SELCO Foundation

SELCO Foundation An open source not-for-profit enterprise creating solutions linking sustainable energy to poverty eradication across urban, rural and tribal areas

A little about us: SELCO Foundation is an open source, not for profit organization that engages in field-based R&D and ecosystem building for deployment of clean energy solutions that alleviate poverty in tribal, rural and urban poor areas. The organization works closely with practitioners in the social sector, energy entrepreneurs and partners from various developmental sectors. www.selcofoundation.org

What if accessing an entrepreneurship opportunity didn’t mean navigating multiple systems alone?For many Persons with Di...
07/09/2026

What if accessing an entrepreneurship opportunity didn’t mean navigating multiple systems alone?

For many Persons with Disabilities, livelihood and enterprise opportunities already exist. Yet access to finance, government schemes, assistive technology, skilling, machinery and markets can remain fragmented and difficult to navigate.

The PwD Entrepreneurship & Livelihood Mela, held on September 4, 2026, in Raichur, Karnataka, brought these pieces together in one place.

Designed as a convergence platform, the Mela brought together approximately 500 Persons with Disabilities, alongside government departments, financial institutions, technology providers, machinery vendors, training partners and existing PwD entrepreneurs.

From exploring viable livelihood models and assistive technologies to accessing guidance on schemes, finance and enterprise development, the Mela was designed to make the ecosystem easier to see, reach and navigate.

Importantly, the journey doesn’t end at the Mela. Aspiring entrepreneurs will be supported further through assessment, business planning, training, incubation, finance linkages and enterprise establishment under the PwD Entrepreneurship Development Programme.

Because inclusive entrepreneurship is not only about creating opportunities. It is about bringing the right support within reach.



| | Titan Company Limited | IKEA Foundation | | The Lemelson Foundation | Stichting DOEN |

A livelihood is more than an income.The choice depends on more than an opportunity. It requires access to the skills, to...
01/09/2026

A livelihood is more than an income.

The choice depends on more than an opportunity. It requires access to the skills, tools, energy, finance, markets and support needed to pursue it.

When women have the resources to make those choices, livelihoods become more than a source of income. They become a source of agency, confidence and independence.

Because a livelihood is truly empowering when it gives you the power to choose.

Let’s build more inclusive and resilient livelihood systems together. If you’re working on clean energy, gender inclusion, livelihoods, entrepreneurship, finance, skills or market access , we’d love to connect.



Sanjog | | | Ashraya Hastha Trust | HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Limited | CDSL - Central Depository Services India Ltd | Wells Fargo | | IKEA Foundation | | The Lemelson Foundation | Stichting DOEN |

27/08/2026

When disaster strikes, resilience means more than preparing for disruption. It means building health systems that can keep going through it.

Power cuts, damaged infrastructure and inaccessible roads can quickly turn a functioning health facility into one that cannot deliver the care its community depends on.

Climate-responsive healthcare creates autonomous, independent and resilient infrastructure that empowers communities. By keeping essential systems running when surrounding infrastructure fails, these solutions help health facilities deliver critical care to mothers, newborns and vulnerable populations, while remaining reliable lifelines for communities facing disasters.

Let's strengthen climate-resilient healthcare systems together, all through the year. If you're working on clean energy, climate adaptation, healthcare innovation, or strengthening public health infrastructure in India, we'd love to connect.

🔗 View the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDS3cj8WZvM



IKEA Foundation | | | The Lemelson Foundation | Stichting DOEN | Ashraya Hastha Trust | LIC Housing Finance Limited

A small enterprise. A determined entrepreneur. A sweeter way forward.Six months into making jaggery, Soumya, an organic ...
26/08/2026

A small enterprise. A determined entrepreneur. A sweeter way forward.

Six months into making jaggery, Soumya, an organic jaggery entrepreneur from Pandavapura, Karnataka, was already thinking about the future.

She saw an opportunity to turn her own sugarcane into something more, invested in her unit, and built a business around it. When unreliable power became a barrier, she found another way forward.

Today, her climate-smart jaggery unit produces 1,000–2,000 kg of jaggery and earns a profit of INR 46,109 (USD 481) a month, has built 3 new B2B relationships, and avoids 18 tonnes of CO₂e every year by moving away from diesel.

Sometimes, building a resilient livelihood starts with refusing to stop.



IKEA Foundation | | | The Lemelson Foundation | Stichting DOEN

26/08/2026

What if learning something new didn’t require a classroom?

For many entrepreneurs, learning happens wherever they can find it, through a neighbour, a relative, YouTube, a training centre, or simply by watching someone else do the work.

Vishalaxmi’s journey is one such story. She taught herself stitching and embroidery through YouTube, learnt to make bags from scratch, and turned a basic sewing machine into a source of livelihood. Later, through a Mela in Raichur, she discovered a sewing-cum-embroidery machine that helped her improve the finish and reduce the time needed for each piece.

Her story is also about navigating barriers. Living with a locomotor disability, Vishalaxmi has had to find her own ways around inaccessible spaces and continues to find her own ways to learn, adapt and grow.

Because sometimes, the first step towards building a livelihood is simply finding a way to learn.

We’re exploring what it takes to make learning and livelihood opportunities more accessible for persons with disabilities. If you’re working in this space, we’d love to connect.



IKEA Foundation | | | The Lemelson Foundation | Stichting DOEN

Climate Smart Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Series!This Tuesday (AUG 25, 2026), we bring to you a new session in the We...
24/08/2026

Climate Smart Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Series!

