UnLtd India. Evaluation of UnLtd India s Incubator and The Bombay Hub* - Summary. Conducted: Sept-Oct 2011 Published: March 2012

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1 CONSULTING EXPERTISE INNOVATION AND IMPACT DEVELOPING MARKET INSIGHT UnLtd India Evaluation of UnLtd India s Incubator and The Bombay Hub* - Summary Conducted: Sept-Oct 2011 Published: March 2012 * Please note that The Bombay Hub will change its name to Bombay Connect from 1 April 2012

2 Scope and objectives of this report Context Scope UnLtd India was set-up in late 2007 with a mission to support and foster the development of a social entrepreneurship movement, both by helping develop social entrepreneurs and publicising this approach to driving change Management have largely concluded the phase of setting up the organization and developing their model, and are now preparing for the next phase of growth, which will include geographic expansion UnLtd India s management has commissioned an external evaluation to assess to what extent UnLtd India fulfils its mission, and identify areas for improvement Evaluating UnLtd India s social incubator ( the incubator ) from origination and selection to incubation (financial and non-financial assistance) Evaluating The Bombay Hub s ( the Hub ) support for social entrepreneurs and how it aligns to UnLtd India's mission and vision Out-of- Scope Evaluation of Social Mash-up, Bootcamp and other associated UnLtd India activities Detailed review of strategies for geographic expansion and domestic fundraising, both of which are currently under development by management Objectives Conduct an impact assessment of the incubator and the Hub Develop a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework using the outputs from the previous stage, and benchmarks from comparable incubators throughout the world. UnLtd India management can continue to use this framework to measure, manage and improve its effectiveness going forward. 1

3 We have evaluated UnLtd India against four key areas Relevance Is UnLtd India addressing important and genuinely unmet needs for its target users? Impact Have Incubator investees and Hub members created impact? If so, to what extent can this impact be attributed to the Incubator and the Hub? Has UnLtd India induced impact through broader demonstration and mobilization effects? Effectiveness Does the Incubator/Hub provide services that are useful to investees? Is the Incubator/Hub achieving desired outcomes? Efficiency Are the Incubator and Hub efficient from a financial and operational perspective? 2

4 Relevance: UnLtd India targets an underserved part of the social entrepreneurship landscape in a highly differentiated way Is the Incubator addressing important and genuinely unmet needs for its target users? The Incubator targets an important and underserved part of the social entrepreneurship landscape in a highly differentiated way UnLtd India has the only incubator in India with financial and non-financial support for all types of social entrepreneurs from the very earliest stages of development The Incubator meets the key needs of early stage enterprises, including financing, which innovators state is the most important and hardest to find UnLtd India s targeted mentorship and guidance appears to be stronger than other incubators, according to social entrepreneurs Community-based individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are less likely to be selected by the Incubator to receive support they are also least likely to be able to find support elsewhere Is the Hub addressing important and genuinely unmet needs for its target users? The Bombay Hub provides a low cost serviced office for social entrepreneurs, and is a platform for broader collaboration amongst them; there are few alternatives The Bombay Hub serves a critical need for social entrepreneurs, by offering flexible low-cost packages, competition in Bombay is limited but increasing 3

5 Impact: UnLtd India's Incubator has created social impact by accelerating the growth of social ventures and helping them make valuable connections Have Incubator investees created impact? If so, to what extent can this impact be attributed to the Incubator? The social entrepreneurs supported by the Incubator have created significant social impact. The incubator typically accelerates their growth Current and former investees will have reached nearly 4.2 million end beneficiaries by end of and have created 3,200 jobs 1 91% of surveyed investees 2 believe the incubator has positively impacted their organizations 52% of investees 2 raise additional finance and 48% receive additional non-financial support; additionally 68% of investees 2 believe being an UnLtd India investee facilitates the sourcing of follow-on financing Has the Incubator induced impact through broader demonstration and mobilization effects? The Incubator grows a pipeline of potential candidates for other impact investors. Furthermore, UnLtd India investees have successfully encouraged other entrepreneurs to start their own ventures Peers and later stage investors believe UnLtd India generates a pipeline of investable social initiatives; UnLtd India acts as an intermediary by letting others know about these investees 50% of UnLtd India's surveyed investees 2 have actively encouraged others to become entrepreneurs 1 Analysis excludes the following organizations due to insufficient data: Toy Bank; Eco Leadership Program for India; Milaap; SMV Wheels and Denny John 2 Based on UnLtd India current and former investee surveys sample = 25; UnLtd additional data capture from current and former investees sample = 64; Dalberg analysis 4

