The 2021 Upaya + MIT D-Lab Scale-Ups Accelerator will prepare women entrepreneurs for investment and pilot new methods to address gender financing gap

BANGALORE, India -  October 12, 2020 — Upaya Social Ventures (Upaya), a nonprofit growing small businesses to create jobs for the extreme poor, and MIT D-Lab, a program developing and advancing collaborative approaches and practical solutions to global poverty challenges, today announced a pilot integration of their accelerator programs to help women-led small and growing businesses in India access critical finance to scale their enterprises and create jobs to lift people out of extreme poverty. 

The collaboration between Upaya’s Accelerator Program and MIT D-Lab’s Scale-Ups Fellowship brings essential knowledge, capacity, and networks to women entrepreneurs to access investment and grow their ventures. The pilot program, the 2021 Upaya + MIT D-Lab Scale-Ups Accelerator, will also work with investors to understand gender-lens investing and tackle barriers to finance for women entrepreneurs.

Research shows that small and growing businesses with a female founder receive only 11% of seed financing, despite evidence that women-led enterprises produce stronger returns for investors. Over the course of the pilot, the participating entrepreneurs, investors, and other stakeholders in the entrepreneurship ecosystem will co-design solutions to close this gender financing gap. 

"We know that women entrepreneurs are more likely to hire women who are, in turn, more likely to invest in their families,” said Kate Cochran, CEO of Upaya Social Ventures. “We also know that women entrepreneurs face a harder climb to getting funding. That's why we're thrilled to partner with MIT D-Lab on this special-purpose accelerator, both for the benefit to the participating entrepreneurs and for the learnings for women entrepreneurs everywhere.”

Upaya and MIT D-Lab each focus on building investment readiness capabilities for early-stage entrepreneurs. The organisations are mission-aligned in finding and supporting businesses that are creating livelihood opportunities to lift people out of extreme poverty. 

Upaya’s India Country Director, Amit Antony Alex, emphasized the urgency around the program: "The COVID pandemic has only increased the need to provide support to early stage enterprises focused on creating impact at the bottom of the pyramid. The program will identify and support women-led enterprises that are creating employment opportunities for people in extreme poverty. We’ll help address financing challenges faced by these enterprises, thereby creating a greater number of jobs and helping bring more people out of poverty," said Alex.

Over a six-month period, the program will bring together Upaya's focus on building technical knowledge and skills for investment readiness and MIT D-Lab’s renowned Learning Labs approach to working with entrepreneurs to examine key challenges and psychological barriers in the fundraising process. Participants will receive tailored training in skills such as fundraising, investment readiness, impact management, and leadership – all with a gender lens that exposes and addresses barriers to women’s success.

As part of the program, the entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to participate in MIT D-Lab’s Co-Design Sprint with investors to design, prototype, and test gender-smart solutions for applying a gender lens across their investment process and capital allocation. In addition, up to three participating enterprises will have the opportunity to raise USD $50,000 from Upaya.

"Through this joint program with MIT D-Lab, we aim to build a holistic offering focused on advancing women entrepreneurs' capacity to raise investment,” said Rachna Chandrarashekhar, Senior Associate, Accelerator & Impact Management at Upaya. “Participants will have access to technical training and knowledge, along with the soft skills and personalised support to overcome challenges faced by them when it comes to raising funds and scaling up their businesses."

“By fostering a community of peers, role models, and institutional investors around our entrepreneurs, and driving the intentional exploration of the biases and the barriers to capital access through this community, we will have the opportunity to incorporate multiple viewpoints and co-design more inclusive solutions,” said Jona Repishti, Social Entrepreneurship manager at MIT D-Lab. 

The cohort for the pilot program will consist of six to nine women entrepreneurs who are leading early-stage enterprises in India that are focused on creating livelihood opportunities for people living in extreme poverty. The selection criteria will identify revenue-generating for-profit companies that show traction and market potential but have raised no more than USD $75,000. The companies should show potential to scale and create 1,000 jobs over seven years. Applications for the program will be accepted through www.upayasv.org/accelerator from October 11th to November 5th, 2020.

ABOUT UPAYA SOCIAL VENTURES

Upaya Social Ventures is fighting extreme poverty through dignified jobs. Founded in 2011, Upaya provides investment and consulting support to early-stage businesses aimed at creating jobs for the poorest of the poor. Upaya’s continually growing portfolio of impact investments has created nearly 17,000 lasting, dignified jobs. Endorsed by ImpactMatters as a high-impact, cost-effective nonprofit, Upaya’s teams in Seattle and Bangalore are committed to a goal of helping entrepreneurs create jobs for 50,000 people in India by 2023. To support its mission, Upaya runs an annual Accelerator Program in India focused on investment readiness for early-stage businesses creating jobs and livelihoods to lift people out of extreme poverty. 

ABOUT MIT D-LAB

MIT D-Lab works with people around the world to develop and advance collaborative approaches and practical solutions to global poverty challenges. The mission is pursued through an academics program of more than 20 MIT classes and student research and fieldwork opportunities; research groups spanning a variety of sectors and approaches; and a group of participatory innovation programs called innovation practice. The D-Lab Scale-Ups Fellowship, founded in 2013, is a global accelerator that works with local entrepreneurs bringing poverty-alleviating products and services to market at scale.