EMERGING ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM IN NEPAL
S omething is changing in the way Nepal looks at entrepreneurship.
For a long time, the aspiration for many young Nepalis was to study well, find a secure job and build a stable future. Entrepreneurship was often associated with necessity, family business or those who could not find formal employment. Today, that perception is changing. A young person can increasingly see entrepreneurship as a career, a farmer can see business opportunities beyond production, a returnee migrant can bring new skills and networks home, and a woman can turn a traditional skill into a market-oriented enterprise.
But before we talk about an entrepreneurial ecosystem, perhaps we should first ask: Who are entrepreneurs?
They are not only founders of technology startups looking for investors. They are also the farmer who turns local produce into a new product, the woman who transforms a traditional craft into a brand, the young person building a digital service from a provincial town, or the returnee migrant investing new skills in a local enterprise. At their core, entrepreneurs are people who see
an opportunity, take a risk and create value – for themselves, for others and, increasingly, for their communities. Our entrepreneurial potential is therefore much larger than the formal startup sector suggests.
From individual entrepreneurs to an entrepreneurial ecosystem
Nepal’s policy journey reflects this changing understanding. Over the last several years, entrepreneurship has moved higher on the national development agenda through the entrepreneurship policy framework, Startup Nation 2030, the National Startup Enterprise Policy and emerging provincial entrepreneurship programmes.
The important change is not simply the number of policies, but the conversation around entrepreneurship. Government, private sector, universities, financial institutions and development organisations are increasingly being brought into the same conversation.
An entrepreneur rarely succeeds alone. A good idea needs someone to challenge it, a product needs a customer, and a growing enterprise needs finance as well as market, management and business skills. The difficult part often begins after training – finding customers, managing cash flow, building a team and deciding when to scale. This is where mentorship, incubation, networks and market access become critical.
Briddhi is one example of the direction in which this ecosystem can grow. Its pool of experienced business leaders and mentors creates a mechanism for people who have built businesses over many years to pass on knowledge, networks and hard- earned lessons to emerging entrepreneurs. There is something powerful about this idea of giving back: entrepreneurship is not only about building your own business, but also about helping the next generation build theirs.
Startup Nation 2030 offers another
important example. Initiated by the Government of Nepal with support from ICIMOD and a wider consortium of government, private-sector, academic and development partners, it has brought different actors into one conversation about making Nepal more startup- friendly by 2030. Its emphasis on policies, procedures, practices and people captures an important reality: an entrepreneurial economy cannot be created by policy alone.
My own engagement with this ecosystem has reinforced this lesson. I have had the opportunity to work with the Startup Innovation Forum of FNCCI and IEDI, alongside other partners, to support government efforts to strengthen the ecosystem. Today, my engagement through the Women Entrepreneurship Development Forum at FNCCI gives me another perspective: women entrepreneurs must be seen as an integral part of Nepal’s economic future, not as a separate programme category.
Mentorship is one of the most important bridges. A young entrepreneur can receive a loan and still struggle with pricing, customer acquisition, team management or cash flow. An experienced entrepreneur can share lessons that cannot be learned from a classroom, while an industry expert can open a door to a new customer. Young entrepreneurs bring technology and new ideas; experienced professionals bring networks and lessons learned through failure and success. In that sense, knowledge itself becomes a form of capital.
Taking the ecosystem beyond Kathmandu
Perhaps the most promising development is the recognition that Nepal’s entrepreneurial potential is not concentrated in Kathmandu. Every province has its own economic assets and entrepreneurial possibilities – from agriculture and tourism to digital services, creative industries, natural resources and local manufacturing.
The commitment to establish incubation centres across all seven provinces could therefore be much more than a decentralisation exercise. If
A young entrepreneur can receive a loan and still struggle with pricing, customer acquisition, team management or cash flow.
designed well, they can become places where people, ideas, mentors, finance, technology and markets meet.
But there is an important warning: an incubation centre should not become another building with computers, desks and a signboard. Its success should be measured by what happens to the entrepreneurs who enter it. Do their businesses survive? Do they create jobs? Do they attract investment? Do they enter new markets? Do entrepreneurs continue to receive mentorship after the programme ends?
The infrastructure is only the beginning. The people and relationships within the ecosystem are what create its value.
Entrepreneurship and the future of work
This is also where entrepreneurship and human resource management meet. Every successful enterprise eventually becomes a people organisation. The founder must learn how to recruit, motivate and retain talent; teams need learning opportunities; and leaders must build a culture that can survive beyond the founder. Building entrepreneurs today is therefore also about building the employers and leaders of tomorrow.
Nepal’s entrepreneurial future must also take climate action seriously. Some young businesses are already turning environmental and disaster-related challenges into business opportunities – developing solutions for waste, pollution, resilient agriculture, water, nature and disaster risk. Climate change is not only a risk to businesses; it is creating a new
generation of problems that entrepreneurs can solve. The opportunity is to ensure that the jobs and businesses we create are not only profitable, but resilient, green and useful to society. The real test is ahead
Nepal has made meaningful progress in creating the foundations of an entrepreneurial ecosystem, but it is too early to declare success. We should not measure it only by startups registered, loans provided, training programmes conducted or incubation centres established.
The next stage cannot be built by government alone. It needs entrepreneurs willing to mentor others, businesses willing to open their networks, universities willing to work with industry, financial institutions willing to understand new business models, and organisations willing to work together rather than in isolation.
If we can bring these people together, Nepal can build something much bigger than a startup programme. We can build a culture in which entrepreneurial people are valued, experienced people pass on their legacy, young people are encouraged to experiment, women have equal space to lead, and climate and social challenges become opportunities for innovation.
When a young Nepali says, “I want to build a business,” the response should not be limited to, “How much money do you need?” We should also ask: Who can mentor you? Who can help you test your idea? Who can open your market? Who can help you build your team? Who can invest in your potential? And who will stand beside you when the first idea does not work?
That is what an entrepreneurial ecosystem should ultimately provide.
Nepal’s opportunity is therefore not simply to create more entrepreneurs. It is to create a society and an economy that believes in entrepreneurial people, learns from them, connects them and gives them the conditions to succeed.
Shrestha is Nepal Country Focal and Enterprise and Value Chain Specialist at ICIMOD
