Plants in India

Suzuki Motor Corporation has signed an agreement to invest in NDDB Mrida Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board (hereinafter, NDDB), through Suzuki R&D Center India Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Suzuki in India.

A signing ceremony was held at NDDB headquarters in Anand, Gujarat, on Wednesday, with NDDB’s Executive Director S Rajeev, Suzuki’s President Toshihiro Suzuki and main Indian dairy industry in attendance.

The biogas plants will utilize cow dung to produce biogas, which will then be purified and compressed to generate compressed biomethane gas for vehicles. This project aims to promote environmental conservation and agricultural development while providing clean energy.

Suzuki Motor Corporation plans to invest over ₹250 crores (approximately $30 million USD) in setting up five biogas CNG plants in the Banaskantha district of Gujarat, India. These plants are expected to be operational by 2025 and will contribute to Suzuki's goal of achieving carbon neutrality in India.

It's a significant investment that will help promote sustainable energy solutions and support rural mobility services using biogas.

Mrida is a wholly owned subsidiary of NDDB, which was established in July 2022 to promote environmental conservation and agricultural development. The company establishes and operates biogas plants by using cow dung in India. Suzuki plans to expand its biogas business by establishing and operating biogas plants in cooperation with dairy cooperatives across India through Mrida.

Suzuki is also promoting rural mobility services using biogas fuel for CNG vehicles. This initiative aims to provide clean and affordable transportation in rural areas, starting with the Banaskantha district in Gujarat. In July this year, Suzuki concluded a three-party MoU for the basic agreement between Suzuki R&D Center India Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Suzuki in India, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), and Banas Dairy (Headquarters: Banaskantha district, Gujarat) to setup the 5th biogas production plant as well as to promote rural mobility service utilizing biogas, which would contribute toward realizing carbon neutrality in India.

Notably, Suzuki has also signed agreements with Amul Dairy in Anand and Dudhsagar Dairy in Mehsana to establish additional biogas plants. These plants will further expand Suzuki's biogas business in Gujarat.

T-hub and Suzuki Partner to Support Indian Entrepreneurs in Accessing Japan’s Ecosystem

• T-Hub and Suzuki Innovation Center Partner to promote open-innovation between India and Japan
• Aims to provide technology-driven startups access to capital, mentorship, and access to India and Japan .
• Startups receive exposure in sectors such as sustainability, rural development, supply chain, agritech, andmobility.

T-Hub, which leads India’s innovation ecosystem, today announced its partnership with Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), a leading corporation in the automobile sector to accelerate the growth of the Indian start-up ecosystem. With this collaborative partnership, T-Hub Suzuki Motor Corporation, aims to provide mentoring and support Indian entrepreneurs to access Japan’s ecosystem.

Suzuki Innovation Center (SIC), which is an open innovation platform, will provide growth opportunities to T-Hub incubated start-ups. In addition, SIC provides an open platform for new connections and innovation between India and Japan among academia, industries, and startups. Entrepreneurs will get to engage and innovate with universities and industries from India as well as Japan in domains of sustainability, rural development, supply chain, agritech, and mobility . T-Hub through its robust innovation ecosystem will help SIC to gain exposure to a variety of innovative solutions from startups and help them boost their experiences and expertise in the innovation ecosystem. T-Hub and SIC will collaborate on events, leadership opportunities, workshops, and mentoring to bridge the gap between the Japan and Indian startup ecosystem.

MSR (Mahankali Srinivas Rao), CEO of T-Hub, said, “Through our partnership with Suzuki Motor Corporation, we are aiming to address broad challenges on and beyond mobility, in India and Japan, on top of the synergistic combination of technology and design. The partnership will empower T-Hub entrepreneurs to scale globally enduring homegrown technology startups with access to mentorship, and guidance from Suzuki Innovation Centre.”

The MoU was signed in the presence of Mr. Hideaki Domichi, Former ambassador Japan to India, and Director, Suzuki Motor Corporation, Mr. Kinji Saito, Director and Senior Managing Officer, Global Automobile Marketing, Suzuki Motor Corporation, Mr. Vipul Jindal, Execution Head, Suzuki Innovation Center, Mr. Srinivas Rao Mahankali, Chief Executive Officer, T-Hub, Ms. Prathyusha Koneti, Head – Corporate Innovation, T-Hub

Spokesperson, Suzuki Motor Corporation said, “Our partnership with T-Hub will synergize the startup ecosystem between India and Japan. Suzuki`s latest initiative, ‘Suzuki Innovation Center (SIC)’ will play an instrumental role in promoting open-innovation with startups along with support of partners like T-Hub”, said Mr. Kinji Saito, Director and Senior Managing Officer Global Automobile Marketing, Suzuki Motor Corporation.”

This one-year agreement will act as a catalyst revolutionizing open innovation and creating global avenues for the Indian Startup ecosystem. In addition, this will enable T-hub startups to access various benefits such as-validating their solutions, building POC (Proof-of-Concept), funding opportunities and access to a vast pool of global networks.

T-Hub’s programs have been successfully scaling startups in partnership with a robust ecosystem of partners. T-Hub, to date, has impacted over 2000 startups through various programs and initiatives, has over 600 global and national corporate partners and has provided 2000 mentor connects to help the startup scale. T-Hub will continue to drive collaboration between startups and leading innovation ecosystems worldwide, providing global market-access opportunities to startups.

T-Hub (Technology Hub) is an innovation hub and ecosystem enabler. Based out of Hyderabad, India, T-Hub leads India’s pioneering innovation ecosystem and is the world’s largest innovation campus. Over the six years, T-Hub has pivoted around the 6Ms (Mentorship, Money, Market Access, Motivation, Mindset, Manpower) and 2Ps (Partnerships & Policy advisory) framework with a mission of driving results and collaboration for entrepreneurs’ success. It has delivered 100+ innovation programs so far, creating an impact for startups, corporations, and other innovation ecosystem stakeholders. Since inception, it has provided over 2000 national and international startups with access to better technology, talent, mentors, customers, corporates, investors, and government agencies.

Since the founding of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Suzuki has always pursued providing 'value-packed products' as one of its manufacturing philosophies. Realizing that the value differs according to the times, country and lifestyle, Suzuki is fully determined to challenge the creativity to make such products for customers around the world with its advanced technologies and enthusiasm.

Suzuki Innovation Center

Suzuki Innovation Center (SIC) is an initiative, supported by Suzuki Motor Corporation (Japan) and Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH). The goal of the center is to promote open innovation and collaboration between industries, academia and startups between India and Japan leveraging 40 years of experience of Suzuki in both the countries. The center will focus on domains such as sustainability, rural development, supply chain, agritech, and mobility. The center will also have programs for human resource exchange between both the countries as well as networking events where multiple stakeholders will get opportunities to meet and connect. SIC advocates the power of ideas, people and open collaboration. https://www.globalsuzuki.com/corporate/