Since 2017, Upaya Social Ventures has been at the forefront of this work to empower early-stage entrepreneurs through its Dignified Jobs Accelerator, equipping them with tools and knowledge to become investment ready for impact investors. The accelerator builds on Upaya’s ongoing work to provide investment and support to entrepreneurs creating dignified jobs for people in extreme poverty.

Upaya announces its investment in Agrify Fresh, a Mumbai-based agritech startup with established market linkages to small and marginal farmers across four Indian states.

Upaya announces an investment in WeVois, a waste management company creating stable and predictable income for sanitation workers along with reliable data to continue improving waste management.

The Tribal Hermit is a social impact venture that works closely with 130+ Dhokra craft artisans from Kondagaon, Bastar, and Raigarh districts of Chhattisgarh to design, create, and sell their products.

Check out our conversation with the founders Karghewale about their goal to support wage-weavers as they transition to weaver-entrepreneurs, in addition to building agency and ability in artisans.

Bimal Lakra founded Gangpur Ventures in Rourkela, Odisha to create livelihood opportunities for tribal communities by addressing the acute shortage of fodder in the dairy farming industry.

MoneyBin Resources is a dry waste management company addressing the issue of improper waste segregation by employing unskilled women laborers to collect and segregate it into multiple categories and selling it to recycling factories.

In 2018, Varun Raheja founded Raheja Solar Food Processing Pvt. Ltd. in Indore, Madhya Pradesh with the aim of helping Indian farmers increase the shelf life of their produce, thereby allowing them to derive greater value from it. Raheja Solar provides farmers with an affordable and foldable solar dryer that can be installed even in the remotest of farms. The dryers dehydrate produce in a way that preserves its color, taste, fragrance, and nutrients.

Farmology is an app-based platform which assists farmers by providing integrated crop advisory in real time. They manufacture agri inputs and also partner with other agri input companies to provide farmers with access to seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides — all of which is available on the Farmology app.

In 2015, Parikshit Borkotoky left his corporate career in financial services and moved back to the rural Assam community of Jorhat to start Kraftinn to create jobs for semi-skilled artisans in his hometown.

With an aim to create livelihood opportunities for women by building a women-serviced mobility fleet, today Jai Bharathi is redefining urban mobility in India through her startup, MOWO Fleet, which she founded in Hyderabad in 2019.

Upaya’s work of supporting social entrepreneurs as they create dignified jobs for people in extreme poverty is part of a much broader conversation about the dignity of work.

A big part of Upaya’s mission is expanding the conversation about job quality to intentionally include jobs created for those living in extreme poverty in emerging markets. But even within that subgroup, there are important variations that we need to understand in order to measure impact.

Upaya announced the nine early-stage Indian companies selected to participate in the Dignified Jobs Accelerator 2023. 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.

Upaya announced an investment in Sirohi, a home decor brand that creates sustainable jobs for artisans in rural Indian communities by manufacturing and marketing handmade furniture, boxes and bags.