Omidyar Network India launches ‘The Bold Ones' video series

Omidyar Network India has launched an 11-part video series ‘The Bold Ones – Innovating For The Next Half Billion.’ The show features stories of some of the country’s entrepreneurs who are contributing towards creating a meaningful life for every Indian. It highlights their personal stories as they dreamt, overcame challenges and build tech-led innovations that drive social impact.

‘The Bold Ones’ series is a tribute to the spirit of innovative entrepreneurship and those who are building for the 500 million-plus Indians coming online for the first time via their mobile phone, a segment often referred to as the ‘Next Half Billion’, or NHB. It unfolds over 9-minute video essays highlighting the stories of a mix of for-profit and non-profit startups in varied sectors such as Education (Doubtnut, Vedantu), Financial Inclusion (Indifi), Emerging Technology (IntrCity, Bijak, Credr) Governance and Citizen Engagement (E-Gov) and Property Rights (Transerve, FES, Sitara, Jansahas). Through detailed interviews, use of archival footage and animation, each episode aims to inform viewers on issues faced by the NHB, show how tech-led ventures can alleviate these problem areas, as well as inspire young professionals to embody the entrepreneurial spirit at the centre of driving these changes.

The series brings together producer, entrepreneur and 4-time Emmy Award winner Francis Lyons, former global head of innovation at CNN, Ben Marks, emerging director, Mriidu Khosla as well as Gruff Animation, a studio that has worked with American director, Tim Burton.

Francis Lyons said, “The challenges each of our subjects work on are faced by tens of millions of people every day. From limited access to information and capital to inadequate education and unreliable public transportation, these issues affect us all whether we acknowledge it or not. Yet few of us commit our careers and lives to finding sustainable solutions to these problems. The Bold Ones is our attempt to both recognize and humanise the innovators who do. Highlighting the varied journeys, motivations, and even personal vulnerabilities these real-life heroes have endured chasing ‘unique’ solutions to common but critical problems, we hope more people will recognize they too can create change."

Rohan Vyavaharkar, Director, Marketing and Communications at Omidyar Network India, added, “The Bold Ones might showcase only a part of our for-profit and non-profit portfolio, but it embodies the spirit of each and every entrepreneur who is innovating for the NHB. The show is also a tribute to the power of what each Indian is capable of building and achieving, and we hope this will also help inspire some budding entrepreneurs into building more inclusive solutions.”

The series has been published on ONI’s website and LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube social media handles.