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Founded by Gargi Vairagare, Rise for Tails initially focused on feeding stray animals. As the numbers rose, the NGO turned into an animal rehabilitation centre.

With an industrialist father, a mother working in the corporate sector, and a sister living in the US, Gargi followed an entirely different route, dedicating herself full-time to helping these needy animals. Gargi believes that every life is precious, be it a human or the little voiceless animals on the streets.

The year-and-a-half-old shelter has a dedicated team of 10 people, including doctors, full-time veterinarians, supervisors, project managers, and caretakers. It also has a 24x7 veterinary mobile clinic on call and a facility of rescue vans.  Rise for Tails also has a sterilisation programme, where it has sterilised over 1,000 dogs and rescued and rehabilitated nearly 3,000 dogs, goats, cows, etc.

Founded by Gargi Vairagare, Rise for Tails initially focused on feeding stray animals. As the numbers rose, the NGO turned into an animal rehabilitation centre.

With an industrialist father, a mother working in the corporate sector, and a sister living in the US, Gargi followed an entirely different route, dedicating herself full-time to helping these needy animals. Gargi believes that every life is precious, be it a human or the little voiceless animals on the streets.

The year-and-a-half-old NGO has a dedicated team of 10 people, including doctors, full-time veterinarians, supervisors, project managers, and caretakers. It also has a 24x7 veterinary mobile clinic on call and a facility of rescue vans.  Rise for Tails also has a sterilisation programme, where it has sterilised over 1,000 dogs and rescued and rehabilitated nearly 3,000 dogs, goats, cows, etc.

Founded by Prathap Bhimasena Rao and Sourabh Kumar in 2016, PotHoleRaja is a social enterprise working to upgrade India's infrastructure via citizen intervention. PotHoleRaja directly works with citizens. Alternatively, it can be commissioned by institutes, social collectives, or even government bodies to undertake large-scale projects.

PotHoleRaja recently introduced GridMats, a patented eco-friendly product made from recycled polypropylene waste. The material is durable and crafted from 100% recycled plastic waste to construct pavements/roads.

Industrial garbage serves as the organisation’s primary supply of recycled plastic. Recycling companies first pick up the trash, then sort and clean it before delivering it to PotHoleRaja's factory in Hosur, a city about 40 kilometres southeast of Bengaluru.

The recycled polypropylene waste, now in a pellet form, is used to make GridMats, a honeycomb structure. Polypropylene is usually used to make buckets, plastic chairs, and the hard plastic found in cars.

GridMats are placed above the bedding layer and packed with different filling options, creating a permanent, flat, high-quality surface in less than half the time, and at 20%-25% cheaper the cost.

Recently, a road in Bengaluru was conducted using over 3,000 kg of recycled plastic that was used in GridMats.

Ankita Wamburkar, mother to an eight-year-old, wanted to build something on her own. A NIFT Hyderabad graduate, Ankita had varied work experience in the retail industry in products ranging from office stationery to garments, and was working as a concept manager for the company, Pretty Women Fashion. 

But, it was fashion jewellery that really intrigued her. “I believed in the words of Coco Chanel, the French fashion icon - costume jewellery is made to make women beautiful,” says Ankita. It was this passion that led her to start Just Peachy in October 2018 in Hyderabad. 

The brand presently employs local artisans from cities like Mumbai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata to manufacture jewellery. Apart from generating employment for packaging, they also offer internships to NIFT students.

The brand now has over 1200 products in range, with about 100 new designs being added every month. Once sold out, they don’t bring the same designs again.

“Just Peachy is aiming to achieve Rs 25 crore by 2025, and also set up its own jewellery manufacturing unit. We will soon launch other accessories to widen the offerings,” says Ankita. 

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