“Without ambition, one starts nothing.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ambition is where possibility begins. Turning that into progress takes more. It takes exceptional talent, the conviction to solve hard problems, and capital willing to back them for the long term.

What completes this combination is an ecosystem prepared to stay the course. Apart from bold founders, this ecosystem needs thinkers, researchers, investors, and operators who can recognize breakthrough ideas early and work closely with entrepreneurs to turn them into enduring enterprises.

This is why we created the Kalaari Fellowship program— to bring exceptional talent into the venture ecosystem and give the next generation an opportunity to learn, contribute and work alongside those building India’s technology future. Applications for the fifth batch of the Fellowship are currently open.

Our programs are a commitment to what has always been one of India’s greatest strengths: its people, enabled by its digital infrastructure. This is a point that Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has repeatedly made through her own journey of building Biocon into a global, science-led enterprise.

One of India’s pioneering technology entrepreneurs, Kiran has seen firsthand what it takes to build from India for the world. We had the privilege of hosting her on our ‘Changemakers’ series.

Watch this episode of Changemakers here.

One idea from our conversation stayed with me. Kiran’s philosophy is as relevant to today’s AI and DeepTech founders as it was when she began her own entrepreneurial journey: Don’t start with the technology and search for a problem. Start with an important problem and find the science and technology capable of solving it.

That discipline of combining technology with real problems will determine how many extraordinary Indian startups become global leaders over the next decade.

The builders are emerging. The opportunity before the rest of us is to believe early enough and build the conditions in which they can succeed.

Vani Kola

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