Public service provisioning by innovation driven startups

Abstract

A variety of early stage social ventures are participating in the provision of public goods in India today. These ventures broadly fall in three categories: (a) Those which ‘substitute’ state efforts by replacing the state or even the large private sector (e.g., provide water, education, health services, sanitation etc.); (b) Those which ‘complement’ state’s efforts by providing additional services (e.g., skill development, health education etc.); and (c) Those that ‘enable’ a more efficacious provisioning of public services (e.g., inexpensive diagnostics, tools for imparting education etc.).