FOUNDER

Anbu has been working in the field of community development for over 30 years. She is the Founder of AVAL and co-director of Auroville Village Action Group (AVAG). She has a master’s degree in Social Work (with specialisation in community development) from Bishop Heber College in Trichy. Before joining AVAG, Anbu was working as a training and education coordinator at Village Reconstruction Organisation in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. She is trained in counselling and provides women with emotional support as part of her responsibilities with AVAG.

CO-FOUNDER

Shrimayee is an experienced program developer, skilled in rural community development, CSR, project management, communication, and fundraising. Shrimayee has worked as a project manager in education and livelihood initiatives at Development Alternatives (Delhi) and Pratham Education Foundation (Mumbai). She has a Bachelors Degree in Political Science from Delhi University and a Masters Degree in Development Studies from Ambedkar University in Delhi.

FOUNDER

Haresh is a progressive farmer and has been doing farming practices since more than 30 years. Farmers’ in his village community regard him as a down to earth person and role model. He is responsible for planning and operations at Bastar se Bazaar tak.

CO-FOUNDER

Satendra is a self-motivated, goal-oriented person with a zeal to live and work in remotest parts of the country. With more than three years of grassroots experience on farm & forest based value chain model, he is passionate about working with small & marginal farmers on enterprise based livelihood models.

He has also worked for more than seven years as a freelancer which includes liaison with government officials for welfare projects. He is an alumnus of Azim Premji University, Bangalore. Overall, he plays a managing and executing role at Bastar se Bazaar tak.

CO-FOUNDER

Yashwant has been a Startupreunner from 2014 with 7.5 years OEM Experience in Automotive styling and Product Design and Development. He started his first start-up in 2014 which was a hyper-local search engine for odd jobs. When they faced a problem regarding usage of public restrooms, he came up with India’s first self-sustainable premium restroom concept at Indore and then started Lootel.

CO-FOUNDER

Neelam has 7 years’ experience in Audit & Quality Control. She has worked with Danik Bhaskar the group with 3 years. She has core experience in operation and quality and is working full-time with Lootel.

CO-FOUNDER

With an MBA in Rural Management from IRMA, Ajay has travelled extensively all across India to understand and find solutions to the most pertinent challenges in the agri-biomass industry today. A mechanical engineer by background, Ajay has been instrumental in identifying the right farm technologies and oversees the strategy and operations at EcoOpus.

CO-FOUNDER

Uday brings with him his vast experience of working with grass roots organizations to address farmer issues by building community institutions. Over the years, Uday has also gained expertise in conducting biomass assessment and feasibility studies by using tools such as GIS. Also a graduate in Rural Management from IRMA, Uday manages finance and outreach at EcoOpus.

CO-FOUNDER

Having worked with international development organizations and the Ministry of Rural Development for 8 years, Anshuman brings with him strong project management and organizational skills. An electronics engineer by background with dual degrees in Rural Management and Public Administration, he contributes to technology integration and business development at EcoOpus.

CO-FOUNDER

Megha has been working with Inclusive Development Pvt Ltd as a Co-founder since its inception. She has been an active part of the structuring and shaping of the company. She completed her MBA in rural management from XIMB in 2019. She has also been associated with Teach for India, Bernard Van Leer Foundation, Ergos and various production houses as an intern and volunteer. She was also a fellow with Milaap working in rural Odisha for 6 months.

CO-FOUNDER

Shipra is currently the Co-Founder & CEO at Inclusive Development Pvt Ltd. She plays a key role in resource allocation and strategy for the enterprise. She is an Engineering and MBA graduate. She has worked fulltime with Essar Steel and Axis Bank previously. Her dream is to contribute towards strengthening the bottom of pyramid by creating dignified jobs.

Founder

Radhesh has a background in textile sand crafts, having studied at Northern India Institute of Fashion Technology (NIIFT)and Indian Institute of Crafts And Design. In his professional capacity, he is also the owner of Owner of Khanak Design Studio, Managing Director at Shiv Hath Kargha Vastra Utpadak Shkari Samiti and a Craft Expert at Tribes India.