6 Impact: Current and former investees will have reached nearly 4.2 million end beneficiaries by end of 2011 INDICATIVE 2011 year-end estimates End beneficiaries reached Jobs created 4,197,000 3,200 to date 94% generated by 1 investee (FUEL); 236k end beneficiaries otherwise Given that UnLtd India's investees and UnLtd India itself are early stage enterprises, these figures are likely to grow 1 Total funding raised from sources excl. UnLtd India Additional funding raised per UnLtd India Rupee invested Rs. 10,80,00,000; [US$ 2,160,000] Average: Rs. 14.5; [US$ 0.29] Average after excluding top 5 organizations: Rs. 5.5; [US$ 0.11] Source: UnLtd India current and former investee surveys sample = 25; UnLtd additional data capture from current and former investees sample = 64; Dalberg analysis 1 Analysis excludes the following organizations due to insufficient data: Toy Bank; Eco Leadership Program for India; Milaap; SMV Wheels and Denny John 5

7 Impact: The Bombay Hub has made significant social impact by accelerating the growth of social ventures and helping make valuable connections Have Hub members created impact? If so, to what extent can this impact be attributed to the Hub? Hub members generate impact through their social ventures. The Hub helps them make connections that advance their ventures growth Hub members have generated economic activity employing over 300 individuals by the end of % of members with initiatives report making connections through the Hub that have made a demonstrable difference to their organization, such as through making connections with organizations which they can collaborate with, or finding clients Has the Hub induced impact through broader demonstration and mobilization effects? On a broader scale, the Bombay Hub raises the profile of social entrepreneurship in Bombay, but to a limited extent While 90% of surveyed members believe the Hub has accelerated the development of the social enterpreneurship sector in Mumbai, most of these individuals believe this impact has only been slight 6

8 Effectiveness: The Incubator s personal development support is effective but investees believe funding is insufficient. Sourcing of investees has improved, but some channels lack depth Does the Incubator provide services that are useful to investees? Is the Incubator achieving desired outcomes? Of the Incubator s activities and services, investees find the personal coaching and mentorship to be the most valuable. Investees believe that the Incubator provides a significant opportunity to develop important networks, but find its financial support insufficient UnLtd India offers a very broad menu of non-financial levers of support all of which investees find to be useful Investees have found the networks, going through the selection process, and moral support to be the most useful services provided by UnLtd India UnLtd India's personal coaching appears to be the most highly valued offering Investees believe that even though it meets a gap in the market, the total amount of financial assistance provided by the Incubator is insufficient this reflects management s intention to provide some financial support at an early stage of development, but not to provide a standalone level of financial support to every investee The Incubator has been particularly effective in developing the networks and leadership qualities of its investees, and has exceeded its targets in supporting investees graduate from Level 1 to Level 2 support At least 70% of respondents report progress in all aspects of personal and professional development 57% of respondents have already derived a tangible benefit from UnLtd India's network; over 90% of respondents believe there is opportunity to make such relationships Graduation from Level 1 to Level 2 has risen significantly this year, resulting in cumulative rate of 12%, surpassing Management s 10% target Learning from experience has resulted in the Incubator revising its investment targets and improving its sourcing strategy The current sourcing process is robust; one in five applicants is selected UnLtd India has decided to become more selective, based on what it has learnt on sourcing good quality investees at Level 1 and Level 2 However, there are still some concerns on generating a pipeline of candidates that has the diversity of backgrounds that UnLtd India is targeting 7

9 Effectiveness: The Hub s office space effectively provides basic office space and a network to its members; however, members seek better facilitation of the network Does the Hub provide services that are useful to investees? Members come to the Hub for an affordable, collaborative office space 100% of members believe the Hub offers reasonable or good value for money Members report liking working in a collaborative office space with other entrepreneurs Is the Hub achieving desired outcomes? The Hub effectively serves the basic needs of its members. The Hub does not help members collaborate effectively ~60% of respondents said the quality of the space is good / very good While members are satisfied with the quality of peers at the Hub, they believe the Hub could more actively facilitate networking The Hub is not operating at maximum capacity and is not effectively using all possible channels to grow. The Hub has a capacity of ~70 members, but average membership has only been around ~40 members Current members found out about the Hub through existing personal networks, not directly from the Hub or the media 8

