Mumbai: Entrepreneurship is often associated with boardrooms, venture capital, and metropolitan start-up hubs. However, Dolphin Tanki 4.0, an initiative by Salaam Bombay Foundation, is proving that young grassroots entrepreneurs from under-resourced communities, both urban and rural, are just as capable of building sustainable businesses when given the right tools, mentorship, and funding. Since its inception, Salaam Bombay Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Incubator has helped launch over 550 businesses, 70 per cent of which are led by women.
Held at the School of Business Management, NMIMS Mumbai, the event saw 12 Gold Winners securing ₹50,000 to ₹60,000 and Eight Silver Winners receiving ₹25,000 to ₹30,000, providing these young entrepreneurs with a crucial boost to establish and scale their ventures. For the first time, Dolphin Tanki welcomed entrepreneurs from rural India, further demonstrating that talent and innovation are not limited by geography.
Now in its fourth year, Dolphin Tanki is a seed-funding platform designed exclusively for entrepreneurs from Salaam Bombay Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Incubator. These young entrepreneurs presented their business pitches to a panel of business leaders and industry experts, competing for seed capital to turn small-scale businesses into scalable ventures.
Salaam Bombay Foundation works with adolescents from under-resourced communities to equip them with 21st-century skills that bridge the gap between education and financial independence. Through hands-on training in arts, media, sports, and vocational education, students develop the skills necessary to earn a livelihood. Those demonstrating entrepreneurial potential are inducted into the Entrepreneurship Incubator, where they receive structured mentorship, access to markets, and a customised starter kit containing essential tools for their trade, whether beauty products, mobile repair kits, or baking essentials.
Dolphin Tanki is the next step in this journey, offering a real-world investment opportunity where these entrepreneurs gain financial literacy, pricing strategies, branding expertise, and market insights that allow them to develop sustainable businesses.
The School of Business Management at NMIMS Mumbai provides training support for Dolphin Tanki. Over three weeks leading up to the event, MBA students mentor the young entrepreneurs, guiding them through business fundamentals, financial structuring, customer engagement, and strategic growth. This collaboration allows both groups to gain valuable insights, with business students gaining exposure to social entrepreneurship, while the young entrepreneurs receive structured business acumen from emerging industry leaders. NMIMS Mumbai also provided the venue for the event.
Speaking about the event, Dr. Meena Galliara, Director, Jasani Center for Social Entrepreneurship & Sustainability Management, SBM, NMIMS, said, “Dolphin Tanki is not just a competition, it is a movement towards making entrepreneurship inclusive. This event provides young entrepreneurs from resource-poor communities the opportunity to launch and scale their businesses. With ingenuity and the right support, these start-ups can become engines of progress, lifting themselves and their communities. Dolphin Tanki is a step towards ensuring that the Startup India movement reflects the full diversity of entrepreneurial talent across the country.”
The impact is clear. Past Dolphin Tanki winners have grown their incomes by 2.5 to 3 times, creating real financial independence in families where monthly earnings were once unpredictable. Many have reinvested in their businesses, expanded their services, and even hired employees, creating ripples of economic empowerment in their communities.