FOUNDER

Passionate about making a difference to the transgender community, Neelam started-up PeriFerry after her two-year stint with Goldman Sachs. Her goal is to ferry the community towards their passion and help them find their footing in this world. She is also a TEDx speaker and advocates LGBTQI+ inclusion in the workplace and academia.

CO-FOUNDER

Ankit earned an MBA from DEI, Agra and has 14 years of work experience in sales, marketing, and social entrepreneurship, primarily in ecommerce for Chocofest (handmade chocolates), Investorsaathi, medical devices (myhealthklub.com), and finally footwear (shoegaro.com). To address social concerns and looking into the willingness of artisans to restart their generations old professional trade, he founded Shoegaro in 2015 to help ailing art of handmade shoe making.

CO-FOUNDER

Gagan studied B.Com. and earned his MBA from Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra. He has several years of experience in footwear manufacturing and operated his own unit at Agra with a family expertise in shoe making. Gagan co-Founded Shoegaro in 2015 to create livelihood opportunities for footwear artisans.

CO-FOUNDER

Dr. Hifza Afaq is an experienced professional with a demonstrated history of working in computer software and physics with a Doctor of Philosophy – PhD focused in Computer Science from DEI. She has an interest in making life automated and secure. Currently, she is heading the IT and Social Impact Initiatives for Footwear artisan families.

FOUNDER

A NIFT post-graduate, equipped with 19+ years of extensive hands-on experience in design, production, merchandising, quality assurance, buying and retail in domestic and international apparel industry. Besides apparel, she has significant experience in Indian handicrafts, corporate & sports merchandise consulting along with exposure to jewellery designing. In previous organizations she worked with, she was the COO driving business operations, but her role often extended to product design, business development and marketing.

Despite an illustrious career in the corporate world, a pull towards handicrafts, fuelled with a strong desire to contribute to gender equality and women empowerment, lead her to leverage her expertise to give back to the society. Leaving an illustrious corporate career, she launched SVATANYA, a social enterprise that empowers underprivileged women by skilling them to make handcrafted products, which are sold under its in-house labels, AMARYN and My Munchkin.

She has also launched a crowdfunding initiative AMARYN Care to distribute soft toys to underprivileged kids who are differently abled, suffering from terminal ailments, or living in slums. This serves the two-pronged strategy of providing regular work to women in addition to spreading joy and cheer among the underprivileged kids.

FOUNDER

Shineel is the life force of THOA. She is the creative strategist and the passionate entrepreneur leading THOA to its vision. She leads the demand side of business with product, branding, marketing and customer experience.

Shineel is an MBA and a Finance graduate from NMIMS, Mumbai and was previously leading CXO leadership transformation for the Arvind Group.

CO-FOUNDER

Varun known for his dynamism and methodical style of working leads the supply side of the business with operations, logistics and finance. He has 8+ years of award winning experience with companies like British Council, TATA Group and Mahindra’s.

He is an Engineer (IT) and a MBA from Welingkar’s, Mumbai.

Founding Partner

Sonali Sharma is a learning and development consultant with over 14 years of experience in the fields of leadership and education management. Sonali has a MBA from the University of Roehampton, London and a Design Thinking certificate from MIT. She wants to establish LivGreene Handmade as an aspirational and conscious home dining and decor brand. She is currently responsible for Strategy and Business development, and works closely with clients to create desirable products for potential customers.

Founder, CEO

Jayanti is a business advisor, entrepreneur, educator and coach with an ability to transform, innovate, and deliver strong financial returns. Her skills in business management have promoted her strong entrepreneurial spirit. She has a Postgraduate in Business Management and a Masters in Psychotherapy with more than 15 years of experience in diverse fields such as investment banking, consulting, and human resources. Jayanti works hard to ensure the financial integrity and strategic support of Manikstu Agro by bringing her expertise in building efficiently integrated organizations.

