The Multiplier Effect: How Vikrant Bhargava is Redefining Philanthropy to Strengthen Systems
Philanthropy has long been driven by goodwill, but what if it was treated with more analytical and intellectual rigour —where results, efficiency, and impact at scale mattered as much as trust and generosity? This is the philosophy behind Veddis Foundation, founded by tech entrepreneur Vikrant Bhargava, who believes that giving should be as strategic as building a company.
“Philanthropy isn’t just about helping people—it’s about making systems work better,” Vikrant said. Founded over a decade ago, Veddis Foundation has taken a data-driven approach to maximize impact, focusing on scalable, high-leverage interventions rather than one-time donations.
When Veddis CEO Murugan Vasudevan met Vikrant in 2020, he saw a philanthropist giving generously—but not yet at the scale he was capable of. “His ability to give was orders of magnitude higher,” Murugan recalled. “The challenge wasn’t just increasing the amount, but fundamentally rethinking how to maximize impact.”
That conversation led to a defining moment. “Let’s put a stake in the ground,” Vikrant and Murugan decided. “What if we deployed INR 100 crores over three years—but with an approach built on evidence, not just goodwill?” This shift wasn’t just about scale—it was about redefining philanthropy itself.
Four years later, Veddis has exceeded its INR 100 crore commitment—not just as a funder, but as a force for systemic change. As a strategic partner, it builds institutional capacity, strengthens public service delivery, and supports in scaling evidence-based policy solutions. From rural livelihoods to data-driven governance, Veddis applies a venture mindset to philanthropy, ensuring interventions are measurable, scalable, and transformative.
By partnering with multiple state governments and supporting over 100 organizations, Veddis ensures philanthropy moves beyond short-term fixes to drive lasting institutional change.
From Entrepreneur to Strategic Philanthropist
Many philanthropists adopt traditional giving models, but Vikrant approached philanthropy with the same data-driven rigor that made him successful in business. “He spent years figuring out what works and what doesn’t,” recalled Murugan. Unlike many who begin giving after accumulating wealth, Vikrant had been thinking about impact long before he had the means.
Growing up, he watched his father help others despite financial constraints, instilling in him an early commitment to social change. “By the time I left school, I wanted to fix problems around me, but I didn’t know how to create impact at scale,” he said. Initially, he considered joining the civil service or development sector, but he soon realized that financial independence would be key to driving real change.
Instead, he built a career in business, becoming the youngest director of a London Stock Exchange FTSE 100 company at 32. By 34, after a successful IPO, he stepped away—not to retire, but to apply his problem-solving mindset to philanthropy.
Vikrant treated philanthropy like a startup—iterative, data-driven, and constantly evolving. “I didn’t want to waste time on small projects,” he said. But he quickly realized that scale isn’t just about money—it’s about being hyper-efficient with your resources.
As he explored India’s nonprofit sector, he saw that many organizations spent up to 60% of their budgets on fundraising rather than impact. Recognizing an opportunity to streamline giving, he launched LetzChange in 2014, India’s first peer-to-peer fundraising platform. By 2018, it merged with GiveIndia (now, Give), to power the country’s largest and most trusted online giving platform.
At the same time, Vikrant was thinking beyond fundraising. While improving how nonprofits raised money was important, he realized that the most powerful way for philanthropy to drive sustainable change at scale was by strengthening state capacity. Direct interventions could provide short-term relief, but true transformation required making public institutions more effective and resilient.
This became the foundation of Veddis’ approach. Initially a grant-maker, Veddis added direct implementation to its portfolio in 2014, launching a model gram panchayat in Ratakhurd, Rajasthan—integrating agriculture, healthcare, and livelihoods to create a scalable framework for rural development.
“Philanthropy isn’t about having all the answers before you start,” Vikrant explained. “It’s about constantly refining your approach based on data and real-world impact.” This philosophy became the foundation of Veddis’ mission—not just funding or implementing programs, but ensuring philanthropy worked alongside governments to strengthen public institutions and drive systemic change at scale. With governance as a central lever for impact, Veddis developed a model built on three key pillars: Rural Livelihoods, Policy Partnerships, and Catalytic Grants.
Empowering rural women in remote villages – Veddis Foundation bridges policy gaps for sustainable livelihoods
“In a portfolio, some initiatives will fail, but if one succeeds at scale, it can be transformative. Philanthropy has a responsibility to take more risks on ideas that can solve problems at population scale.”
Veddis Foundation supports rural livelihoods, empowering farmers through better governance and resource access
Veddis' Model for Impact: A Three-Pillar Approach
“The government spends 30-40 times more on development than nonprofits. If you can improve government efficiency, the impact can be far greater,” Vikrant observed.
That insight defines Veddis’ mission—not to work around public systems, but to strengthen them. Operating with a ‘100% heart + 100% head’ philosophy, the foundation blends a trust-based commitment with analytical rigor to ensure that every intervention is scalable, evidence-backed, and designed for long-term impact.
