As India moves towards the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, economic empowerment is increasingly being viewed not just through the lens of employment, but also through the ability of individuals to build sustainable livelihoods and create opportunities for others. For women in particular, the challenge often lies not in a lack of skills or entrepreneurial ambition, but in limited access to business knowledge, markets, digital tools, finance and mentorship.
This gap between having a skill and turning that skill into a viable enterprise is at the centre of M3M Foundation’s entrepreneurship-focused interventions.
Through its work across education, skilling, livelihoods and entrepreneurship, M3M Foundation has been building pathways for young people and women to become more economically self-reliant. Under Kaushal Sambal, including initiatives such as the iMpower Academy for Skills, more than 12,000 youth have been trained in skill development, while over 3,000 youth have progressed through enterprise development initiatives across 14 programmes. The broader programme ecosystem has reported 76% placement among youth trained in skills and 72% progress towards entrepreneurship and livelihood creation among those engaged in enterprise development.
The organisation is now taking this journey from skill development to enterprise creation through VyaPower, its Entrepreneurship Development Programme.
From Vyaapaar to VyaPower
The name VyaPower combines Vyaapaar, meaning business, with the idea of power. The programme reflects the belief that when individuals receive the right knowledge, confidence, mentorship and ecosystem support, their existing skills can become a foundation for sustainable economic opportunity.
Funded by M3M Foundation and implemented by InShakti Foundation, VyaPower is designed to go beyond conventional vocational training. The programme combines entrepreneurial mindset development, business fundamentals, technical trade skills and digital marketing with mentorship, exposure visits and post-training handholding.
The objective is to bridge a crucial gap.
Knowing how to stitch is a skill. Understanding customers, pricing, branding, finances and market positioning can turn that skill into a tailoring business. Similarly, cooking can become a commercial food enterprise when combined with knowledge of costing, packaging, branding and customer acquisition.
VyaPower therefore focuses on helping women move from skills and ideas to viable enterprises.
Strong Results From the First Phase
The first phase of the programme has demonstrated encouraging results.
Against an initial target of 300 women, VyaPower enrolled 371 women, with 326 successfully completing training, taking the programme to 109% of its training target across nine centres in Delhi NCR and Samalkha.
The programme also supported 145 women in developing viable business ideas, while 87 women successfully launched micro-enterprises. This exceeded the original target of 75 businesses by 116%.
The enterprises established by participants span multiple livelihood categories, including:
- Beauty and salon services
- Dairy-based businesses
- Stitching and embroidery
- Food enterprises
- Handicrafts
More than 80 customised business starter kits were also provided to graduating entrepreneurs to help them transition from training into actual enterprise activity.
However, the programme’s focus extends beyond simply counting businesses launched.
Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
VyaPower incorporates a 20-session curriculum, trade-specific training, one-to-one mentoring, business-plan preparation, branding assistance, market-linkage facilitation and exposure to real-world markets.
This ecosystem-based approach recognises that entrepreneurship truly begins after the classroom. New entrepreneurs must subsequently deal with customers, competition, pricing, financial management, branding, digital visibility and market expansion.
For this reason, continued mentoring, stronger market linkages and greater digital adoption have emerged as important priorities for the programme’s next phase.
At the centre of M3M Foundation’s broader entrepreneurship vision is Dr. Payal Kanodia, Chairperson & Trustee, M3M Foundation, whose approach emphasises capability building, sustainable livelihoods and greater self-reliance.
The programme’s underlying philosophy is that entrepreneurial potential exists widely among women and youth, but often requires the right combination of structured knowledge, confidence, mentorship and institutional support to translate aspiration into action.
Taking VyaPower Digital
The next phase of VyaPower aims to expand access through technology.
On World Entrepreneurship Day, M3M Foundation announced the digital expansion of VyaPower through a dedicated Learning Management System (LMS). The platform is intended to make structured entrepreneurship education accessible to aspiring entrepreneurs, rural women, youth, micro-enterprise owners and grassroots organisations across India.
The digital model can enable self-paced learning, structured progression, standardised learning content and learner-progress tracking, helping address geographical and time-related barriers associated with conventional classroom programmes.
M3M Foundation is also opening the VyaPower ecosystem to NGOs, educational institutions, Self-Help Groups, community organisations and livelihood organisations through its learning framework, capacity-building support and Train-the-Trainer model.
This could create a multiplier effect: trained facilitators can support aspiring entrepreneurs, successful entrepreneurs can generate livelihoods, and community organisations can develop stronger local enterprise networks.
Entrepreneurship as a Driver of Viksit Bharat
The larger significance of VyaPower lies in its potential to connect skill development, entrepreneurship and community-level economic growth.
A developed India will not be built only through large corporations and industrial investments. Thousands of small businesses operating in villages, towns and urban communities can also contribute to economic resilience and livelihood creation.
For M3M Foundation, the progression from iMpower Academy for Skills to VyaPower represents a continuum—from building skills, to connecting those skills with livelihoods, and ultimately enabling individuals to create enterprises.
The programme’s initial numbers provide an encouraging foundation: 371 women enrolled, 326 trained, 145 business ideas developed and 87 enterprises launched.
The longer-term impact, however, will depend on how many of these enterprises sustain and grow, reach new markets, increase incomes and eventually create opportunities for others.
The larger ambition is therefore not simply to help women earn, but to help them become economic creators—building businesses that can strengthen households, generate employment and contribute to inclusive growth.
VyaPower’s journey from Vyaapaar to economic empowerment reflects a broader shift in CSR and development: from providing skills to building the capability, confidence and ecosystem required to turn those skills into sustainable enterprises.
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