Plustrust

What Plustrust does

Plustrust is a Bangalore-headquartered nonprofit organization founded in 2008 that delivers micro-incubation support to rural women changemakers across India through a portfolio of fellowship programs — Rural Women Edupreneur (RWE), Community Health Entrepreneur (CHE), Return to Roots (R2R), and Changemaker Fellowship. Each fellowship runs for six months and bundles an orientation workshop, a monthly stipend of INR 10,000, mentoring, skill development, and material support, with an average all-in cost of INR 1.30 lakh per cohort. The organization reaches beneficiaries through two physical community hubs (Plustrust Addas in Udaipur, Rajasthan and Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh) and a distributed Anchor network of 18 trained field mentors operating in 7 Indian states, enabling reach across 14 states.

The underlying platform layers additional program lines on top of the fellowship engine: Digishala (digital adoption training covering Google Meet, G-Suite, social media marketing, Canva, and content creation), a subscription-based English Learning Course at INR 299 per month delivered via Google Meet, and Maker Labs in KGBV government schools delivering STEM and entrepreneurship curriculum to 400 girl students in Rajasthan. The Anchor Network and Plustrust Addas together form the operating backbone, with partnerships (Karnataka Coaching Council, Bahaar Foundation, Portea, Villgro, StepOne, Zeiss Foundation) extending capability in healthcare, social enterprise incubation, and vision programs.

Plustrust's business model is grant- and donation-funded rather than revenue-commercial. Income streams comprise individual donations collected via the website, foundation grants (e.g., the July 2022 Maker Labs grant from Rise Up and The Emerging Markets Foundation / Empower), and modest fee-for-service revenue from the English Learning Course subscription. The organization is a registered charity under Sec 12A and Sec 80(G) of the Indian Income Tax Act (50% IT exemption on donations) and holds FCRA registration (Reg No 368140076) enabling international contributions. Go-to-market is community-led: orientation workshops surface potential fellows, Anchors mentor cohorts locally, and physical Addas act as visible brand anchors. The organization has issued 298 fellowships over 14 years, 224 in the last five years, with 46 women starting service enterprises, 67 emerging as Community Health Entrepreneurs (reaching ~25,000 people and conducting 7,000+ diagnostic tests), and 111 fellows working in education and skill development — cumulative impact cited at 15,000+ beneficiaries.

Name

Plustrust

Legal name

Plustrust

Website

https://plustrust.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Plustrust is a Bangalore-based nonprofit, founded in 2008, that runs 6-month micro-incubation fellowships for rural women changemakers across 14 Indian states via an 18-Anchor field network and two community hubs (Udaipur, Ujjain), supplemented by digital-skills training, English courses, and KGBV STEM Maker Labs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Micro-Incubation Fellowship Programs

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171), Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Education, Skills & Workforce Development Aid Programs (BPADABAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Training Delivery Providers (In-Person, Virtual, Train-the-Trainer) (BPACANAM), Workforce Development & Training Grants (Public Health) (HLAJALAM), Advanced Project-Based Learning & Portfolio Mentoring (STEM/arts portfolios, maker projects) (EDANAKAI)

Keywords

• Rural women entrepreneurship
• Micro-incubation fellowship
• Community health entrepreneurs
• Social enterprise incubation
• Changemaker fellowship programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Bangalore

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Philanthropy: Plustrust relies on donations to fund fellowship programs. The organization is registered as a charity under Sec 12A and Sec 80(G) under IT Act, with 50% of donations eligible for IT exemption. FCRA registered allowing international donations.
2. Fellowship Program Funding: Average cost of INR 1.30 lakh per 6-month fellowship covering orientation workshop (INR 5000), fellowship stipend (INR 60000), mentoring cost (INR 20000), skill development (INR 20000), and material cost (INR 25000).
3. Grants: Awarded grants from foundations such as Rise Up and The Emerging Markets Foundation (Empower) for specific programs like Maker Spaces in KGBVs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Plustrust runs micro-incubation fellowship programs for rural women changemakers in India, including the Rural Women Edupreneur (RWE), Community Health Entrepreneur (CHE), Return to Roots (R2R), and Changemaker Fellowship. Fellows receive a 6-month program with orientation, mentoring, skill development, and material support (INR 1.30 lakh average cost). Programs are delivered through community hubs called Plustrust Addas in Udaipur and Ujjain and a network of 18 trained Anchors across 7 states, supplemented by Digishala digital skills training, English learning, and Maker Labs.

