Poondla Siddharth Reddy: Building a Mentor Economy Through the Power of Donated Time

“Young people from rural India do not lack ideas. They lack access to the right person at the right time,” said Poondla Siddharth Reddy (PSR), co-founder of Jnanana Foundation and CEO of ISF Junicorns. “Senior leaders are willing to give an hour. Jnanana makes sure that hour reaches a genuine seeker, and that both sides are rewarded for it with Jools.”

Rural ideas on global stages

ISF conceived in 2019 and chaired by Dr. J. A. Chowdary, founding director of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Junicorns program launched in 2025 works on three pillars it calls the 3Ms: Mentorship, Market Access and Money. Across two cohorts, the program has taken rural Indian innovation to international audiences:

• Cohort 1 (2025): 40 young innovators from 4 states. 22 startup ideas were presented in Austin, Texas, and 6 startups were incorporated after the cohort.
• Cohort 2 (2026): more than 50 innovators from 17 states. 28 startup ideas were showcased in Dubai, and 9 startups have been incorporated so far, with more in progress.

Every participating startup received structured mentorship and ecosystem support. Several secured hard investment commitments from investors. Five startups have already received investment funds:

• Yubhas Renewable Solar Auto, founded by Sai Satya Pradhan, Usha Nandigala and Rounak Shankar
• Waste to Worth, by Deepika and team
• N Green Tech, founded by Nayan Tangatooru, a school student
• ReLeaf Foods, by Laharika and team from Aditya University
• E Brick, founded by Hema Sai

Yubhas Renewables shows how the model works in practice. The three-wheeler, self-charging EV retrofit company was started by SaiSatyaPradhan, a farmer’s son from Odisha. PSR mentored the team, drawing on his experience in finance and the startup ecosystem to help the founder think beyond the technology to the business. The company went on to secure more than ₹10 lakh from a US-based angel investor.

What Jools are

Jools take their name from the joule, the unit that measures energy. In the same way, Jools measure the energy people put into helping one another, and they reward that contribution on both sides of the mentorship. Mentors earn Jools for every mentee they guide. Mentees earn Jools through volunteer work, and use them to secure a mentor’s time. Everyone on the platform can spend their Jools, and only verified profiles can join.

Jnanana matches every pair by hand. Its team first learns each mentee’s requirements and the ethos behind their goals, then selects a mentor whose experience fits. The rollout runs in three phases:

1. Rewarding contribution (live now): mentors earn Jools for mentoring, mentees earn them through volunteer work, and everyone can spend them on the platform.
2. Unlocking products (planned): Jools can be redeemed for partner products and benefits relevant to young people.
3. Everyday value (long-term): Jools can be used for everyday experiences such as a coffee or an event ticket, with partner merchants reimbursed by the foundation.

“For business, the measure of success is ‘profit ‘. For startups, it is ‘share price’. In social impact, we are often pushed to settle for proxies like carbon sequestered, trees planted, lives saved and jobs created. These are indicators, not the true measure of success,” said PSR. “The day we identify a real measure of success for social impact, we can start rewarding it, not just with awards, but with recognition that fuels and sustains impact. Jools are our first step towards that.”

Jools live now on Jnanana. Mentors and seekers can join at jnanana.

The leader behind the program, and what comes next

About PSR

PSR began his journey as a studentpreneur and went on to become one of the country’s youngest esports co-founders, securing sponsorships from Nvidia, Intel and Cooler Master. Over nearly a decade, he has worked closely with founders and startups, including as an investment banker across sectors such as edtech and defence technology.

He also built one of Hyderabad’s prominent business communities by evolving an angel syndicate into a broader network of entrepreneurs. He serves in advisory and board roles across businesses spanning community building, real estate and finance.

PSR has volunteered with the International Startup Foundation (ISF) for nearly four years and has led ISF Unicorns for the past year and a half. His volunteering also extends to serving as a scribe for students taking undergraduate and government examinations and supporting NGOs working with visually challenged and differently abled people through Youth For Seva.

For PSR, Jnanana and Jools are also a way to give back to his guru, Dr. J. A. Chowdary.

Building Jnanana’s Network

Jnanana’s outreach follows the 3Cs of ISF Junicorns: Connect, Collaborate and Celebrate. 

Its ‘Connect’ initiative runs through two ongoing campaigns: one strengthens the ecosystem, bringing mentors into the network; the other cultivates a culture of mentorship, attracting seekers to become part of it.

The mentor campaign brings leaders from diverse fields into Jnanana’s network through events across Indian cities. In February, the ISF Junicorn mentor-connect event in Hyderabad featured Shobu Yarlagadda as chief guest at the Hilton. In March, we joined the Grand Accelerator Vision Summit (GAVS) at the Radisson Blu, Bengaluru, bringing together leaders from across industries, including Mr. Bijou Kurien, Chairman of the Retailers Association of India.

The mentee campaign takes Jnanana to universities and young-innovator communities. A recent initiative at Dayananda Sagar University,  Bengaluru, was held alongside the ISF Junicorns Rural Innovation Challenge, organised with GAVS and inviting innovators aged 18–25 from 20 states. The next planned outreach is at GIET University, Gunupur, Odisha, as part of the ISF Junicorns Startup Jathara in Dandakaranya.

Through these recurring mentor and mentee outreach initiatives, Jnanana aims to build a network that connects people seeking guidance with leaders willing to share their time and experience.

Junicorns sits within ISF’s broader Junicorn100K initiative, which aims to help 100,000 rural youth become innovators. “India stands at a defining moment to become a global innovation powerhouse,” said Dr. J. A. Chowdary, Founder and Chairman of ISF. “To realise Bharat 2047, we must equip youth, especially from rural India and Tier 2 and 3 cities, with the right tools, mentorship and global exposure. This isn’t just a project. It’s a revolution.” Beyond Junicorns, ISF has hosted startup and CXO events in Hyderabad, Pune, New Jersey and Jamaica, and has brought together more than 2,000 mentors.

About Jnanana Foundation

Jnanana Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation building the world’s largest mentorship program. Its name joins two Sanskrit words, Jnana (wisdom) and Janana (rebirth), and carries its motto: Rebirth through Wisdom.

Jnanana connects genuine seekers with verified mentors across disciplines, from entrepreneurship and careers to technology and music, from the arts to personal growth and beyond. 

Leaders donate an hour, and Jnanana’s team hand-picks each match based on what the seeker needs. Mentors earn Jools for mentoring, and mentees earn Jools through volunteer work. ISF Junicorns is its entrepreneurship program. Learn more at Jananana.

About ISF Junicorns

The International Startup Foundation (ISF) is a not-for-profit organisation that fosters innovation and entrepreneurship across sectors including capital investment, health, AI, fintech, agriculture, rural development, women and youth, in line with the Bharat 2047 vision. Founded in 2019, its flagship ISF Junicorns initiative identifies, mentors, and launches rural youth innovators onto global platforms through the 3Ms: Mentorship, Market Access and Money. Learn more at ISF network.

Looking ahead

For PSR, the real test of Jnanana will not be how many people sign up. It will be how many matches change a trajectory: a student who incorporates instead of giving up, a leader whose single hour leads to a funded company, a volunteer whose contribution earns them a mentor they could never have reached alone. Every Jool earned is a record of one of those exchanges.

If the model scales, India’s next generation of founders will be found not only on campuses and in metros, but in villages and small towns, one verified match at a time.

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