Paul Basil, the founder and CEO of Villgro, started off my induction meeting like this:
Villgro was started in 2001 during a time when the concept of supporting rural innovations and providing products and services to the rural poor was unheard of. It was a good time to start. C.K. Prahalad wrote about the Bottom of the Pyramid in 2004 and brought a lot of attention to the sector. Acumen Fund and others also started proving themselves around that time. We started and grew at a good time.
My interpretation of the above set of facts is less positive than that of Paul’s. To me, the fact that Villgro predates much of the BoP movement means that it was in a prime position to take advantage of the recent focus on social enterprises to be installed as a top-of-mind organization. Yet, this is not the case. Even though Villgro has developed strong relationships with key grantmakers and foundations (e.g., Rockefeller, Lemelson, Ashoka), its presence within the greater social entrepreneurship community is still understated. Prior to accepting my fellowship, I asked friends in microfinance and social investing space in India for their opinion on Villgro. Aside from the one who worked with one of Villgro’s partner organizations, the others at well connected organizations were all unfamiliar with Villgro’s work. And so it was a surprise to me after becoming familiar with all the entrepreneur incubation programs and supporting services that Villgro has, to realize that it’s a still so unknown. Why is such an established organization so understated?