Pillar 1: Strengthening Rural Livelihoods
Economic resilience starts at the grassroots. Veddis strengthens public service delivery by improving the efficiency and scale of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) through state partnerships. It collaborates with Rajasthan Grameen Aajeevika Vikas Parishad (RGAVP), Haryana State Rural Livelihood Mission (HSRLM) and Himachal Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission (HPSRLM) to drive systemic change through technology and governance reforms.In Rajasthan, Veddis focused on transforming how rural institutions accessed resources. Partnering with 42 Cluster Level Federations (CLFs) across 10 districts, it developed a two-pronged strategy: improving governance and creating self-sustaining livelihood models. Within two years, average incomes rose by 55% across 160,000 households, prompting the World Bank to end its support as the initiative became self-sustaining. The Rajasthan government later scaled this model across all 33 districts, and having successfully demonstrated a replicable framework, Veddis exited in 2018, allowing the state to fully own and expand its impact.
“We’re constantly looking for opportunities others might miss, creating a multiplier effect to attract more resources into the sector,” Murugan explained.
In 2024, Veddis evolved its strategy in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh —shifting from direct implementation to an advisory role as a state-level policy changemaker. This move extended their reach from 9 districts and 75,000 households to all 34 districts, directly benefiting 1.8 lakh households while influencing 9.5 lakh more through scalable, tech-enabled solutions resulting in ~400cr of additional funds unlocked.
Pillar 2: Policy Partnerships
Evidence-based policymaking can transform millions of lives—but only if governments have the tools to execute it effectively. Veddis’ policy partnerships focus on scaling proven solutions, ensuring that research-driven policies translate into real-world impact.One of its flagship initiatives, ASPIRE (Alliance for Scaling Policy Impact through Research and Evidence), was launched in partnership with J-PAL South Asia. As J-PAL South Asia’s largest funder, Veddis is accelerating the adoption of rigorously validated economic and social development policies by working directly with governments, donors, and nonprofits. In 2024, ASPIRE scaled five high-impact interventions across multiple states, addressing economic mobility, gender equity, early childhood education, foundational learning, and air pollution.
Veddis is also one of the largest India focused funders of IDinsight, which signed an MoU with the Government of Uttar Pradesh in 2024 to provide technical and analytical support in key economic areas. Their five-year, INR 20 crore grant will help optimize data-driven decision-making and public resource allocation, strengthening governance at scale.
Another key partner is the Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS), with Veddis as one of its earliest funders. Since 2022, Veddis has supported CEGIS’ mission to help governments function as high-performing institutions by embedding outcome measurement, personnel management, strategic public finance, and optimized public service delivery into governance systems.
“Veddis Foundation has been one of our earliest funders and they have understood the need for long term, patient and untied capital as we have sought to build and implement our solutions on driving effective governance. They understand the importance of a strong and effective government in nation building and have hence been a strategic and committed partner,” said Dr Vijay Pingale, Chief Executive Officer, CEGIS Foundation.
Pillar 3: Catalytic Grants
Veddis Foundation provides unrestricted, multi-year funding to nonprofits driving systemic change at the intersection of technology, policy, and impact through its Catalytic Grants fund.“Trust-based giving doesn’t mean ignoring outcomes, and outcomes-based giving doesn’t mean lacking trust,” Murugan said, reinforcing Veddis’ balanced approach to strategic philanthropy.
The Fund supports high-impact, scalable solutions, including 10BedICU, which expands rural ICU access; Indus Action, which bridges policy implementation gaps for underserved communities; and Rocket Learning, which leverages technology and community engagement to scale early childhood education.
Veddis Foundation and the Rajasthan Grameen Aajeevika Vikas Parishad (RGAVP) worked together to strengthen rural Rajasthan through improved governance and livelihood models
The way forward
As India approaches its centenary, Vikrant emphasizes that the next frontier for philanthropy is strengthening governance and state capacity. “India has made significant strides in infrastructure and economic growth, but real impact happens when institutions are equipped to deliver at scale.”He also sees a growing appetite among the Indian diaspora to give back. But for philanthropy to be truly transformative, it must move beyond fragmented efforts and act as a force multiplier—channeling resources into policies and institutions that drive systemic change.
Reflecting on his journey, Vikrant cautions funders against entering philanthropy with rigid, pre-set solutions. “If you come in thinking, ‘I know the problem, and I know how to solve it,’ you’re assuming expertise in something that has remained unresolved for decades.
He also urged funders to apply the same strategic discipline to giving as they do to building wealth. “People use their brains to make money, but when they give, they tend to rely only on their hearts. Some of the smartest people suddenly stop thinking analytically. Giving should start with the heart, but the brain should do 80% of the work.”
India@2047 will not be built on fragmented giving, but on philanthropy that funds institutions, not just interventions. By strengthening governance, scaling evidence-backed solutions, and embedding data-driven policymaking, Veddis is demonstrating how philanthropy can drive not just temporary relief, but irreversible positive change.
Inspired thinking presented by
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
Read more
Read more
