Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts

Vedanta Advances Education, Healthcare and Opportunity for 5 Lakh Girls

Zinc All Girls Football Academy in Udaipur

Guided by a holistic, lifecycle-based approach aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals including SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), Vedanta supports girls through three key stages of their journey: building strong foundations in early childhood and schooling; enabling healthy, confident adolescence through education, health and sports; and unlocking opportunities for higher education, skills and livelihoods. These interventions are rooted in a simple belief that when girls are educated, supported and given opportunities, families and communities progress together.

Vedanta’s engagement begins in early childhood through its flagship Nand Ghar programme, which has reached over 2 lakh girls through more than 11,000 modernised Anganwadi centres across 17 states. By integrating early childhood education with nutrition, healthcare access and community engagement, Nand Ghars lay a strong foundation for learning, health and confidence while also empowering mothers and caregivers at the grassroots.

Dhurandhar – movie review

As girls transition into formal schooling, Vedanta focuses on improving learning outcomes in government schools across its operational regions. At Vedanta Aluminium in Jharsuguda, Odisha, Project Vidyagraha adopts a digital-first approach to deliver structured lessons and academic support, enabling students to build confidence and improve performance. Students like Kashish Kalse, a Class 10 student who showed significant improvement in her board examinations, reflect the programme’s impact on academic continuity. Complementing this, Project VIDYA strengthens learning environments through improved student–teacher ratios and enhanced teacher capacity. Similar interventions—Project Shiksha by ESL Steel Limited in Jharkhand, Shiksha Sambal by Hindustan Zinc Limited in Rajasthan, and Project Vriddhi at Vedanta Sesa Goa—support foundational and secondary education through digital access, STEM exposure and scholarships, ensuring infrastructure and financial constraints do not limit girls’ educational aspirations. Notably, girls constitute 50 percent of Utkarsh Scholarship beneficiaries by Sesa Goa.

Recognising that education cannot thrive without health and dignity, Vedanta implements targeted interventions for adolescent girls across its locations. At Vedanta Aluminium in Lanjigarh, Odisha, focused programmes on Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health and Menstrual Health and Hygiene have reached girls through awareness sessions, anaemia screening, nutritional support, menstrual hygiene education and pad-making training, building confidence and self-reliance. Further in Odisha, FACOR’s Project Laadli is reshaping conversations around menstrual health by creating safe spaces through Kishori Clubs, distributing hygiene kits and engaging adolescent boys to challenge stigma. The initiative has reached community members, using dialogue, art and storytelling to build supportive ecosystems. The impact is reflected in stories like that of 13-year-old Sneha from Odisha, who credits FACOR’s Project Laadli and Kishori Clubs with helping her overcome menstrual stigma, access hygiene support and speak openly about her health with confidence.

As girls progress towards higher education and career aspirations, Vedanta supports structured academic and competitive preparedness. Programmes such as Unchi Udaan at Hindustan Zinc in Rajasthan and BALCO Connect in Chhattisgarh provide coaching for IITs, government engineering colleges and state-level examinations, enabling first-generation learners to compete nationally and pursue ambitious career pathways.

Beyond academics, Vedanta recognises the role of sports and skills in building confidence, discipline and leadership. From India’s first residential girls’ football academy at Hindustan Zinc to the Sesa Football Academy in Goa, where the senior women’s team has qualified for the Indian Women’s League 2026, these initiatives are enabling girls to challenge traditional norms, build resilience and excel on competitive platforms. At the Sesa Football Academy, players such as Aaroshi Govekar, who earned her maiden India team call-up in 2025, exemplify how structured training and mentorship are enabling girls from grassroots communities to compete on national platforms.

To mark National Girl Child Day and International Education Day, schools across Vedanta’s locations organised activities celebrating women achievers and inspiring students to reflect on leadership, aspiration and the power of education. These efforts reaffirm Vedanta’s commitment to empowering girls across their lifecycle and enabling them to realise their full potential.

