InnoFrugal’s 10-Year Anniversary: Frugal AI, Impact Finance, and a Buzz of Collaboration
Written by Venkata Gandikota
The conference kicked off with warm welcomes from myself, Professors Jaideep Prabhu and Kamiar Mohaddes as we traced the organisation’s decade-long journey and emphasised the fresh spotlight on Frugal AI—efficient, lean AI solutions that can drive inclusive growth. Attendees included startups, investors, academics, policy-makers, and innovation enthusiasts, creating a vibrant community ready to share ideas and explore new partnerships. These welcoming remarks reminded everyone that collaboration between academia and industry is crucial for developing long-term, positive impact.
Our keynote speaker for the day, Dael Williamson, CTO (EMEA) at Databricks, tackled the topic of ‘Frugal AI—A Catalyst for Inclusive Growth’. He explored comparisons of some key aspects in current AI debates including how smaller, optimised AI models can be equally impactful while minimising energy and resource overhead in the debate between domain-specific and large foundation models, and how we can find the sweet spot where enterprise data is leveraged responsibly without overfitting or skyrocketing compute costs in balance between probabilistic and deterministic techniques. He also spoke to Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), a practical approach for bringing AI into production by connecting domain-specific data with generative models. Dael’s talk resonated with startups and corporate innovators alike, especially when he underscored that data quality and collaborative culture are just as crucial as picking the right AI architecture. The questions from the audience concerned data governance, MLOps and open-source AI tools—and they generated conversations that continued well into the coffee break.
The keynote was followed by the FRANCIS Project Panel: Lessons from Open Innovation which showcased how citizen-led innovation can spark frugal solutions on a global scale. The speakers, Liza Wohlfart, Gencer Ozkazman, and Hanna Saari, demonstrated this innovation through a few exciting examples. They spoke on bringing together diverse groups—ranging from Indian college students designing a Smart White Cane to European designers creating modular furniture and they touched on hurdles to collaboration which included managing time zones, language barriers, and different skill sets across three continents. These kinds of hurdles require agile, Kanban-based processes and dedicated outreach efforts. The speakers also provided evidence of impactful prototypes, from SunTabs (dissolvable sun-protection pills) to Cook & Home (a platform connecting travellers with local food experiences), these projects illustrated the potential of co-creation when everyday citizens are empowered to innovate.
Participants were captivated by how frugal principles (low cost, simple features, easily scalable designs) guided the solutions. During interactions, many inquired about replicating or scaling these models for other local challenges, underscoring the universal appeal of “simple, sustainable innovations.”
The second portion of the day was kicked off by Martijn Blom (Impact Europe) and myself, as we led a session on constructing a robust impact/climate fund, referencing a 12-section strategy template (from Mission Statement to Exit Strategies). The major points we hoped to leave the audience with were three-fold: First, always start with “Why?”. Many aspiring fund managers jump straight into legal structures without a clear mission or measurable impact goals. Second, focus on monitoring and reporting. Drawing on frameworks like IRIS+ and real-world examples from Eastern Europe, Martijn specifically emphasised how rigorous metrics ensure a fund’s integrity. And, finally, keep an eye on exit strategies. In the impact world, “patient capital” and “ethical exits” are just as important as returns on investment—lessons which resonated with impact investors in attendance. We were thrilled to see that founders interested in raising capital loved the structured approach, and several followed up with us afterward on potential collaboration.
The final panel, Frugal AI in Action, shone a spotlight on AI startups and investors, featuring Amelia Armour (Amadeus Capital), Stephen Jull (Emerge Education), and Ushnish Sengupta (Sqwish). The panellists spoke to several themes. With a focus on investment criteria for frugal AI, Amelia revealed how her team prioritises resource efficiency and sustainability when evaluating seed-stage AI projects, and, in the area of EdTech, Stephen pointed out that in education, frugal AI solutions can drastically cut costs while boosting accessibility for underserved communities. To complement these points on how to balance lean operations with scale, Ushnish shared how Sqwish, a pre-seed startup, aims to stay capital-efficient while still delivering AI solutions for resource-intensive processes. The conversations spilled over into the networking drinks session and attendees mingled with the panellists, discovering new leads and additional insights.
Overall, the day’s events were a clear demonstration of the enthusiasm for collaboration and partnership in frugal AI, and a desire to learn how to bring this about. Frugal AI is evidently here to stay. Whether it’s smaller, domain-specific models or collaborative open innovation processes, the consensus was that lean, inclusive, efficient AI can drive major progress in both developed and emerging markets. And, finally, it is clear that climate finance and impact investing remain pivotal in scaling these solutions. With the structured template, aspiring funds have a clear roadmap for ethical, sustainable investments. With the mix of keynote presentations, interactive panels, and ample networking time, this event continued to support these appetites and directives. InnoFrugal’s 10th anniversary proved not just to be a celebration of the past but a preview of what’s next. From the incredible synergy between Dael’s keynote and the FRANCIS Project panel to the in-depth impact fund discussion and the startup–investor insights, everyone walked away feeling excited about possibilities.
The Centre for India and Global Business at Cambridge Judge, King’s E-Lab, and InnoFrugal are already exploring more Frugal AI workshops and events—including hackathons and pitch competitions aimed at resource-focused AI innovation. Keep an eye out for future events and follow-up sessions!
We look forward to seeing how you too can integrate frugal innovation principles in your upcoming endeavours—whether you’re building the next lean AI startup, launching a climate-focused fund, or guiding community-based collaborations for real-world impact.
Thank you to all the speakers and panellists from the day:
Amelia Armour, Partner, Amadeus Capital
Dael Williamson, CTO (EMEA), Databricks
Elizabeth Osta, Founder, Digital Forward
Gencer Özkazman, Innovation Manager, BSH (Bosch Siemens) Turkey
Hanna Saari, Research Scientist, VTT Finland
Jaideep Prabhu, Professor, Cambridge Judge Business School
Kamiar Mohaddes, Professor, Cambridge Judge Business School
Liza Wohlfart, Head Of Center For Frugal Products And Manufacturing Systems, Fraunhofer IAO
Martijn Blom, Impact Funds Development Coordinator, Impact Europe (Formerly EVPA)
Stephen Jull, Venture Partner, Emerge Education
Ushnish Sengupta, Cofounder & CEO, SQWISH
Venkata Serish Gandikota, Fellow, Cambridge Judge Business School And Cofounder, InnoFrugal
Venkata Gandikota
Venkata “Serish” Gandikota is a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge Judge Business School, a Fellow with the Royal Society of Arts, and the lead on InnoFrugal, a decade-old non-profit focused on frugal innovation and impact investing. Serish promotes both the conception and implementation of Frugal AI, coaches first time teams to raise capital for impact and climate funds and has developed a MOOC (massive open online course) on frugal innovation. He has guest lectured at several global universities, authored key reports and participates in the Horizon 2020 EU-funded FRANCIS project that leverages citizen science, and open innovation for frugal innovations. In addition to his role at JBS, Serish previously co-founded Vault Impact, raising €17.5 million for an impact VC fund and serves on multiple advisory boards including as an advisor to the Smart Village Movement (SVM), a research project of Berkeley Haas Garwood Centre.