The 5th edition of Youth Co: Lab India, Asia Pacific’s largest youth innovation movement was jointly launched by Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, UNDP India, and Citi Foundation on Thursday, December 15th, 2022. The applications for this edition were launched by Dr. Chintan Vaishnav, Mission Director AIM, NITI Aayog, and Mr. Dennis Curry, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP India.

Speaking at the event Dr. Chintan Vaishnav, Mission Director Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog said “Entrepreneurs are a powerful force in leading social change and accelerating the movement in meeting the SDGs target actions. Youth has exuberance, ideas, and the zeal to change the world, and providing them with every opportunity can create a sustainable change. Hence, I invite all of our young innovators and entrepreneurs to participate in this incredible opportunity to unleash their creativity and build their solutions through the Youth Co: Lab.”

Youth Co: Lab India is an initiative launched in 2019 by UNDP India and Citi Foundation in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog and aims to regionally establish a common agenda for Asia-Pacific countries to invest in and empower youth to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through leadership, social innovation, and entrepreneurship.

Atal Innovation Mission, along with UNDP India is driving this movement through the fifth edition of Youth Co: Lab India and has been supporting young social entrepreneurs who can be a powerful force in leading social change and furthering the implementation of SDGs target actions.
The Youth Co: Lab initiative, to date, has been implemented in 28 countries and territories, reaching over 200,000 participants, benefitting more than 11,000 young social entrepreneurs, and supporting over 1,240 social enterprises.

Mr. Dennis Curry, Deputy Resident Representative UNDP India, speaking about the great opportunities for young and aspiring entrepreneurs said “Young people have the ideas and potential to solve some of the country's pressing problems through innovation and social entrepreneurship. UNDP is thrilled to launch the 5th Edition of Youth Co: Lab with Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, and provide young inspiring, and existing entrepreneurs a platform to scale up their solutions for the common good. This is a unique initiative with young people at the forefront to solve India’s most pressing issues through social entrepreneurship and innovation”

Through Youth Co: Lab, 30 early-stage start-ups would be supported by the springboard programme, and the best would be provided a seed grant for scaling up their start-up. The 5 focus thematic areas for Youth Colab 2022-23 are:

• Digital and Financial Literacy for Youth

• Gender Equality and Women Economic Empowerment

• Developing FinTech Solutions focused on Biodiversity Conservation

• Promoting Biodiversity-friendly Lifestyles through Technological Solutions in Finance

• Accelerating Circular Economy through Upcycling Innovations

• Behavioural Nudges for LiFE ( Lifestyle For Environment)

Passionate young founders with solutions that solve real problems and/or create meaningful co-innovation opportunities aged 18-29 can apply and will be supported throughout the programme. 

About Youth Co:Lab:

Co-created in 2017 by UNDP and the Citi Foundation, Youth Co: Lab is a multi-dimensional and multi-level response to tackle the challenges young people face by positioning youth at the forefront in finding solutions to global challenges tackling Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Youth Co: Lab aims to establish a common agenda for Asia-Pacific countries to invest in and empower youth to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs through leadership, social innovation, and entrepreneurship. 

For more information (related to applications) please visit https://aim.gov.in/youthcolab2022.php

About Atal Innovation Mission (AIM):

AIM is the Government of India’s endeavor to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. Its objective is to serve as a platform for the promotion of world-class innovation hubs, grand challenges, start-up businesses, and other self-employment activities, particularly in technology-driven areas.