Four startups from the Naropa Fellowship will be supported by the Founder & Chairman of OYO, Ritesh Agarwal.  The startups will be provided an equity-free grant and guidance.

The four selected Live-Action Projects are EcoKash, co-founded by Insha Mir (J&K) and Fouzia Bhat (J&K); The Himalayan Chocolates, founded by Rohan Keshewar (Maharashtra) and led by Rigzin Nurboo (Ladakh); Zarin, co-founded by Rifat Amin (Ladakh), Syed Faaiz Qadri (Kashmir) and Saurav Satish (Karnataka); and My Pahadi Dukan co-founded by Himanshu Dua (Haryana) and Mohd Anas Zubair (Uttar Pradesh), and led by Shubham Tandon (Punjab) and Rohan Sehgal (New Delhi). 

Founder & Chairman of OYO, Ritesh Agarwal shared his belief in India’s budding entrepreneurs to foster regional job creation, community-building, and economic growth. Towards this, he has pledged ₹ 1 Crore to support micro-entrepreneurs from small towns of India. This initiative falls in line with his aspirations to support India’s dynamic start-up ecosystem at the grassroots and in small towns, which is where he too finds his roots. 

He said that the start-ups selected from the Naropa Fellowship project had a high social impact, high likelihood of success & scale, with a unique business model, and the ability to strive through adversities. He further added that he will continue to support these ventures through regular interactions and sustained guidance. 
The Naropa Fellowship has produced over 75 Live-Action Projects towards sustainable solutions for the Himalayas over the past three years. 

Programme Co-Founder & Dean, Dr. Pramath Raj Sinha expressed gratitude to all the stakeholders, monastic and government dignitaries, faculty members and mentors, the Fellows, and the Programme Team for their unfettered belief in the Fellowship. 

Naropa Fellowship under the grace of His Holiness the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa was co-founded by His Eminence Drukpa Thuksey Rinpoche and Dr. Pramath Raj Sinha in 2018. The Fellowship is a one-year, fully residential, post-graduate, academic programme in Ladakh, focused on creating and nurturing agents of change who will work towards fostering an ecosystem of entrepreneurship and growth in Ladakh and the Himalayas. The driving purpose behind the programme is to address the region’s rising challenges of unemployment, lack of training and professional skills, and its gradual cultural erosion.