K S Ram · Impact Venture Advisor
Grant strategy, award nominations and investor readiness for Indian agri-food, forest-produce and rural-livelihood ventures, from someone who has built and run one.
2014
Founded my own agri venture
1,350+
Women farmers brought into its value chain
4,000 ha
Under climate-resilient cultivation
BRICS 2026
Solutions Award, First Runners-Up, for a client
Who I Am
I started in sales, moved into product management at a large Indian multinational, and in 2014 left that career to build a nature-positive agriculture venture of my own: community-owned processing units, women farmers in the value chain, and products supplied to brands in India and abroad.
Today I put that experience to work for other founders through Colab Alpha. I advise agri-food and heritage food ventures on grants, awards, investor readiness and traceability, and mentor women entrepreneurs with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women.
I know what it takes to keep a rural enterprise running, which is why I care about evidence over hype and a funding plan that lasts longer than one round.
My story in fullWhat I Do
Each one feeds the next. A good grant application needs the same evidence an investor will ask for, and the same story a jury needs to hear.
Funding
I find the grants, fellowships and awards your venture can realistically win, sequence them into a calendar, and write the applications with you.
Capital
Getting the numbers, narrative and documents to a standard that impact funds and angels take seriously, before you walk into the room.
Markets
Turning grassroots work into evidence that buyers, certifiers and export markets can check, without just taking your word for it.
Narrative
Finding the story a jury or funder is actually looking for inside your real work, and making sure every number holds up under questioning.
Selected Work
A few recent outcomes, each written up in full on the blog.
First Runners-Up · BRICS Solutions Award 2026
I found the opportunity, positioned the story around women leading the enterprise rather than benefiting from it, and made every number hold up under jury scrutiny.
Read the case study
Selected · International climate dialogue + travel grant
Reframed a Northeast Indian enterprise's climate story around its artisans' shrinking harvest window, then prepared the founder for every screening question.
Read the case study
EUDR-aligned · Product & artisan digital passports
Designed the records and field systems that turn a forest-to-doorstep brand's social-media story into evidence an EU buyer or certifier can check.
Read the case studyHow It Works
Most engagements run as a monthly retainer, with a success fee on funds raised where it fits. The scope is agreed after the discovery call.
We talk about what you're building, where the money needs to come from, and whether I'm the right fit.
I go through your story, evidence and numbers, and show you what a funder will question first.
A sequenced calendar of grants, awards and investors matched to your stage, so effort goes where it can win.
Applications, decks, outreach and interview prep, done together, month after month.
Who I Work With
Clients & Ecosystem
Tell me what you're building and where the funding needs to come from. If I'm not the right fit, I'll say so, and point you somewhere better if I can.
Book a Discovery Call