New Delhi, October 13, 2026: NIIT Foundation is marking Daan Utsav 2026 with a month-long campaign from 1–31 October, inviting individuals and organisations to support aspiring entrepreneurs from underserved communities through its ChangeMaker Academy course.
This year, the campaign is focused on one of the most critical stages in an entrepreneur’s journey: moving from an idea to being business-ready, and from there to actually running and sustaining an enterprise.
For many first-generation entrepreneurs, building the skills and confidence to start a business is only one part of that journey. Setting up an enterprise can require access to mentoring, registrations, tools and equipment, branding, customer outreach and market linkages. Even after a business is launched, entrepreneurs can benefit from continued coaching and mentoring as they navigate operational challenges, strengthen their customer base and work towards sustainable growth.
Through its Daan Utsav campaign, NIIT Foundation is seeking to facilitate this journey by enabling aspiring entrepreneurs to access support not only as they prepare to launch their enterprises, but also as they begin operating and developing their businesses.
The campaign builds on NIIT Foundation’s ChangeMaker Academy course, which combines practical entrepreneurship training with leadership development, capacity building, mentorship and networking opportunities, including pathways to access funding. Participants undertake a four-to-five-month structured entrepreneurship journey, supported by practical business learning and 22 hours of business mentoring and expert guidance. The ChangeMaker Academy course develops capabilities across business planning, understanding customers and markets, decision-making, communication and building a professional business identity. NIIT Foundation is also strengthening the journey beyond enterprise launch by facilitating continued coaching and mentoring for entrepreneurs as they begin running their businesses and encounter real-world challenges.
To date, more than 180 aspiring entrepreneurs have enrolled in the ChangeMaker Academy course, with over 50 enterprises launched across sectors including education, food, healthcare, tailoring, beauty and wellness, arts and embroidery, and sustainable products.
Dr. Charu Kapoor, Country Director, NIIT Foundation, said, “At NIIT Foundation, we recognise that the entrepreneurial journey does not end when an individual becomes business-ready or launches an enterprise. Moving from an idea to being business-ready, and then to actually running and sustaining an enterprise, brings a different set of challenges. Through the ChangeMaker Academy course, we are building entrepreneurial capabilities through practical learning, mentoring and real-world exposure, while also looking at facilitating continued coaching and mentoring once enterprises have started. This Daan Utsav, we invite individuals and organisations to become part of this journey and enable aspiring entrepreneurs to build enterprises that can grow into sustainable livelihoods.”
The impact of this approach can be seen in the journeys of entrepreneurs such as Guduli from Sukinda, Odisha, who turned her passion for stitching into AG Tailors: Dil Se Dil Tak. Through NIIT Foundation’s ChangeMaker Academy course, she strengthened her entrepreneurial capabilities and began developing her tailoring venture as a pathway towards a more sustainable livelihood.
Similarly, Praveen Kumar Bandhe from Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh, transformed his interest in livestock farming into Mukta Dudh Dairy. Through the ChangeMaker Academy course, he developed stronger entrepreneurial and business capabilities and now provides fresh, hygienic milk to the local community while working to expand his customer base and strengthen the enterprise.
These journeys reflect the larger approach of NIIT Foundation’s ChangeMaker Academy course: entrepreneurship requires more than knowing how to set up a business. It also requires the ability to make decisions, solve problems, communicate effectively, adapt to challenges and continue learning once the enterprise begins operating. Through its month-long Daan Utsav campaign, NIIT Foundation is inviting individuals and organisations to contribute towards different stages of this entrepreneurial journey—from developing business capabilities and preparing an enterprise for launch to facilitating the resources, guidance and continued mentoring required to build a sustainable business.
Supporters can also engage beyond financial contributions by sharing professional experience and knowledge, mentoring ChangeMaker Academy entrepreneurs and staying connected with their journeys as their enterprises develop. NIIT Foundation’s Daan Utsav campaign seeks to build on the larger spirit of giving by enabling individuals to create opportunities for themselves, strengthen their livelihoods and contribute to their families and communities.