Vedanta Limited, India’s leading metals, oil & gas, critical minerals, power and technology conglomerate reaffirmed its long-term commitment to advancing girls’ education, health and empowerment, having positively impacted over five lakh girls across its operational regions in India so far in FY26.

Venture Cap Funds to bolster India's Sports and Tech Industry

Universal Newsline outlines some of the Venture Capital Funds that are focused to transform the Indian Sports and Technology industry. A dynamic fusion of sports and technology introduces a diverse range of innovations aimed at improving performance, interaction, and overall enjoyment in sports. From wearable devices tracking vital advanced analytics to platforms revolutionizing player assessments, the field is experiencing rapid evolution and creativity.  

Venture Cap Funds focused on Sports and Gaming industry

 

Investing in the sports-tech sector presents an enticing prospect where technology and sports intersect, promising substantial returns and societal influence. Opportunities abound, whether in supporting startups creating innovative fitness monitoring devices or backing enterprises reshaping fan interaction with virtual reality innovations. Across the sports tech spectrum, avenues for investment diversification are plentiful, offering potential for financial growth alongside contributions to the evolution of sports and entertainment experiences. 

Centre Court Capital - Centre Court Capital is a Venture Capital fund that has set its sights on bolstering India’s sports tech and gaming ecosystem. It will invest in sports tech, an evolving space that is bringing to life data that arms the sporting ecosystem with deeper and smarter insights - empowering athletes, engaging fans, and providing immersive viewership experiences that transform entertainment in sport. It looks to invest in the gaming and eSports space where innovations in technology are lowering the entry barriers to game development and making content more accessible globally. With a new age of entrepreneurs from India building in the space, Centre Court Capital looks to back game developers, creators, and game tech infrastructure companies. Centre Court Capital merges a rare combination of deep operating and investing experience for its sectors, enabling it to bring a level of depth and understanding that is unparalleled in the market.

Kalaari Capital - Kalaari is a $160 million venture capital fund with a strong advisory team in Bangalore investing in early-stage, technology-oriented companies in India. It is an early-stage, technology-focused venture capital firm. They invest across Seed and Series A startups and empower visionary entrepreneurs to build unique solutions that reshape the way Indians live, work, consume and transact. Kalaari Capital invests in the unknown Indian entrepreneur who is poised to become tomorrow’s global leader. They are India’s leading investor in early-stage businesses, nurturing them through every aspect of growth on the transformative journey toward success. 

Kae Capital -  Kae Capital is an early-stage venture capital fund that invests in technology startups across various sectors, including sports tech. They have backed companies such as Dream11, a fantasy sports platform, which has become one of India's most successful sports tech startups. Kae Capital is a pioneer of early-stage investing in India, focused on tech startups, and has been investing in India for 10+ years. Founded in 2012, and based out of Mumbai and Bengaluru, Kae is a sector-agnostic fund that invests in pre-seed to pre-series A stages. Kae partners with passionate founders and teams, building for Indian and global markets. Kae aims to be an all-weather partner to its portfolio founders, enabling them to build enduring companies.

SucSEED Indovation - SucSEED Indovation supports early-stage deep tech & tech driven startups providing solutions to the large scale needs of India and with potential to serve global emerging market needs too. With decades of experience building the venture capital ecosystem, they leverage their wide network to grow companies, build a solid foundation and help them with funding, strategic and operating support, providing critical connections, and securing growth. SucSEED Indovation offers access to capital for deep tech startups to scale and grow. SucSEED supports early-stage deep tech and tech-driven startups providing solutions to the large-scale needs of India and with the potential to serve global emerging market needs too.

Blume Ventures - Blume Ventures provides pre-series A and early stage funding to tech-focused/tech-enabled ventures. They are typically the first institutional investors in their portfolio companies and invest for about 8-10 years. They are proponents of a collaborative approach and like to co-invest with like-minded angels and seed funds. They then provide follow-on investments to their stellar portfolio companies. They partner with the founders at a very early stage, helping them achieve product-market fit and power through the first point of scale. Apart from bringing in capital and counsel, their strength is their conviction.