India, 31st July – SAP, a global leader in enterprise application software and Business AI, in collaboration with IIMA Ventures, has announced the launch of the Northeast Growth Labs (NEGL) — a transformative initiative aimed at fostering innovation and sustainable development in Northeast India. Aimed at empowering 75 social enterprises, this initiative provides access to technical resources, catalytic funding, and business opportunities to help enterprises grow sustainably.
The Northeast region of India, rich in cultural heritage and entrepreneurial spirit, holds immense untapped potential. Spanning all eight states, the NEGL initiative is designed to cultivate a resilient enterprise ecosystem. This collaboration is built on SAP’s Social Procurement agenda and IIMA Ventures’ proven model of supporting high-impact startups through capital and incubation. NEGL addresses critical challenges in agri-tech, education, and healthcare—enhancing livelihoods for over 3,000 people, advancing environmental sustainability, and accelerating inclusive social progress.
“Fostering innovation and entrepreneurship with local impact is core to SAP’s mission,” said Manish Prasad, President and Managing Director, SAP Indian Subcontinent. “We’ve supported over 200 social enterprises, and our Northeast Growth Labs initiative, in partnership with IIMA Ventures, strengthens our commitment to sustainable, inclusive growth. These ventures are transforming communities and creating an equitable future.”
“NEGL is not just a program extension—it’s a bold regional platform combining capital, capacity, and connections to back fearless entrepreneurs solving for India’s next frontier of innovation,” said Chintan Bakshi, Partner – Incubation at IIMA Ventures.
The initiative kicked off with an intensive bootcamp in Guwahati, where the first cohort of social enterprises gained actionable insights from ecosystem enablers on AI applications, business storytelling, B2B sales strategies, and sector-specific opportunity mapping. This aligns with NEGL’s broader vision of catalyzing regional development through social innovation and enterprise-led growth—while actively engaging government bodies, development organizations, institutional investors, and public institutions.
NEGL builds upon the success of the ‘Assam Agribusiness Growth Lab’, which provided early-stage investments and grants to pioneering regional enterprises. Below are some of the impact-driven ventures leading meaningful change across Northeast India.
- Dream Hives, Northeast’s first honey-based heritage wine brand, sourcing directly from the Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs).
- Chezfresco, a food innovation venture, enabling small-scale food entrepreneurs.
- Greengen Agri Biotech, offers agri-biotech solutions for small tea growers.
- Fuloni Agritech, assisting low-income artisans with biodegradable urban gardening products.
- Pustikor Foods, promotes Assam’s Joha rice heritage through sustainable farming practices.
Through NEGL, SAP and IIMA Ventures, are committed to build a replicable model of responsible business transformation, rooted in the needs and strengths of local communities, while contributing to India’s broader development goals.
About IIMA Ventures
Built at IIM Ahmedabad in 2002 as an entrepreneurship centre and incorporated in 2007-08 as a section-8 company, IIMA Ventures (Formerly known as IIMA-CIIE) is the innovation continuum that studies, educates, incubates, accelerates and invests in early stage startups, aspiring entrepreneurs and Investors. IIMA Ventures has mentored over 10000 founders, accelerated over 2000 startups, provided catalytic capital to over 700 companies, and inspired over a million people with our 400+ publications. It has been a pioneer on multiple fronts including India’s first accelerator – iAccelerator, India’s largest idea scouting competition – The Power of Ideas, India’s first climate fund – INFUSE Ventures, India’s biggest platform for inclusive fintechs – Bharat Inclusion Initiative, India’s first entrepreneurship bestseller – Stay Hungry Stay Foolish, Startup Compass and many more. IIMA Ventures is recognised as a Centre of Excellence by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. For more information, visit https://iimaventures.com/.
