Abstract
This case narrates the success story of Drishtee, a for-profit company with the vision of spreading the benefits of ICT to rural India, where technology can bring long-awaited solutions for rural development. Drishtee is innovative in its concept and implementation and has been successful in facilitating the conception of a rural networking infrastructure through a tiered franchise and partnership model, which has led to the creation of entrepreneurs spread across various villages in rural India. It has an existing network of over 4100 Franchisee Entrepreneurs and 700 RRPs across 10 states in India. It also has the first mover advantage with expertise in rolling out a unique last mile distribution network, built on both Information and Communication Technology (ICT) application and ‘ground level entrepreneurship’. One of the key highlights of the company is its ability to develop products and services specifically designed to cater to the rural market through its subsidiary Quiver Info Services Ltd. With its unique distribution network of existing rural retail points and franchisees, lowering costs and margin expectations, it has succeeded in generating employment opportunities for rural entrepreneurs, with equal gender focus. For its laudable efforts, it has won many accolades including awards from World Bank, Schwab Foundation, WEF and Clinton Global Initiative and is already backed by Institutional investors including IFC, Acumen fund, Grameen foundation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.