Fresh from scripting one of the biggest exits in the e-commerce segment in India in the recent past, Phanindra Sama, the founder of redbus.in (online ticketing portal for inter-city buses), has started to invest in social entrepreneurship.
Sama, with close guidance from Raju Reddy, founder chairman of Silicon Valley-based Sierra Atlantic, has invested in social innovation framework - Sandbox, the brain child of another Silicon Valley entrepreneur - Gururaj 'Desh' Deshpande, which seeks to provide a platform for social entrepreneurs."I was always interested in social innovation...but didn't quite understand how to go about it. Raju Reddy, my mentor, guided me in the investment in Sandbox and it has been a great experience so far," Sama told Business Standard.
Sama's redbus.in, during mid of last year, was acquired by Naspers-backed ibibo.com for an estimated $110 million (Rs 650 crore).
Sama, further to the sale, continues to work with ibibo. The model - Sandbox - seeks to work with business people and community leaders to build a comprehensive programme to encourage entrepreneurs to move from ideas to actual businesses. Using broad-based marketing, along with the help of community partners, Sandbox looks to attract a broad cross section of entrepreneurs.
Mentors, expert speakers and frequent gatherings will help the entrepreneurs accelerate their knowledge and give their ideas a better chance of success. The hub will support numerous social businesses and NGOs by providing financial and capacity building resources with the aim of scaling each venture within the immediate proximity of the respective hub, and then leveraging the network to further its growth.
Reddy said the Sandbox hub in Nizamabad has initiated three projects so far and has met with good response.
"We need role models such as Sama to get involved more in the social entrepreneurship. He's like a lightning rod and with his involvement, hopefully, we will see more entrepreneurs support such causes," Reddy told Business Standard. Deshpande, speaking earlier with Business Standard, said that the Sandbox model, is all about coming up with pro-active solutions and does not take a need-based approach.
"In addition to Raju Reddy and Sama, there are a whole host of honchos including Sangeeta Reddy of Apollo, Dilip Modi of Spice Group among various others who are setting up hubs under the Sandbox model," Deshpande added.
