Gazaab Social Ventures
Catalyzing the creation of Social Entrepreneurs as the beacons of hope
​Who will inspire and lead their community in the fight against poverty.
Harkaman used the S$500 that he was awarded to set up a fully operational mushroom farm less than 10 days after the end of the competition. 1 month later, his first harvest was completely sold out on pre-orders.
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8 months later, he sold off his first mushroom farm, returned to his village and set up 5 more.
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He is no longer the uncertain high school graduate faced with the prospects of being a lowly-paid laborer in the city or leaving the country for the hard life of a migrant worker. And it doesn't stop here. Harkaman has since inspired the rest of his village to light up like beacons of hope as entrepreneurs, bringing a better life to the entire community.
Harkaman Tamang
Organic Mushroom Farmer
"Gazaab’s program has been able to invigorate a new confidence in us all that is really surprising to see. "
Project Gazaab's Entrepreneurs
These entrepreneurs are winners of Project Gazaab's business competition, which is a charity project conducted by students from Singapore Management University for high schools in rural areas. Winners are given a S$300-S$700 grant with no strings attached, with the only condition being to use the funds to start a business for the good of the community. Founded in 2009, Project Gazaab has expanded to 3 locations in Nepal & India, and 5 locations planned for in 2012.
​Kavre (Nepal)​
With the winnings of the business competition, Raj proceeded to set up a poultry farm. At the tender age of 18, he is capable enough to operate a full-fledged farm, a status enjoyed only by the experienced and senior members of his community.
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Raj has inspired others around his community to startup as entrepreneurs as well. He helps out in subsequent Gazaab competitions as a mentor, helping other students on the entrepreneurial path by sharing his experience and expertise.
Raj Gautam
Poultry Farm
"To all my friends and to the other people I know, it’s important for me to tell them that ‘if I can start a business now, you can too’ and if you can do something in your own country, why go abroad?"​
Ramu was the winner of Project Gazaab's first competition in 2009. He used the seed money awarded from the competition to expand his poultry farm.
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The extra profits from the poultry farm was able to help send his sibling to school, and partially pay for his own boarding fees in school.
Ramu
Poultry Farm
"I guess i would've just been a regular guy, but Gazaab helped me a lot. I could farm a lot more chickens. I felt then (after winning), that i could do business. It increased my confidence."
Electricity continues to be a scarce resource in many parts of Nepal, and candles are the solution to the dark and cold of the Himalayas. With a shortage of high quality candles in the village, Susila set out to manufacture candles so that there will always be light available in the village.
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As the seed money is not yet sufficient for the creation of a full fledged candle-making facility, Susila is using the money to purchase high quality candles at whoesale prices from the city and providing it to villagers, hoping to make enough to build a candle-making facility in the future.
Susila
CandleMaker
Sauroj was one of the winners in 2010, and proceeded to set up a mushroom farm with the seed money awarded. Without adequate knowledge on mushroom farming, the harvest was poor and the venture was short-lived.
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Undaunted, he participated in the 2011 competition again and was given a second chance, this time with a poultry farm. With the help of Raj, they were able to get the farm off the ground and were fully operational and profitable in 3 months.
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Saroj Humagain
Poultry Farm
Dc Lama & his team were one of the most motivated & outstanding participants in the 2011 Business Competition. With a simple but well-thought out idea of a goat farm, they won 15,000Rs(S$200+) from Project Gazaab to start their business.
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Barely enough, they were resourceful enough to raise another 20,000Rs to start their farm with 6 goats.
Faced with the prospect of becoming a migrant worker, this farm provided their family with additional income & they were more than happy to have them stay behind in the village to grow the business.
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D.C. Lama
Goat Farm
One of the youngest teams in the competition, Sushila and her team wanted to set up an asparagus farm to provide additional income to supplement their family expenses and also provide locally grown asparagus for a lower price.
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Having invested all the funds into creating the farm, the asaparagus have since been planted and they would reap the rewards in a year’s time when it’s harvest season.
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Sushila Adhikari & Team
Asparagus Farm
Shyam was an exceptionally hardworking and focused student, which was the reason he was awarded despite the failure of his team.

Coming from a relatively poorer background than his classmates, this was an opportunity he could not pass up, and he convinced us that he would be putting in his best effort to make this happen. True to his word, he quickly bought 2 goats with the money given and hopes that in the future he can relieve his family’s burden on his education and help send his siblings to school.
Shyam
Goat Farm
A similarly hardworking student let down by the lack of passion and commitment from his team, Sitaram was determined to set up his own business and create his own future, with or without the grants from Gazaab.

Impressed by his perseverance, Project Gazaab named Sitaram as one of the winners and we’re not disappointed when he started working on the farm.
Sitaram
Banana Farm
Officially the youngest team of all Gazaab competitions, with the oldest just being 14, their resolve & business acumen is remarkable.
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They have started a very small coffee plantation, but as coffee plants take 3 years to yield, they were resourceful enough to utilize a portion of the land to grow seasonal vegetables to supplement their family’s income in the meantime.
Team Sagarmatha
Coffee & Vegetable farm
A very motivated and hardworking team, they wanted to pioneer the cultivation of aloe vera in the area.
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When we visited them in July 2012, they were proudly showing off how others have started to copy their idea, and how their aloe vera is still nicely fatter than their competitor’s.
Saroj Chimouria & Team
Aloe Vera & Tomato farm
It’s a daily chore for local milk producers in the village to sell the milk produced daily as the market is usually a few hours walk away from them. Sandesh & his team thus came up with an innovative idea to aggregate the milk production in villages, help create a transport supply chain to help farmers share costs, and increase their bargaining power in the local market.
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With just a 15,000Rs (S$200+) grant from Project Gazaab, their service is very popular and they have already achieved revenues of 4,500 & 5,500Rs in their 1st 2 months of operation.
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Sandesh & Team
Milk Trading
