In the business of service

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The bug of entrepreneurship makes a person see opportunities even in a grain of sand. Entrepreneurship even has power, as its fire-in-the-belly vigour makes one go deaf to comments of being bizarre, unworkable or far-fetched. Serious planning, right ways of arranging and investing funds, all packed with a never-give-up approach is what one needs to turn a challenge into a well-deserved opportunity. Most of these attributes were ingrained in Shaffi Mather, Ravi Krishna, Sweta Mangal, Naresh Jain and Manish Sacheti, who, after getting degrees from Ivy League institutes and having worked with some of the world’s well-known blue chip companies, preferred to be changemakers in India. Their venture, 1298 Dial For Ambulance was a success in the pilot phase itself. It was their way of serving society.

Being floated on the lines of a business, the so-far-so-good story finally came face to face with the biggest challenge an enterprise faces. Problem of sustainability and expansion, to enable the mission serve better. The prime challenge: finance; the second: from whom, how much one has to pay back, and by when; the thought — what if things don’t fall through. The solution: a partner in risk-taking and a mentor that can help one go steady. “We knew grants from trusts like Ford Foundation and Tata may not come when one is talking about a profit venture. Banks, though much faster now, will not compromise on their interest rate. We needed a partner who not only funds the venture, but also feels for it. Finally, we got a partner in Acumen Fund,” says Mangal.

Today, 1298 is backed by a $1.5 million funding from New York’s Acumen Fund, a non-profit venture fund, which invests in sustainable, scalable solutions addressing poverty in South Asia and Africa. Using the skills of business, the flexible capital of philanthropy, and the rigour of the marketplace, the six-year-old fund aims to develop and deliver systems-changing solutions to the world’s problems. Following equity investment, its approach focuses on organisational sustainability, leadership and scalability through managerial support and investment. The reason for Acumen Fund to support the Mumbai-based ambulance start-up was the impact it promised to make. “Probably the first for-profit, private sector ambulance service in India, 1298 brings an easy access to ambulance services by just dialing 1298,” says Varun Sahni, India director, Acumen Fund.