Singapore social startups build a niche market in India

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

“In the Muzzaffarnagar riots, in 2013 around 50,000 people were rendered homeless and around 60 died. I travelled to see how we could save these children from the cold that they were dying from. While the victims asked to me donate blankets and such, I designed shelters which were basically insulated sleeping bags for families. It worked on the basic rational that uses body heat to keep people within warm,” narrates Prasoon Kumar, co-founder of Singapore-based social startup Billion Bricks.These water-proof and wind resistant shelters, during summers they can be reversed which helps in cooling.

Inspired by this, Kumar went on to build many more of such kind. Today, Billion bricks builds shelters for homeless people living on the streets.

Recently, the company also shipped 100 shelters to Bangladesh to shelter the Rohingyas. Further, Billion Bricks sells these shelters to homeless people in US, travellers and others.

In the last few years, a number of social Singapore origin startups have been building a niche market in India.

Photo courtesy of Maria Andersson.

Source: Economic Times (link opens in a new window)

Tags
social enterprise, startups