Product overview

Plustrust offers a micro-incubation ecosystem centered on fellowship programs for rural women changemakers. The core offering consists of four fellowship types (Rural Women Edupreneur, Community Health Entrepreneur, Return to Roots, and Changemaker Fellowship) delivered through physical hubs called Plustrust Addas in Udaipur and Ujjain. Supporting these programs are Digishala (digital skills training), English Learning Course (language training), and Maker Labs (STEM education in schools). The organization provides 6-month fellowships with orientation workshops, mentoring, skill development, and material support to enable women to pilot ventures in Education, Healthcare, and Livelihood sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Digishala: Digital adoption training program for rural entrepreneurs, artisans, and fellows. Offers customized training in digital apps, social media marketing, documentation, and content creation.
• Plustrust Adda
• Community Health Entrepreneurs (CHE)
• The Rural Women Edupreneur (RWE)
• Return to Roots (R2R)
• Changemaker Fellowship

Products and services

• Microincubation Fellowship Programs 6-month micro-incubation fellowships that provide rural women changemakers with orientation workshops, monthly stipend (INR 10,000/month), mentoring, skill development, and material support (INR 1.30 lakh average cost per fellow) to pilot service enterprises in Education, Healthcare, and Livelihood.
• Plustrust Addas (Community Hubs) Physical community hubs in Udaipur (Rajasthan) and Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh) that provide localized support, tailormade fellowship offerings, skill-building opportunities, and platforms for collaborations and partnerships to widen Plustrust's reach.
• Digishala Digital Skills Training Customized digital literacy training program for rural entrepreneurs, artisans, and Plustrust fellows covering digital apps, social media marketing, G-Suite documentation, and content creation tools delivered via Google Meet.
• Digishala English Learning Course Four-month conversational English course covering basic English and sentence formation with assignments, delivered twice weekly via Google Meet, priced at Rs. 299 per month.
• Maker Labs (KGBV) Maker spaces set up in government residential schools (KGBVs) in Udaipur, Rajasthan, providing STEM education covering Mechanics, Electricals, Electronics, PCB, Fab Lab, Digital Literacy, and Coding, using a design thinking framework for grassroots innovation among disadvantaged girl students.

Quantifiable outcome

• 46 women changemakers started service enterprises
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Karnataka Coaching Council (KCC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated for micro-incubation support to help changemakers create transformative spirals of change.
• Bahaar FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization for micro-incubation collaboration.
• PorteaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealthcare partnership for micro-incubation support.
• VillgrominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial enterprise incubator partner for changemaker support.
• StepOneminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization for micro-incubation support.
• Zeiss FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for vision-related programs including Aloka Vision Program.
• Spotsense and VitorminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnology partners for micro-incubation ecosystem support.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Digital Green: Digital Green trains rural communities (including women) to produce and share agricultural and livelihood videos using a localized extension agent model. Comparable as a fellowship/incubation-style training nonprofit targeting rural Indian communities.
• PRADAN (Professional Assistance for Development Action): PRADAN promotes livelihoods among rural poor women in India through self-help groups and skill-building programs. Comparable as a rural women livelihood development and training nonprofit.
• Industree Crafts Foundation (now Mother Earth): Industree supports rural women artisans through incubation and producer-enterprise models in India. Comparable as a rural women micro-enterprise incubation nonprofit.
• Mann Deshi Foundation: Mann Deshi supports rural women entrepreneurs in Maharashtra with training, mentoring, and microenterprise incubation. Directly comparable as a rural-women entrepreneurship micro-incubation nonprofit operating in India.
• Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP): SSP empowers rural women as entrepreneurs and community leaders in Maharashtra and other states via fellowship-like programs in health, agriculture, and clean energy. Directly comparable in target segment and women-led rural entrepreneurship model.
• Barefoot College (now Barefoot International): Barefoot College trains rural women, often semi-literate, as solar engineers, health workers, and teachers in India. Directly comparable as a rural-women micro-incubation/fellowship nonprofit with grassroots training and community-led model.

Broad incumbents

• National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC): NSDC is a public-private partnership skilling millions across India including rural women. Comparable as a broad workforce-development/skills player though operating at vastly larger scale than Plustrust.
• SEWA (Self-Employed Women's Association): SEWA is a large trade union and cooperative federation organizing millions of self-employed women across India. Comparable as a broad incumbent in rural women empowerment, though at much greater scale than Plustrust.

Emerging players

• Villgro: Villgro is a social enterprise incubator supporting rural and impact enterprises in India. Listed as a Plustrust partner, with overlap as a micro-incubation ecosystem player though more focused on enterprise funding.
• Naandi Foundation: Naandi Foundation works with rural communities in India across livelihoods, education, and health with fellowship-style field programs. Comparable as an emerging player with rural fellowship/training programs targeting women and youth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCWxaOi7LBJZwf89HxNzFrzA
• Facebookfacebook.com/PlustrustIndia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/plustrust
• Instagraminstagram.com/_plustrust_

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Plustrust