Fusion Craft
Fusion Craft,a social venture for uplifting the Indian Handicraft and help the artisans break from the vicious cycle of poverty and exploitation. The Indian product hadicraft suffers from lack of utility and inefficient marketing. Whether it's the government or the emporiums they always target the foreigners promoting export.With design intervention and proper marketing we will use new sectors.
About You
Section 1: About You
First Name
Ankit
Last Name
Singh
Website
Country
Section 2: About Your Organization
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
Organization Name
Fusion Craft Pvt. Ltd.
Organization Website
Organization Phone
+91-9793973610
Organization Address
Nankari, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur
Organization Country
India
Is your organization a
For‐profit
How long has this organization been operating?
Less than a year
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Your idea
Name Your Project
Fusion Craft
Describe Your Idea
Fusion Craft,a social venture for uplifting the Indian Handicraft and help the artisans break from the vicious cycle of poverty and exploitation. The Indian product hadicraft suffers from lack of utility and inefficient marketing. Whether it's the government or the emporiums they always target the foreigners promoting export.With design intervention and proper marketing we will use new sectors.
Country your work focuses on
India
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
Our idea's uniqueness lies in the products we want to make, the execution plan and the human resource. As the name of the venture says "Fusion Craft",our products will be a fusion of modern designs and traditional art. The Indian product hadicraft suffers from lack of proper promotion and utility. The products are all traditional. Whether the NGO's, Government emporiums or the tradefairs or any such acitivity, they all are aimed at promoting the export of the handicraft. This methodology has long being into presence and has hardly helped the Indian handicraft, neither in terms of export revenue generation nor in terms of helping the artisans. On the contrary it has made the artisans more prone and exposed to exploitation by the exporters. We did surveys and talked to artisans of the country and their situation as pathetic. There are few arts which has only counted artisans left. In absence of proper education, knowledge and capital they are caught in the vicious cycle of poverty and exploitation. Through our venture we will promote the handicraft in totally different, huge and unexplored sector of gift industry. We have a design team which designs products as per the clients requirement and the trends in the market. The artisans, primarily women, make the products using their traditional art and methods. Finally these products are sold by our company. The artisans get payed and besides this our venture will look after the education, social life and health of the children of artisans. We will give them technical trainings so that they can understand the trends in the market. A fixed percentage of our revenue will go for the education of the children.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
No
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
Tell us about the social impact of your innovation. Please include both numbers and stories as evidence of this impact
Our venture will have a long term social impact, not only in terms of the upliftment of the Indian product hadicraft but also in terms of the social life of the artisans. We will be giving education to the children of the artisans which will overall help the cause of the upliftment of the handicraft. They will be better able to deal with the market and instead of looking upto the eporters for work they will be able to work and negotiate for themselves. With proper source of income the artisans will be able to work for themself also and will get an opportunity to break from the vicious cycle of poverty and exploitation. Since we have been in the business for just 2 months now, we don't have data or stories to support our point of view and social impact.
Problem: Describe the primary problem(s) that your innovation is addressing
Our social innovation is addressing the basic problem of upliftment of Indian product hadicraft. Throughout the world, especially China, Japan, Europena countries the handicraft has always been one of the major sources of foreign revenue, employment and overall depiction of countries culture. In case of India, though this sector employs a large section of the society, but it has failed to prove as a source of revenue generation. On the contrary it has led to exploitation of this field and its people. With lack of proper coordination, proper strategy, marketing, promotion and updation the art and the real people associated with the art have suffered a lot. Through our social venture we will address these questions.
Besides this the basic problems of the artisans, that of proper education of their children and their social life will be taken care by us. We will look after the education of the children of the artisans and will help them in their social life. The working conditions of the artisans are very unhealthy and hazardous. This leads to many diseases and health problems. The artisans in absence of any capital and proper workplace work from their homes. This not onlyy puts the artisans health at risk but also of their family members.
In absence of education and knowledge the artisans get only paid as per the labour charges and are not able to market their products. Thus they are totally dependent on the artisans for the money. At no point of time the artisan gets recognition for their art and efforts, neither in terms of money nor in terms of appreciation. All our products will be branded for the companies name and will carry a tag describing the artisans and their efforts. Besides we will pay them on regular basis and they will work in our workshops in a very well ecofriendly and healthy enviornment.
Actions: Describe the steps that you are taking to make your innovation a success. What might prevent that success?
Approximately 250 words left (1200 characters).
Results: Describe the expected results of these actions over the next three years. Please address each year separately, if possible
Approximately 350 words left (1200 characters).
How many people will your project serve annually?
Fewer than 100
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$50 - 100
Does your innovation seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
If your innovation seeks to impact public policy, how?
Approximately 150 words left (1200 characters).
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for less than a year
Does your organization have a board of directors or an advisory board?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with NGOs?
No
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with businesses?
No
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with government?
No
Please tell us more about how partnerships could be critical to the success of your innovation
Partnership with some such social initiatives running in other parts of the country can be very helpful for us and will be critical for our success. Such associations will give us a more deep and wide access to other artisans and other art forms. In the beginning we are only concentrating on the metal and wooden handicraft because these are the two clusters we have studied well and have access to the artisans in these sectors. Association with cooperatives and NGO's working in this direction in other parts of the country will give us more depth and faster penetration in the handicraft. After the association we can get the clients for the aritsans and can do amrketing for their products.)
We would like to learn more about how your initiative is financially supported. Please explain your business plan/revenue model
Me and my friend have invested the initial amount of 2 lacs form our own pockets. For the further assistance we are approaching the banks and the Venture capitalists for the investments.
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
We were doing a projeat related to the Indian handicraft and its revenue and contribution. Whatever data was available it was only for the export and we could not find much information about the sale in the domestic market. Further study made us realise that actully the Indian handicraft has failed to contribute to the net foreign revenue generation. On the other hands countries like China, Japan and few European countries have a significant contribustion from the handicraft. We did surveys in Moradabad, famous for Brass aretfacts, Saharanpur, Jaipur, famous for wooden and marble aretfatcs respectively, Jodhpur, famous for the whitemetal and Khurja famous for the ceramic artefacts. We found a significnat difference between the picture projected by the government and the ground reality. We did market surveys to find out the taste of the peopel and the outlook of the people towrds the Indian handicraft. We considered all the results and cam eupon few conclusions and inferences. Based on that we designed some solutions ato increase the sale of the handicraft in the domestic market and to end the plight of the artisans. Those core ideas and the soltuions form the basic building block of the "Fusion Craft".
Tell us about the person—the social innovator—behind this idea.
Me and my friend are the people behind this social innovation idea.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Web Search (e.g., Google or Yahoo)
If through another source, please provide the information
ICRW
Does your project address any of the following barriers to women’s technology access and use?
If you checked any of the boxes above, please explain how.
Approximately 250 words left (2000 characters).
Does your project involve women in one or more of the following stages of the technology lifecycle? Identification of the problem the technology will solve:
If you checked any of the boxes above, please explain how you will ensure women’s involvement in each relevant phase of the technology lifecycle.
Approximately 250 words left (2000 characters).
If women are a focus of your project, how did this focus evolve?
Which type of women will your project reach directly?
In what ways does your project team/leadership involve women?
Has your organization formed any new partnerships in response to this challenge? If so, with what type/s of organization/s?
Has your project leadership had prior experience with the following?
 | 110 weeks agoAnkit Singh updated this Competition Entry. |
| 110 weeks agoAnkit Singh submitted this idea. |
