Four Indian entrepreneurs graduate from UNCTAD-Alibaba eFounders fellowship

Four Indian entrepreneurs have graduated from the fourth edition of the eFounders Fellowship, a joint initiative by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Alibaba Business School.

Among the Indian entrepreneurs who graduated include Zefo co-founder Rohit Ramasubramanian, NowFloats co-founder Ronak Kumar Samantray, Grozip founder and CEO Ananda Kumar Mishra and Healthy Buddha co-founder Anurag Dalmia. Overall, 38 entrepreneurs from Asia graduated in the current edition of the fellowship.

The initiative which was started in November last year, is part of a commitment made by Alibaba founder Jack Ma as the UNCTAD Special Adviser for Young Entrepreneurs and Small Business to empower 1,000 entrepreneurs in developing countries over the next five years. It has graduated around 89 entrepreneurs from three previous editions until now.

As part of the fellowship that spans across two weeks, entrepreneurs got first-hand insights on Alibaba’s journey from a small startup to a technology conglomerate. It also covered relevant industry trends and developments such as New Retail and the impact of e-commerce in rural areas.

Speakers from Alibaba’s senior management team and network were joined by advisors from East Ventures, Gobi Ventures, 500 Startups and the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) who shared insights and experiences from their local markets and fundraising with the entrepreneurs, including tips on how to grow an entrepreneurial community within their respective digital economies.

"The program also gave us behind-the-scenes access to witness Alibaba's evolution with a peek into the nuances of its platformization strategy being applied globally. We got an understanding of the role played by factors like the rapid improvement of China's infrastructure and increasing GDP in ensuring the company’s success" said Ramasubramanian.

“With exposure to the Alibaba ecosystem and our network of partners, and our role in developing the digital economy of China, we hope the entrepreneurs will discover more ways to build a more inclusive and sustainable model for their own businesses while championing the growth of the digital economy in their markets,” said Brian Wong, Vice President of Alibaba Group, who heads Alibaba’s Global Initiatives program.