Roots Reforms Initiative

Industry: Financial Services
Headquarters: Bangalore, Karnataka
Cohort: 2021

Roots facilitates access to—and choices of—financial services to underserved segments through a digitally-driven distribution model. The company leverages various financial services partner networks, cutting edge technology and tools, and highly skilled processional teams to serve last-mile customers.

Livelihood activities, such as agriculture and micro enterprises, and general needs of the rural population revolve around timely availability of finance. Roots supports various key development aspects of rural life, such as livelihood initiatives, employment generation, and infrastructure development projects to create happier communities.

About the Entrepreneurs

Upaya Entrepreneur Bios

Aruna Sampige

FOUNDER

Aruna Sampige is a Social Entrepreneur passionate about uplifting the underserved segments with a special focus on ‘women financial empowerment’. She has spearheaded many large social projects that have helped thousands of women avail timely government benefits, micro-credit for livelihood purposes, and employment opportunities in their local communities.

She is currently working on designing timely low-cost finance solutions for the last mile barrower by understanding their credit needs, time lines and repayment patterns through deeper phygital (physical-digital) engagement, data analysis and other external factors that play a role.

In her previous ventures, Aruna has played a key role in building the business ground up including defining processes, setting up high performance teams and new business development. She has built robust business models, led large scale IT Solutions implementations and handled large-scale government schemes digitization and rollouts. Business and financial modeling, Strategy development, Team building, Client deliveries are her key areas of expertise.

She has an MBA from SDM-IMD, Mysore. Aruna has worked with PeopleSoft, IBM and CSC in Australia and Toyota India in various capacities. In 2019, she won the Karnataka Women Achievers’ “Women Entrepreneur of the Year” award.