The Bharat Project
Hoker Nidar Shuru-kar.
You mentioned two big opportunities. We've been heads-down building.
Here's what we've tested, what we've learned, and how we think we can do this together.
The government is going big on this. Different states are spending serious money. The I&B Ministry set up a whole college. Rs 4,000 Cr+ committed. 13 states have policies now. Infrastructure is getting built everywhere — but nobody's connecting this talent to actual entrepreneurship yet.
India has 80 million creators. Only 8-10% make real money from it. The government just announced a $1 billion creator fund. Creators are already launching their own brands. They influence $350B in spending. But there's no clear path from making content to building a business.
These two are actually connected. AVGC is creating skilled people. The creator economy gives them a way to earn. We think YourStory and Blend can build the bridge between both.
| State | Key Initiative | Investment | What's being built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karnataka | AVGC-XR Policy 3.0 (3rd generation!) | ABAI CoE: Rs 48.85 Cr | 30K jobs target, KITVEN AVGC fund, GAFX annual summit |
| Maharashtra | AVGC-XR Policy 2025 | Rs 3,268 Cr | AVGC parks in 8 cities, 200K jobs over 25 years |
| Telangana | IMAGE Tower + IMAGE Policy | Rs 1,200 Cr | 1.6M sq ft facility, 30K+ capacity, 150 VFX companies |
| Tamil Nadu | AVGC-XR Policy 2026 | ELCOT CoE: Rs 50 Cr | Digital Arts in 300-400 colleges, 200 startups |
| Madhya Pradesh | AVGC-XR Policy 2025 | Rs 2,000 Cr | 20K jobs, CoEs in fine arts colleges, women focus |
| Rajasthan | AVGC-XR Policy 2024 | Rs 1,000 Cr (Innovation Studios) | 50K jobs by 2030, NVIDIA partnership |
| Kerala | AVGC-XR Policy 2024-29 | Kerala Startup Mission | 50K jobs by 2029, 250 establishments, 15% of India's content |
Here's what jumps out: Every big state is spending serious money on AVGC — labs, centres of excellence, parks, policies. They're building the supply side. But who helps the talent coming out of all this actually become entrepreneurs? That's where we come in together.
Bengaluru · January–April 2026 · 3 months
Five people. ₹15K/month + bonuses. Not an internship — real work from day one. They went into Bengaluru's independent creative scene and documented, created, and connected. They covered Alien Kind, Grumpy Girl, Analogue Space, Dhurthi, Moonshot, Second Life Clothing, Talme, flea markets, and did a 3-day live content streak at GAFX 2026 — Karnataka's flagship AVGC event.
The GAFX moment: The crew covered Karnataka's biggest AVGC industry event — three days, live, producing content in real time. Fast, demanding, and the entire team had to function as a unit. This is the piece of work we're most proud of from Cohort 1. It also showed us exactly how Blend plugs into the AVGC ecosystem.
Bottom line: The model works. People show up, do great work, and grow. We just need to be smarter about onboarding, pipeline, and who we pick. Everything we got wrong is fixable. Everything we got right is scalable.
Simply put: Governments are building AVGC infrastructure worth thousands of crores. We become the layer that turns that talent into entrepreneurs — through real brand work, hackathons, and startup pathways. YourStory opens the doors. Blend does the ground work. Tessarakt powers the scale.
Simply put: 80M creators need a way to earn that doesn't depend on one algorithm. We give them structure (Crew), real work (Hub), and a shot at funding (BlendHack). YourStory tells their stories. Brands fund the cohorts. Creators become the next wave of Bharat Project entrepreneurs.
16 editions. $2B+ in funding. 5L+ jobs. But TechSparks has never had a creative hackathon. BlendHack adds that — 48-hour creative hack, live finals on main stage, 8 tracks, 100+ teams. Winners get K-Tech grants + ABAI mentorship.
Why it works: New Gen-Z audience, new sponsor categories (fashion, gaming, music), 500+ content pieces per event. The startup economy meets the creative economy.
Bharat Project runs BharatSparks in states. We deploy Campus Ambassadors in every city those summits touch. They bring student energy, run pre-event BlendHacks, and feed the pipeline.
