IN 2012, during a philanthropy course at Dasra, a service provider for ultra-high-net-worth individuals, Zaheer Adenwala’s journey took a pivotal turn. The exposure to North American crowdfunding platforms highlighted a significant underutilisation of technology in the social sector in India. Zaheer and his co-founders, Varun Sheth and Kunal Kapoor, saw an opportunity to use technology to connect givers with causes. Ketto operates on a hybrid business model, charging a platform fee from non-profit partners for fundraising. It has also incorporated a donor tip feature to encourage contributors to leave a gratuity and offers amplified services for fixed-fee digital marketing support.
Starting with initial bootstrapped capital of ₹21 lakh, the journey was not devoid of challenges. “Convincing donors to contribute and navigating the landscape pre-demonetisation were significant early obstacles,” says Adenwala. Ketto has impacted over 1 crore lives and raised over ₹2,000 crore since inception. It has raised $10 million in three rounds. — V. Keshavdev