BANGALORE, India - January 12, 2023 — Upaya Social Ventures (Upaya), a nonprofit organization supporting and investing in small businesses to create jobs for the extreme poor, today announced the eight early-stage Indian companies selected to participate in the Dignified Jobs Accelerator 2023. 

Upaya’s seventh accelerator program brings essential knowledge, capacity, and networks to the participating early-stage entrepreneurs, equipping them with the tools to access investment and grow their ventures. The program once again brings together Upaya and Yunus Social Business Fund Bengaluru (YSBFB) to combine their expertise in scaling impactful businesses. The selection criteria was aimed at identifying revenue-generating companies that show traction and market potential, as well as potential to create 1,000 jobs in seven years. 

The eight early-stage enterprises are:

• Farmology is a technology-enabled integrated crop advisory solution that assists farmers to diagnose and treat crop issues. 

• Gangpur Ventures is creating livelihood opportunities for tribal communities in Odisha & Jharkhand by addressing the acute shortage of fodder in the dairy farming industry. They produce and provide baled silage to commercial dairy farms by organizing tribal farmers into Producer Groups that cultivate the maize crop, which is then purchased by Gangpur on pre-agreed terms. 

• Karghewale incubates weaver-entrepreneurs by offering them a bouquet of support services such as design and production training, cataloging digital market linkages, and business support services.

• KraftInn is a vertically integrated home decor company addressing the issue of sustainability for conscious customers by selling products made from locally-sourced materials from Assam, such as bamboo, water hyacinth, and natural fibers.

• MoneyBin is solving the issue of improper waste segregation at the source level by directly collecting recyclable/plastic waste from the doorstep of households, segregating it into 15+ categories, and profitably selling it to recycling factories by employing unskilled women laborers.

• Mowo Fleet is redefining the multi-modal urban mobility landscape by building fleet services by women. They have onboarded and launched motor skill capacity building for 60 women drivers for both two & three wheelers, focusing mainly on electric vehicles.

• Raheja Solar provides the most affordable and DIY foldable solar dryer for farmers. This enables them to derive greater value from the produce that would otherwise go to waste or get sold at very low prices. The produce is dehydrated by the solar dryer without losing its natural color, taste, fragrance, and nutrients, giving it at least one year of shelf life instead of one week in fresh form.

• The Tribal Hermit is a social impact venture working with 130+ Dhokra craft artisans from Kondagaon, Bastar & Raigarh districts of Chhattisgarh. This started as a rural development & livelihood project by IFMR-Lead, to generate sustainable livelihood opportunities for the SHGs, artisans & farmers in rural India. 

The six-month program will unite industry experts, business leaders, and investors to equip the cohort participants with the knowledge and tools to access investment and grow their ventures. The eight participating companies will also receive tailored training in investment readiness through modules on growth & strategy, impact, finance and fundraising, as well as customized individual support from the Upaya and YSB teams.

As part of the program, each entrepreneur will have the opportunity to pitch their businesses to investors. Upaya will select up to three businesses for USD $50,000 investment. Yunus Social Business Fund Bengaluru will select up to two businesses for potential debt investment of up to USD $100,000.

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 over 28,000 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 2025. Please visit www.upayasv.org for more information.

ABOUT YUNUS SOCIAL BUSINESS

Yunus Social Business Fund Bengaluru (YSBFB) is an impact fund providing patient debt capital and growth support to social businesses. YSBFB’s mission is to harness the power of business to end poverty and the climate crisis. Co-founded in 2017 by Suresh Krishna and Vinitha Reddy, YSBFB is the India fund for Yunus Social Business Funds gGmbH (Germany), co-founded by Peace Nobel Laureate Prof. Yunus. To date, social businesses in YSBFB portfolio have impacted the lives of 2.4 million people and provided higher incomes to 25,000. Investment Readiness Programmes form part of YSB’s wider ambition to contribute to building the ecosystem in the geographies in which YSB is active.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Meg Massey
mmassey@upayasv.org 

CORRECTION
The original publication of this blog stated that nine companies are participating in the 2023 Dignified Jobs Accelerator program. There are eight companies participating in the program.