Upaya’s latest impact investments bring the organization’s total number of investments completed in 2020 to nine, doubling Upaya’s active portfolio in a year when many investors have held back.

Seattle, WA – January 20, 2021

Upaya Social Ventures is pleased to announce four new investments made during the final quarter of 2020. The companies included ONganic Foods, Bastar Se Bazaar Tak, Shoegaro Fashions, and Hasiru Dala Innovations. Each of the companies shares Upaya’s mission to create lasting, dignified jobs that lift people in India out of extreme poverty. These investments bring Upaya’s total number of impact investments to 26, nine of which were finalized in 2020.

“In Upaya’s 10 year history, we have averaged two investments a year, but in 2020, we completed nine investments,” said Kate Cochran, CEO of Upaya. “The COVID-19 crisis has painfully demonstrated how tenuous a grasp hundreds of millions of people had on economic stability. That’s why we’re pushing harder to rapidly build the companies that will fuel the recovery by creating jobs and resilience.”

Upaya’s due diligence assesses the job creation potential of each company considered for investment. In 2020, Upaya implemented a streamlined investment process to rapidly extend investments to fill the small business financing gap that has been worsened by the pandemic.

“We must extend patient and flexible capital quickly to new small business entrepreneurs,” said Sachi Shenoy, Upaya’s Chief Impact Officer and Co-Founder. “These are the job creators of tomorrow, and we’ll need thousands of them to create the millions of new jobs that are desperately needed in the hardest hit communities.”

The first company, ONganic Foods, produces organic food products and has built a supply chain that touches 8,000 farmers. ONganic aims to improve profitability for smallholder farmers by introducing them to organic cultivation methods that yield premium products. ONganic founder, Ekta Jaju, started the business in 2015 with a vision to create better livelihoods for farmers, health and wellness for consumers, and a sustainable planet. Jaju completed Upaya’s Accelerator Program in 2019. Today, ONganic markets over 50 food products including specialty rices, oil seeds, spices, pulses, and other organic products from East and North East India to various locations in India and abroad.

Chhattisgarh-based Bastar se Bazaar Tak (Bastar) is working to provide additional income and employment opportunities to the tribal farmers in the Bastar region of Central India. Bastar currently works with 245 farmers to produce and market forest produce such as custard apple, tamarind, jamun, and mango. The company was founded by Haresh Kashyap and Satendra Singh Lilhare with a vision to create better livelihoods and well-being for the Bastar farming community.

Shoegaro Fashions was selected for investment after participating in the 2020 Accelerator Program. Headquartered in Agra, India, Shoegaro provides a reliable platform to connect artisans making handmade shoes with customers across India. Founded by Ankit Kumar, Gagan Mukhi, and Dr. Hifza Afaq, Shoegaro was created to preserve the dying art of handmade shoemaking. The team aims to engage artisans at various stages of the shoemaking process, providing livelihood opportunities and skill development.

The latest addition to Upaya’s investment portfolio, Hasiru Dala Innovations, was founded in 2015 to create better livelihoods for waste pickers. Hasiru Dala (“Green Brigade” in Kannada) is a waste management enterprise that provides end to end waste management services. Founded by Shekar Prabhakar, Nalini Shekar and Marwan Abubaker, the company leverages the innate entrepreneurship of waste pickers and enables them to integrate into the mainstream economy with a goal of empowering them to be independent. The investment round was led by Ennovent’s Impact Investment Holding (IIH), with participation from Beyond Capital and an individual investor.

Onganic Foods, Shoegaro, and Bastar se Bazaar Tak all completed Upaya’s Accelerator Program and were selected for investment out of the participating companies. The Accelerator Program is designed to equip entrepreneurs with the knowledge and connections to grow their businesses. The 2021 Scale-Ups Accelerator, in collaboration with MIT D-Labs, will prepare women entrepreneurs for investment and work towards addressing the gender financing gap.

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 17,000 lasting, dignified jobs. Endorsed by ImpactMatters as a high-impact, cost-effective nonprofit, Upaya’s teams in Seattle and Bangalore are working toward a goal of helping entrepreneurs create jobs for 50,000 people in India. Please visit www.upayasv.org for more information.

MEDIA CONTACT

Heather Targosz
hsoehn@upayasv.org
+1 8476362671