10 Efficiency: While UnLtd India's donor funding comfortably meets the needs of the incubator, overhead costs remain high and the Hub is currently not yet financially sustainable UnLtd India has been able to comfortably meet its fundraising needs, but its sources of funds are largely dependent on four main donors UnLtd India spends about 60-70% of the income raised in a given year, allowing it to roll over significant amounts of funding for future years. The organization has enough funding to keep operations running through 2012 UnLtd India has spent 46% less than budgeted during FY10/11 largely due to slower than planned growth, however is on course to spend 10% less than budgeted in FY11/12 Lower quality of investees, large staff vacancies and decreases in event scope are the primary reasons for underspend in FY10/11 Are the Incubator and Hub efficient from a financial and operational perspective? The high-touch and city-based nature of UnLtd India's incubator results in relatively high overhead costs compared to other NGOs, which are often field-based At 25% of total costs, administration and fundraising costs are higher than sector norms of ~21% UnLtd India's salaries tend to be higher than local NGOs, which is partly explained by its relatively hightouch and city-based model Rent is the second largest non-grant component of expenses for UnLtd India; however the rate paid is competitive compared to alternate locations in Bandra and Downtown Mumbai From a financial standpoint, the Incubator is scalable as the marginal cost to UnLtd India of having an additional Investee is negligible Taken as a standalone entity, the Hub is currently not yet financially sustainable The Hub makes a loss of Rs. 18,00,000; [USD$ 36,000] and is unable even to cover direct costs, before allocating any of UnLtd India's central overheads This is due to several factors, including underutilization, inefficiency in pricing, and high allocated overhead (rent and UnLtd India management) 9

11 Recommendations for the incubator (1/3) How it may improve the incubator Challenges and Risks 1 Employ a dedicated Employ a head dedicated of Head outreach of Outreach Impact: The incubator s impact is to a large degree dependent on its ability to source and select candidates for whom it has great significant additionality. A Head of Outreach could directly source and develop the necessary relationships to bring such candidates, particularly community-based entrepreneurs, into the pipeline. Effectiveness: As UnLtd India's outreach strategy becomes more targeted and resultsdriven, it will be helpful to have one person manage / track the sourcing and selection process. Furthermore, this individual could be responsible for developing channels for effective community-based outreach. Efficiency: One person managing / tracking the sourcing and selection process would also free up time and resources for the current Associates to focus on the growth and needs of current investees, and would streamline their responsibilities. It may be difficult to find an individual who is capable of forming and maintaining the relationships required to achieve the desired composition of investees. Additionally, the cost burden may be difficult to justify unless UnLtd India expands into multiple regions. 2 Assign Assign associates associates to to sectors, rather than levels 3 Increase use of partner organizations to deliver specialist training Effectiveness: Entrepreneurs have identified developing sector-specific knowledge (and associated networking) as a key need; alignment of associates with certain sectors would allow them to offer more targeted advice to their investees. Additionally, there are substantial benefits to the continuity of personal coaching relationships, which can get lost if an investee graduates to the next level. Efficiency: By developing sector expertise, Associates should be able to achieve faster turnaround of investee requests such as for subject matter information or searching for specialist business support leading to lower time investment for such requests. Relevance: Social entrepreneurs state business support and advisory services are key needs. While UnLtd India already uses partners to deliver quality training at low/no cost, a larger pool of partners could be assembled to increase the range of technical and hard business skills training, in areas that may be highly relevant to specific thematic areas (e.g. working with Teach for India on pedagogy), or in particular skills (e.g. procurement) that may be highly relevant for a subset of investees Effectiveness: A larger pool of partners could be assembled and better managed to increase the quality of technical and hard business skills training. Difficult to find individuals with the combination of skills needed for more general coaching as well as a sector expertise. It may be difficult to find staff capable of changing style to cater to level 1, versus Level 2 & 3 needs for a given sector Maintaining a large pool of high quality and dedicated partners will require more resources. 10

12 Recommendations for the incubator (2/3) 4 Link every investee to an external advisor/mentor How it may improve the incubator Effectiveness: UnLtd India investees that have been assigned a mentor or advisor state that this is extremely effective in supporting skills development and broadening their networks. Management aim to create an environment where such relationships can occur based on mutual interest, independently of direct intervention. As a result, most of these relationships had been formed in an ad-hoc and opportunistic manner. Given their reported value from investees and other incubators, a greater focus on intervening to foster such relationships may improve outcomes for investees. Efficiency: Greater use of advisors and mentors can reduce associate time spent, such as in identifying experts. Challenges and Risks May be difficult to recruit and manage several external advisors Very early stage investees may not be able to fully benefit from mentoring, leading to challenges in maintaining mentor / advisor relationships 5 Facilitate more learning between investees Relevance: Social entrepreneurs report that learning from the experiences of their peers is beneficial, as investees often face similar challenges. While peer learning is already considered a key area of strength for UnLtd India, there is a general demand for greater frequency for this, given its ability to provide highly relevant advice Effectiveness: By increasing the frequency of peer learning events and mandating more support from senior investees to more junior ones, investees are able to increase benefits that they typically derive from each event, in the form of sharing best practices and lessons learned. Some UnLtd India investees have demonstrated a keen interest in giving back to UnLtd India in the form of advice and mentorship for newer entrepreneurs. Some investees might find it difficult to carve out time to advise other entrepreneurs, given their own demanding responsibilities. 6 Offer more flexible amounts of funding to investees Relevance: Investees have widely varying requirements for financial assistance, with those that need to grow and develop typically needing the most funding. Building in flexibility over the amount of financial assistance provided to investees would therefore better match the needs of growing enterprises. Effectiveness: Since the financial support provided by the incubator is typically lower than investee needs, many investees seek additional financial support. While collaborating with other providers of support to obtain financing can spread the risk of exposure to a given investee for the incubator, it may also increase risk by creating an additional burden to raise further funding rather than developing their venture. Can create significant management complexity and confusion for investees and donors, making it harder to manage their expectations. 11

