Cultural Entrepreneurship: A Wake-Up Call for Indian Entrepreneurs

I was intrigued when I first heard the term “Cultural Entrepreneurship.” It involves developing ventures that promote, preserve, and monetize cultural heritage or innovations by blending artistic values with business strategies. During our monthly Charter Member dinner event of TiE Chennai, Mr Sanjay Anandaram from NICEorg introduced this concept. He challenged the audience, which comprised some of Chennai’s most renowned business figures, with a question: Can you name a globally successful yoga brand from India? Despite India’s role as the birthplace of yoga and the United Nations marking June 21st as International Yoga Day, no one in the room could name one. Mr. Sanjay highlighted that India receives only a fraction of the tourists that visit the Louvre Museum, which sees around 10 million visitors annually. He emphasized that Indian businesses are missing out on significant opportunities in cultural and historic tourism, local cuisine and food, fashion and jewellery, furnishings, beauty, and wellness. He noted that despite India’s rich history, the influx of travelers remains modest, partly due to significant concerns over hygiene, accommodation, and safety. We must transcend the outdated 1960s mindset that demonizes profit-making and views business ventures involving cultural assets as exploitative of artisans and local communities. He drew a parallel with how the term “Startup” entered the government’s vocabulary in 2016 and subsequently made a significant impact. He advocated for “Cultural Entrepreneurship” to become a part in the vocabulary of policymakers. Just like it was the right time for IT and Software two decades ago, establishing India as a software powerhouse, the time is now ripe for India to leverage its rich cultural heritage from an entrepreneurial perspective. The audience was surprised when he mentioned how the Indian Museum Rules, 1970, which were enacted to prevent misuse like most laws in India, largely prevent museums from undertaking activities for profit. Their primary mandate is preservation, not even to showcase and make cultural assets accessible to citizens or travelers. This dependency on government grants results in inefficiencies and a lack of innovation. Overall, while the idea of presenting Indian heritage and culture to the world has existed for centuries and has led to the creation of a few brands in recent years, none have become hugely impactful. Mr. Sanjay’s passionate argument to scale these efforts to new levels was infectious. His talk was a wake-up call to all aspiring entrepreneurs in India. Thank you, Mr. Sanjay, for inspiring us to adopt a new perspective and harness our rich cultural heritage.