Founder, CEO

A textile designer by education, an entrepreneur by passion, and a fervent admirer of traditional arts and crafts, Abhishek has 8+ years of professional experience designing for home fashion, working with artisans, skilling rural communities, growing a business, and exploring e-commerce as a marketplace for marginalized artisans. He has been awarded and recognized globally for his work. Currently the CEO for Greenwear, he acknowledges that design is a process of providing art with purpose and intention. He aims to empower artisans and rural communities so that they become self-sustainable. His passion lies in bringing design, innovation and technology to underprivileged and unorganized artisan communities.

Founding Partner

Sumanth is a ceramic artist, designer, and entrepreneur with an engineering degree and a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Michigan. He launched ‘Thanor Pottery’ in 2008, and has worked with celebrity chefs and designers from groups like W hotels, and more. Now working with LivGreene, his vision is to create a design and production space that uses sustainable mediums and eco-friendly processes to create interior decor and products for people to use, cherish, and share. He currently heads the Design and Production unit and works closely with the artisans.

Founder

Mr. Rajesh Kumar Oza is the founder of Jovaki Agro Foods Pvt. Ltd. Prior to this Mr. Rajesh has a rich experience in sales and marketing in different fields of Market. He has been an entrepreneur and tried markets different products.

Co-Founder

Ms. Pooja Dilip Bohra is the co-founder of Jovaki Agro Foods Pvt. Ltd. She takes care of the day to day management activities of the company.

FOUNDER

Vinay Kothari has 10 years of experience in the FMCG industry. He has worked for bottom of the pyramid solutions like E-Choupal and choupal saagar, and set up distribution networks in rural and urban markets like Bihar, Jharkhand and Gujarat. He also managed the Sunfeast brand for the Indian market and handled multiple national brand launches in new and existing categories.

Founder

Maneet Gohil is the Co-founder and CEO of Lal10. Lal10 means Lantern in Hindi. It is a B2B technology platform for artisans to showcase their handloom, handicraft from different parts of India to global retailers. Along with co-founders Sanchit Govil and Albin Jose, Maneet started Lal10 in January 2014 from his graduate school dorm room, with one goal in mind - bridge the gap between rural artisan and urban consumers and bring light into the lives of Indian artisans, and hence Lantern (Lal10). Today Lal10 is a team of 38 people. They collaborate with 1200 artisans and connect them to 300 retailers, including companies like Zara, Fab India, Hilton, Hyatt, Four Seasons, Toast, Reliance and many others.

Maneet’s grandfather was an artisan. He is a second generation engineer and he went back to its roots to support his community. India has 9.1 mn artisans as per the last population census. Only 2% of these artisans have access to formal markets. Maneet has worked for Flipkart and consulting before he started Lal10. His expertise includes Social Impact, Supply Chain Management, Technology Innovations, Team Management and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Among his many recognitions, in 2019 Forbes India named him a "30 under 30" awardee, and in the same year he was a TedX speaker. Maneet is also a fellow of Westerwelle Foundation, Berlin, Global Social Benefit Institute at Miller Center in Santa Clara and Action for India. Maneet has a Bachelor of Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering and a PostGraduate Diploma in Industrial Management from the National Institute of Industrial Engineering. Maneet is based in New Delhi India.

Co-Founder & COO

Sanchit is the Co-Founder and COO of Lal10 and handles business operations and finance. He is a Mechanical Engineering graduate from Delhi College of Engineering and has done his MBA into Supply chain Management and operations from NITIE, Mumbai.

Drawing his inspiration from his father, a cancer survivor and active volunteer into social services in his hometown Aligarh, he co-founded Lal10 along with Maneet and Albin to impact artisan livelihoods.

He is a GSBI fellow and has been featured with Forbes 30U30 India last year. He is also active as a Mentor with Naropa Fellowship to help entrepreneurs in Ladakh and the Himalayan region.

Co-Founder & VP

Albin is the Co-Founder and Vice President (Product Development) and handles technology product development at Lal10.

He did his Materials Engineering from IIT Madras in 2014. Post his graduation, he worked in an MSDF-funded social enterprise called Avanti Learning. Here, he created easy-to-learn content and designed curriculum that sparks peer learning among students from lower-middle class households. The curriculum and content was directly linked to K-12 learning outcomes.