13 Recommendations for the incubator (3/3) 7 Codify Codify internal internal knowledge on knowledge on partners, partners, support providers and key subject matter How it may improve the incubator Efficiency: Management and Incubator staff have accumulated a wealth of knowledge about investees sectors, business support providers and networks. Associates frequently have to recreate or repeat research and assistance provided, due to a lack of organised central knowledge management. Such tools will reduce time spent repeating work, and will become critical as the organization grows and potentially expands to various locations. Challenges and Risks Can be difficult to get the team to buy in and imbed new working practices, as benefits from populating knowledge management tools are not immediate, while the burden is immediate 8 Track Key Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of Associates Efficiency: While Associates offer a wide range of services to all the investees in UnLtd India's portfolio, there is currently no formal system in place to measure and track their time allocation and performance. Instituting systems to monitor this can support more efficient dayto-day management of the team. Measuring and tracking KPIs are time-consuming, and may distract from focusing efforts on the investees 9 Maintain Maintain separate separate financial financial accounts for for the the Incubator and the Hub Efficiency: The Incubator and the Hub are effectively run as independent organizations. Maintaining separate P&Ls for the two entities will increase the clarity around the financial health of each of the respective arms of UnLtd India. No major risks or challenges identified 12

14 Recommendations for the Bombay Hub (1/2) 1 Increase member signups by developing a standalone website and online ads How it may improve the Bombay Hub Effectiveness: Most members and users heard about the Hub through personal networks. Reliance on word of mouth marketing fails to exploit potential for growth and greater diversity in members available from using alternative channels. A standalone website (versus the current Facebook page) is a potentially low cost member acquisition tool. Challenges and Risks Unclear what the likely yield (or cost per conversion rate) is for online marketing at this stage. No evidence as yet that online marketing would increase the diversity of members versus today. 2 Increase awareness of the Hub through partnerships with other incubators & at conferences 3 Solicit regular feedback from members and listserv Effectiveness: Other social incubators can be a channel for potential members; conferences focused on social enterprise are already used as a means for driving member sign-ups. Focusing on these two channels can provide targeted access to a significant base of potential members. Relevance & Effectiveness: The Hub offers a diverse set of events, largely chosen by the team without consultation on user or member preferences. Incorporating feedback to better match user needs and preferences will increase the relevance of the Hub to users. Impact: Incorporating feedback to improve events and services can help increase the popularity of the Hub, thereby helping it to increase reach and better foster a social entrepreneurship movement. Forming and maintaining additional partnerships will be time-consuming. Not clear whether yield will justify investment in developing additional partnerships, or which partnerships to prioritise at this stage May require managing the expectations of groups of users / members with divergent needs and interests. 13

15 Recommendations for the Bombay Hub (2/2) 4 Directly facilitate collaboration between members members How it may improve the Bombay Hub Impact: Connections made through the Hub significantly impact members initiatives. Proactively encouraging interaction between members, such as an online collaboration marketplace for members, a photo wall to introduce members, monthly member lunches and ice breakers could increase the frequency / likelihood of making these connections by directly promoting a more collaborative environment. Challenges and Risks Shifts attention of Hub hosts from their core membership and event-related activities 5 Consider alternative business models for the models for Hub the Hub Efficiency: The Hub generated a loss of c. Rs. 18,00,000; [USD$ 36,000] in FY10/11. Even if various levers (e.g. increasing membership, pricing and more revenue-generating events) were improved simultaneously, it is unlikely that the Hub will be able to reach break-even profitability. UnLtd India could consider alternative business models for the Hub, including: aggressively pursuing financial sustainability by exploring more radical departures from the mission, such as increasing corporate memberships; to shifting to a donor-financed model. Requires thought around the future of the Hub and its role in the growing UnLtd India organization. Implementing structural changes will be timeconsuming and potentially difficult, depending on the complexity of the strategy chosen. 6 Maintain separate financial accounts for for the the Incubator and the Hub and the Hub Efficiency: The Incubator and the Hub are effectively run as independent organizations. Maintaining separate P&Ls for the two entities will increase the clarity around the financial health of each of the respective arms of UnLtd India. No major risks or challenges identified 14