This Tuesday (AUG 25, 2026), we bring to you a new session in the Weekly Knowledge Exchange Webinar Series on Climate Smart Livelihood Solutions: BLACKSMITH BLOWER & POWER HAMMER!

Traditional blacksmiths across rural India carry generations of craft knowledge, but sustaining the craft can be challenging. Rising labour costs, dependence on manual processes, limited access to appropriate technology, and constrained capital can affect productivity, increase operating costs, and limit artisans’ ability to meet growing market demand.

Alagar from Thirupuvanam, Sivaganaga district, Tamil Nadu, is a blacksmith known for his distinct craftsmanship in making aruvals (sickles), ranging from 10 to 100 ft. With strong demand for his work, his roadside workshop has attracted customers from across the region.

However, rising labour costs and limited access to capital were affecting his ability to keep up with orders. With increasing labour costs, the cost of investing in new equipment remained out of reach.

To address these challenges, Alagar adopted a climate-smart power hammer and heavy-duty blower enabling:
🔨 Reduced labour dependence by mechanising hammering and blowing processes.
🔨 Lower operating costs by reducing daily labour expenses.
🔨 Increased productivity and capacity to meet existing market demand.
🔨 Improved financial stability.

Alagar’s journey shows how access to the right technology can help traditional artisans strengthen their craft, respond to market demand, and build more resilient livelihoods.

Want to learn and implement impact-driven solutions that build climate resilience?

Join the webinar on blacksmith blower and power hammer:
📅 Aug 25, 2026
🕛 12:00 PM
🔗 https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_c7N8ymT-RoiVO0Y16TWDsg #/registration

21/08/2026

Heat isn’t just about temperature. Thermal comfort is shaped by multiple factors—and cooling solutions need to account for all of them.

We’re exploring how to better understand and measure the impact of cooling solutions on thermal comfort. If you’re working in this space, we’d love to connect.



IKEA Foundation | | | The Lemelson Foundation | Stichting DOEN | C40 Cities | |

🚜 Inviting Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers to participate in a 10 Mins Survey! Behind every agricultural machine, t...
21/08/2026

🚜 Inviting Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers to participate in a 10 Mins Survey!

Behind every agricultural machine, tool or technology that makes a farmer’s work easier is a manufacturer who has understood a problem, designed a solution, tested it and often adapted it based on what works on the ground.

Agri-tech manufacturers are one of the backbones of solving the challenges faced by farmers and micro-entrepreneurs. Yet, their experiences, challenges and innovations are not always part of a common conversations shaping agricultural technology and support systems.

That’s why, we are inviting Agri-Tech Enterprises to participate in a 10-minute survey to engage with 300+ enterprises from Karnataka, Maharashtra and Odisha to better understand:
- What challenges manufacturers face while developing and scaling agricultural solutions?
-What is working and what needs to change?
- What kind of support can help manufacturers test, adapt and take their solutions further?

🔗 Appy here: https://forms.gle/RvGMHxFDE2ZtofLn8
Or Scan the QR code in the post

🎁 The first 20 respondents will receive support worth up to ₹1,00,000 to test and pilot new agricultural machinery for farmers (T&Cs apply).



| Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India | IKEA Foundation | | | The Lemelson Foundation | Stichting DOEN

On 29–30 July, SELCO Foundation hosted the first Impact/Failure@SELCO — a two-day, in-person convening in Bengaluru that...
20/08/2026

On 29–30 July, SELCO Foundation hosted the first Impact/Failure@SELCO — a two-day, in-person convening in Bengaluru that brought together 300+ colleagues from 11 states, across teams, programs, and levels.

The event was the culmination of a three-month internal campaign. Over those months, we held organization-wide conversations on failure, dug into our past failures for learnings, and collected 150+ failure stories from colleagues across functions and geographies.

Over the two days, we started by setting the context on where SELCO is and where we’re headed. This was followed by panel discussions with ecosystem partners, who spoke candidly about their own failures and the realities of navigating challenges in development work. Five failure stories from the collective exercise were highlighted and presented in a talk format. Alongside this, mixed small-group reflections surfaced individual and team-level failures, helping us build a shared language around risk, experimentation, and learning.

The core of the convening was a collective exercise where teams applied a “failure lens” to current program objectives, outcomes, and intended impact. Everyone in the room contributed inputs to dedicated teams, drawing on lessons from past failures as well as individual and team experiences to help shape more resilient programs and clearer paths forward.

This first edition of Impact/Failure at SELCO was intentionally internal — a chance to turn the lens on our own practice.

More insights and highlights from the process will be shared in the coming weeks.
Because the only way to fail better is to talk about failure honestly, blamelessly.



IKEA Foundation | | | The Lemelson Foundation | Stichting DOEN

For maternal and child health, the first mile can make all the difference.A health facility may exist in a community, bu...
19/08/2026

For maternal and child health, the first mile can make all the difference.

A health facility may exist in a community, but true access depends on whether it is ready to provide safe, reliable and dignified care when it is needed.

From Meghalaya to Karnataka, experiences on the ground show that readiness is not built through one intervention alone. Reliable energy, climate-responsive infrastructure, functional equipment, capable health workers and patient-centred spaces have to work together.

Because when these systems come together, a health centre becomes more than a point of care.

It becomes a place people can depend on.

🔗 Read more: https://medium.com//when-systems-work-strengthening-the-foundations-of-maternal-and-child-health-82ca9b89888b



IKEA Foundation | | | The Lemelson Foundation | Stichting DOEN

Address

# 690, 15th Cross, 2nd Phase J P Nagar
Bangalore
560078

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Thursday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Friday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Saturday 9:30am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+918026493145

Website

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