Gurugram, July 3: Contrary to the popular belief that government systems are barriers to growth, a new report by Change Engine reveals that 80% of India’s leading nonprofit unicorns have scaled their impact through partnerships with the government. These high-impact organizations — defined as those reaching at least 1 million people or 5% of their target user base — are increasingly leveraging state collaboration to drive systemic change.
Titled “The Playbook for Nonprofit Unicorns”, the study is the first of its kind from Change Engine, a nonprofit accelerator focused on enabling breakthrough social ventures. The findings underscore that government is not just a partner, but a powerful platform for scale, offering unmatched reach, infrastructure, and policy authority.
The report also dispels myths about the difficulty of engaging with public systems. Nearly 41% of the nonprofits surveyed secured their first government partnership within a year, and 42% achieved this through cold outreach—by independently preparing materials and proactively contacting officials.
“The government can move the needle at scale — a single policy, new institution, or budget allocation can drive transformational change,” said Varun Aggarwal, Co-founder of Change Engine. “For nonprofits to become unicorns, they must actively work with government systems to enable population-level impact.”
Covering 33 nonprofit unicorns from a list of 100, the study found that over half (55%) operate in five or more states, either by enhancing existing government programs or by using public infrastructure to deliver their own initiatives.
Notable Examples Highlighted in the Report:
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Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy supported the Ministry of Finance in reforming India’s bankruptcy code, and continues to work with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on legislative drafting and implementation.
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SaveLife Foundation reduced road crash fatalities by 58% on the Mumbai–Pune Expressway through its “zero fatality” model. The initiative is now being expanded to 100 highways in partnership with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
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Rocket Learning provides early childhood digital education across 150 districts in 9 states, training over 150,000 Anganwadi workers. Their students rank in the top 30% of performance metrics.
Co-founder Shubham Bansal emphasized the need for a strategic mindset among nonprofit founders:
“To achieve scale, nonprofits must think EPIC — build on Evidence, create Public goods, and scale Interventions for Change. Direct interventions need government collaboration, community engagement, or market alignment to grow meaningfully.”
About Change Engine
Change Engine is India’s first dedicated accelerator for nonprofits. It works with visionary founders to build scalable, impact-first organisations. In just two years, it has supported seven high-potential nonprofits, guiding them through problem discovery, product design, and scalable model development. These organizations have collectively raised over $2 million, in addition to catalytic support from Change Engine. Founded by Varun Aggarwal, Shubham Bansal, and Shailendra Nath Jha, the initiative is backed by philanthropists, venture capitalists, and leaders from India’s social sector.
