· The recognition highlights the achievements and immense potential of the Indian Social Sector and paves the way for more Indian social innovators toward global recognition
Davos, Switzerland, 18th January 2024 (GNI): The Winner and Finalist of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY) Award – India platform, a joint initiative between Jubilant Bhartia Foundation (JBF) and Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship (a sister organisation of the World Economic Forum) win the prestigious Social Innovators of the Year 2024 Award by Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship announced in Davos, Switzerland today.
Through the SEOY India Award platform recommendations were made for the Schwab Foundation global awards.
Ajaita Shah, Founder and CEO, Frontier Markets and Shuchin Bajaj, Founder and Director, Ujala Cygnus Hospitals are among the 16 organisations chosen for the prestigious Schwab Foundation Social Innovation Awards. They will join a global community of 477 change leaders directly improving the lives of 891 million people.
The social innovators are the key enablers of inclusive growth who implement practical and sustainable solutions to address challenges in numerous areas including health, education, and environment, access to technology and job creation. They are values-driven, entrepreneurial individuals who develop sustainable new models.
Social innovation has grown significantly over the years, reaching at least 10 million social enterprises in the world, according to a new study by the Schwab Foundation using globally available data worldwide. The social economy in India represents nearly 10% of employment and nearly 9% of the country’s GDP, as per a report of 2018. The Indian impact investing ecosystem is also evolving rapidly & India is today considered as one of the largest impact investment destinations in emerging countries.
The 2024 awardees of the Social Innovators of the Year by Schwab Foundation have been chosen across four categories – Social Entrepreneurs, Public Social Innovators, Corporate Social Innovators and Collective Social Innovators. For more information on the award categories and nominations, visit https://www.schwabfound.org/.
Indian social entrepreneurs, Ajaita Shah and Shuchin Bajaj have been awarded under the Social Entrepreneurs award category (Employing innovative, market-based approaches to directly address social issues)
About the winners: Ajaita Shah, Founder and CEO, Frontier Markets, runs an Indian social commerce platform that works with and for women to offer an essential last-mile connection to rural households. Using convenient smartphone technology, it helps a fast-growing community of women entrepreneurs connect to more than 1 million women customers in thousands of villages. It aims to serve 100 million rural households by 2030. Ajaita has more than 18 years’ experience working in rural India through microfinance, rural distribution, marketing and building gender inclusive business models.
Shuchin Bajaj, Founder and Director of Ujala Cygnus Hospitals, which operates 20 hospitals in Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana, providing super-speciality and emergency healthcare in parts of India where no such facilities exist. It aims to expand to 25 hospitals offering 2,500 beds by the end of 2025. As well as being an eminent physician, Shuchin is also an investor in health tech. He is part of the founding team of Medpho, a digital health start-up providing quality healthcare to left-behind communities, which is already ensuring surgeries to hundreds of patients per month at zero out of pocket cost.
Shuchin Bajaj of Ujala Cygnus Healthcare was the winner of the prestigious 14th Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY) Award – India 2023 and Ajaita Shah of Frontier Markets was one of the finalists of the 13th Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award India 2022.
In 2010, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and Jubilant Bhartia Foundation came together to promote social innovation in India through the Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY) India Award and has since recognised and supported the growing field of social innovation in India. Over the last decade, it has established itself as one of the most reputable awards for social entrepreneurs.ends GNI
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