Why it works: BharatSparks gets year-round local engagement instead of one-day events. Blend gets distribution into every state Bharat Project enters.
Start Karnataka (ABAI + K-Tech + Policy 3.0) → Maharashtra (IICT + Rs 3,268 Cr) → Telangana (IMAGE Tower) → Tamil Nadu → MP → Rajasthan → Kerala. Each state has money, policy, and infrastructure. We bring the community layer.
What success looks like: 1 state in Y1, 5 in Y2, 10+ in Y3. Each state = BlendHack chapter + Campus Ambassadors + Crew cohorts.
Blend Bazaar is our marketplace connecting creative entrepreneurs, brands, and consumers. Combined with Bharat Project's IdeaSparks (top 1,000 ideas from 1,000+ districts), it becomes a national creative marketplace.
What success looks like: A physical + digital marketplace where Bharat Project entrepreneurs sell, test, and scale their creative products.
| Entity | What they bring | Responsibility | How it helps YourStory |
|---|---|---|---|
| YourStory / Bharat Project | 10M readers, DPIIT MoU, 4 state MOUs, TechSparks, BharatSparks, Shuru-kar AI, Idea Bank, brand trust | Government doors, editorial amplification, TechSparks/BharatSparks stage, brand partnerships, national credibility | You already have this. This partnership amplifies it. |
| Blend | Creator Hub, Blend Crew, BlendHack, Campus Ambassadors, Blend Bazaar, 8 creative tracks, 5-stage journey | On-ground community ops, cohort management, hackathon curation, campus network, creator pipeline | Execution engine for Bharat Project's creative economy mandate |
| Tessarakt | Platform engineering, experiential production, analytics, multi-city event ops | BlendHack engine, Creator Hub tech, event production, real-time data, scale infrastructure | Scalable tech that powers everything without YourStory building it |
| ABAI + K-Tech + IICT | 200+ studios, K-Tech hubs, IICT talent, GAFX, state grants | Mentors, venues, talent pipeline, industry demand, grant capital | Government + industry co-branding for Bharat Project |
State MOUs → open districts. Bihar (38 districts), Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Assam. Each state MOU = new campuses, new BlendHack chapters, new content. 10M readers amplify every success story, attracting more states and brands.
Crew graduates become EIRs who lead the next cohort. Campus Ambassadors recruit more ambassadors. Each BlendHack produces winners who enter Crew. Each Crew cohort delivers for brands who fund more cohorts. Self-reinforcing.
Each BlendHack run improves the platform. Analytics show which regions produce talent. Event playbooks get sharper with every city. Infrastructure that was custom becomes turnkey. 1 city → 5 → 15 with decreasing marginal cost.
| Metric | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campus Ambassadors | 20 | 100 | 200+ |
| Creators in pipeline | 500+ | 5,000+ | 25,000+ |
| BlendHacks run | 25 | 75 | 200+ |
| Crew cohorts graduated | 6 | 30 | 100+ |
| States active | 1 | 5 | 10+ |
| Content pieces for YourStory | 500+ | 5,000+ | 20,000+ |
| AVGC entrepreneurs created | 50 | 300 | 1,000+ |
| Path to 10 lakh | 5,000 creators → 50,000 + national infra → 1 lakh+ · self-sustaining flywheel | ||
On-ground execution engine for Bharat Project's creative economy mandate. 20,000+ content pieces. Gen-Z audience pipeline. New sponsor categories. State activation proof points for DPIIT MoU.
Distribution reach (10M readers). Government access. Brand trust. TechSparks stage. Bharat Project brand legitimacy. Multi-state expansion muscle. The difference between staying in Bangalore and going national.
The Bharat Project
Hoker Nidar Shuru-kar.
We've tested this with real people and real brands. It works.
The AVGC sector is spending thousands of crores. 80 million creators need a path.
We've got the community and the platform. You've got the reach and the relationships.
Let's figure out how to do this together.
Next step: 45 minutes together — map out the AVGC + Creator approach, talk about TechSparks 2026, and figure out Q1.