He co-founded Lal10 along with Maneet and Sanchit in 2014 to create an impact in the craft sector- the second largest rural livelihood-generation sector in India. Albin built Lal10 from ground up, where Lal10 currently provides sustainable livelihoods to 28 micro-entrepreneurs, 1200 artisans, where 850 are women in 10 states and works with 300 retailers in 18 countries.

He is a Forbes 30 Under 30 India and Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia awarded entrepreneur and an alumnus of GMC Calibrator by Gray Matters Capital.

CEO and Co-Founder

Aniket has over nine years of experience in the development sector. He was a Teach For India fellow, and has worked with the Gyan Prakash Foundation and Indus Action. He is also an Acumen India Fellow 2018. Aniket is an alumnus of SRCC, Delhi.

Aniket has been associated with organizations in the education space for a while, including Udaan, a school for kids with mental disabilities since its inception in 2001. He spent two years as a full-time teacher in government low-income schools in Pune.

Haqdarshak was formed with the objective to provide access to financial benefits of government and non-government welfare programs to the marginalized and weaker sections of the society.

CO-FOUNDER & CEO

In 2014, Co-Founder and CEO Ankur Mehta started JobNukkad to make hiring faster and cheaper by connecting employers and job seekers. Prior to building JobNukkad, he worked for 9 years in Private Equity investments. He is a Chartered Accountant with a Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy and Finance from Sydenham College.

FOUNDER & CEO

Founder and CEO Amit Deep Kumar started KhanaGaDi after he struggled to get good food during a long haul train journey. He built his business after 18 years in the food and beverage industry, including in quick-service restaurants and food retail. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Rajasthan and has a postgraduate diploma from the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management in New Delhi. He also holds a certificate in advanced operations from McDonald’s University in Dubai and is Six Sigma Green Belt certified.

CO-FOUNDER & CEO

In 2014, Co-Founder and CEO Mansi Agarwal started UpSkill to make skills-based education more accessible to underprivileged youth in developing countries. Mansi received her bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the University of Pune and her Master of Science in Sustainable Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

FOUNDER & CEO

In 2014, Founder and CEO Meenakshi Gupta Jain started Helper4U after hearing stories of maids and domestic helpers that were exploited by job agents and abused by employers. As an entrepreneur, her goal is to use technology to impact the lives of those at the “Bottom of the Pyramid”. She received her Bachelor’s degree in English from JMC Delhi University and her Master’s degree in Child Speech Development from Jawaharlal Nehru Vishvavidyalaya. She has 10+ years of experience as an instructional designer.

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Naveen Krishna has 8 years of diverse experience in Community Development, Microfinance & Management of Social EnterprisesIn 2016, Naveen Krishna started SMV Green Solutions to improve flaws in rickshaw distribution and help drivers buy their own vehicle without charitable help. He was awarded the Social entrepreneur of the year by CNBC Awaaz & SONA Group 2014-15 He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Lucknow and a Masters in Social Work from Banaras Hindu University.

FOUNDER & CEO

Founder and CEO Siddharth Hande is a geospatial analyst by training, and he and his team spent three months mapping kabadiwallas before creating the information system behind Kabadiwalla Connect. Prior to starting Kabadiwalla Connect, he worked as a consultant in some of India’s premier urban policy and research think tanks. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Advanced Zoology and Biotechnology from Loyola College in Chennai, and his Master’s degree in Environment and Sustainability from Monash University.

FOUNDER AND CEO

Founder and CEO Saral Budhiraja started The Shoe Men in 2009 after struggling to find quality footwear and leather products cleaning services. Saral received his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Delhi University and has an MBA specializing in Marketing and Finance from IMI Belgium.

CO-FOUNDER

Ambika Satapathy is the Co-founder of ZooFresh Foods Private Limited, a high impact, farm-to-retail meat business in Odisha. Previously, she has worked as Senior Manager, Online Ordering at Zomato, India’s leading food-tech company, and with Tasanaya Hospitality, a boutique foodservice consultancy. She holds a B.A. Economics (H) from Miranda House, DU, and is a Young India Fellow 2012.

