Nishan Shrestha

Nishan declined a 3-month fellowship offer at the Ministry of Industries because of his passion to provide easily accessible, environmentally friendly and earthquake-resistant building material in Nepal. Though a tremendously devastating event, Nishan saw the 2015 earthquake in Nepal as an opportunity to improve his community: “The earthquake obviously brought a tragedy in the country but I thought, nature did what it had to do, now it’s time to respond to nature. Yes, the earthquake brought opportunity as well”.

The financial burden of launching a new product has been Nishan’s biggest setback. Due to the unfamiliarity of his product to the Nepalese industry, Nishan has struggled to find suitable investors to finance his idea. He says on some days he was unable to pay the transportation costs for raw materials and waited five months to acquire a bank loan.

In spite of challenges, Nishan is kept going by a thirst for learning, patience, and dedication. Without these values, Nishan will not have achieved as many milestones in his entrepreneurial journey as he celebrates today.