Civic Data Lab for Employment Generator Column

Mumbai, Dec 14

It was in June 2018, when Civic Data Lab was founded by Deepthi Chand Alagandula and Gaurav Godhwani, with the mission of strengthening India’s data-for-public-good ecosystem and enabling governments, researchers, civil societies and other stakeholders to drive data-driven policy reforms.

The New Delhi-based company began with a small founding team of 3 team members working at the intersection of data, design, policy and technology.

CivicDataLab is a bootstrapped company where its single source of revenue vests with direct engagement in form of contracts/work orders/Grants/MoUs with our Funders/Partner network.

Its full-time interdisciplinary team of 30+ members, consisting of domain experts, field researchers, technologists, designers and data scientists; supported by the finance, communications and operations team works closely with our partners to effectively plan and implement our projects.

The company intends to grow its team sustainably, with long-term hiring across national and state levels.

Talking to Bizz Buzz, Deepthi Chand Alagandula says, “We are recruiting multidisciplinary talent from smaller cities and creating last-mile opportunities through state-based roles in Assam, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and the others.”

These teams will drive inclusive AI ecosystem work in their regions. We continue to hire under a strong Equal Opportunity commitment, ensuring gender-inclusive and diversity-focused recruitment.

The company aims to deepen its role in shaping India’s digital public goods ecosystem, strengthening climate action & disaster risk reduction in Asia-Pacific, co-creation of open data collaboratives for public finance, demystifying public procurements data, harnessing data for shaping inclusive & sustainable urban development, and crowdsourcing of open data for law & justice.

“We are also nurturing inclusive, participatory Data & AI collaboratives that ensure communities are meaningfully involved in evidence-based decision-making and technology governance. The support of The Lighthouse Fund, a Fund by AVPN in collaboration with partners, has been instrumental in accelerating our scalability and to thrive across Asia,” says Gaurav Godhwani.

The organisation’s approach is driven by openness, focused-on collaborations, participatory approaches to help reach benefits of evidence-led decision-making and building technology to the most vulnerable population and that serves the public good. Creating digital public goods, strengthening state capacity, and enabling citizens to participate meaningfully - are core to CivicDataLab’s philosophy.

The company operates with a diversified revenue model aligned with our mission to strengthen public institutions through data and technology.

Overall, Grants and Service Contracts form 50–60% of its revenue, Government projects contribute 20–30%, and Philanthropic funding plus capacity-building engagements account for 10–20%. This diversified model keeps CivicDataLab mission-driven, financially resilient, and responsive to the needs of stakeholders across the governance ecosystem.

While CivicDataLab operates as an MSME (Micro Small Medium Enterprise), DPIIT-recognised startup, we have been able to generate profits. These are channelled back into building the organisation - enhancing its people and planning capabilities and investing in partnerships and outreach to expand our work across more geographies.

The company is preparing for its next phase of growth by increasing capital investment in talent, systems, and organisational capacity.

As the company expands its team size, it is also broadening its geographic scope. In addition to strengthening its work in India, the company is also moving deeper into the APAC region - Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines - where it sees advance open, equitable, and citizen-centred digital ecosystems.