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Surya Karki
Country Director and Co-founder, UWS Nepal
Sales and Marketing Director, Delish Dairies
Co-founder and Business Development Director Bloom Nepal School
Surya Karki’s journey is one of hope, perseverance and the power of education. He struggled against many odds to not just build his own life but to create an ecosystem of goodwill and good work. Young and enterprising, he will leave no stone unturned to innovate and thrive.
Raised by a single mother in rural Chiraite in Sankhuwasabha, Surya Karki, Country Director of UWS Nepal and Sales and Marketing Director of Delish Dairies, says his childhood was financially quite challenging. “It was difficult for my mother to even put food on the table and, in fact, one of my siblings passed away because we didn’t have the money to afford his treatment,” he shares, adding, “I was made aware of the need to be financially sufficient from a small age.”
“However, my mother believed education was necessary and she ensured that I got a good education despite all the problems,” Karki says. “Today I am proud to state that despite all the challenges I have started to make a name for myself in Nepal. It’s all due to my mother.”
In this issue of Business 360, we spoke to Karki about his entrepreneurial journey and the aspects that have made him a successful person today.
Could you please tell us about your early years?
I was born into a very poor family, and the only way out for me was to receive a proper education, which I was lucky to get. After completing high school at Budhanilkantha School, I got the opportunity to study in Venezuela through a scholarship from Late Himalaya Shumsher and the United World Colleges before studying on a full scholarship at the College of the Atlantic and the Schwarzman Scholars in China at Tsinghua University. This experience laid the foundation for my journey into entrepreneurship.
My entrepreneurial journey started when I was 17 years old. Co-founding Nepal’s first free private school, where parents worked on a farm in exchange for their children’s education, was a solution to a critical problem I had witnessed in my early years. I saw the struggles of families like mine, who couldn’t afford education, and this experience inspired me to innovate and create a sustainable solution.
As I progressed, I pursued education in the United States, facing significant challenges along the way. Yet, my determination and problem-solving mindset persisted. When I was 21 years old, around 2013-14, I was felicitated by King Charles of the United Kingdom for my work. This recognition, especially for our free school concept, instilled in me an even stronger entrepreneurial spirit.
Throughout my early years, I had always believed in problem-solving. Whenever I encountered a challenge or issue, I would immediately start thinking of solutions. This mindset not only led to the founding of my first school but also guided me in starting various ventures. While in the US, in 2014, I co-founded a real estate company in the US and a foundation related to education, agriculture, and sustainable energy. In the same year, I became associated with Bloom Nepal School, a unique interest-based education model, aimed at making learning exciting and tailored to children’s passions.
So, my early years were marked by a journey from poverty and limited access to education to the inception of innovative educational solutions and sustainable ventures, all driven by my relentless dedication to problem-solving and a desire to make a positive impact. This journey of entrepreneurship remains deeply rooted in my early experiences and the challenges I encountered.