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Aneel Kumar has more than 13 years of experience working with small and marginal farming communities. He has a proven track record with top multinational companies and rural development organizations. His areas of expertise include sustainable farming, organic and fair-trade cotton, team building and leadership, project designing and management, training/capacity building programs, and marketing. Aneel is a social entrepreneur and founded two projects. He spearheads Grameena Vikas Kendram Society for Rural Development, an NGO working for sustainability causes in India and beyond. He earned a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Sciences from A. N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, India, and MSc degree in Organic Agriculture from Wageningen University, Netherlands. He also holds a Master Trainer certificate (FAO of the UN) in conducting Farmer Field Schools.

CO-FOUNDER & CEO

Vinod is a Science graduate (B.Sc. Hons. Physics) and holds a Masters in Social Entrepreneurship from the School of Management and Labour Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Mumbai. He aims to be a successful entrepreneur and to create more opportunities for employment generation in the area of rural development. He carried out his research thesis on ‘supply chain management in poultry business’, which involved an in-depth study of demand, supply, and structure of the Indian poultry sector. Currently, he is associated as a TISS-DBS Fellow and operates his venture in District Jhabua (M.P.).

CEO

Kunal Bhatia is the CEO of Rural Roots and leads the project on the ground. He is a graduate in Food Technology and Management and has experience in the food-processing sector. He is an entrepreneur at heart and strives to combine sustainable business strategies to create social impact in an area he is passionate about (food). This aligns well with his work at Rural Roots wherein he works to improve the product offerings and operational efficiency and also drives sales.

FOUNDER & CEO

Ekta Jaju is a Social Entrepreneur and Founder and CEO at ONganic Foods. Ekta has Co-Founded Switch ON and ONergy Solar, together impacting over one million lives.Ekta has strong experience and led initiatives in the areas of sustainable energy, agriculture, and sustainable development. She has been a consultant to national and international organizations, including UN Women, and GIZ. Ekta has specialized in direction from Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, and Entrepreneurship Development from Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. She is an UnLtd India, CSA, DASRA, and BYCL fellow.

FOUNDER & CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Selvakumar Varadharajan works hard to justify his roles as Entrepreneur, Professor, Social Activist, Brand Consultant, Business Accelerator, and Career Consultant, and he hails from an agriculture family in Salem district. He is the Founder/Chief Executive at Laymen Agro Ventures Private Limited and the winner of the Coca Cola Sustainable Enterprise Award 2017. He has played a key role in providing employment to 2000+ youths, significantly increasing the disposable income of their families. Selvakumar is an enthusiastic social activist with a vision to nurture as many young entrepreneurs and managers as possible and empower young India.

FOUNDER & MANAGING DIRECTOR

Reema Sathe is passionate about rural development and women’s empowerment, a believer in bringing positive social change through sustainable business. She has worked across tomato, onion, poultry, and grains value chains and has helped small farmers connect with high potential markets. She has briefly served as an online UN volunteer where she worked on projects supporting child education in India and women’s empowerment in Africa. She currently wears several hats at Happy Roots that allow her to combine her expertise and passion across various aspects of food and agriculture.

FOUNDER & DIRECTOR

Rakesh Gupta has 12 years of experience in the development sector. He has a deep understanding of working with rural communities. He led the microfinance initiative of Tata Trust Sakh Se Vikas under which 27 community-led federations were promoted in Rajasthan. Rakesh is a graduate in Maths and a post-graduate in rural development from Xavier Institute of Social Services (XISS) Ranchi. He holds a certificate in Livelihoods and Marketing from Coady International Institute, Antigonish, Canada.

CEO & DIRECTOR

Dr. S. Kavitha is the Director at FIB-SOL Life Technologies. She is an alumnus from JIPMER and holds a UG and PG degree in Medical Biochemistry. She is also an alumnus of IIT Madras with a PhD in Biotechnology.

CEO

Jitendra Yadav is a management graduate from IIM-Lucknow and B.Tech in Computer Science. He spent over three years working in the IT sector prior to joining IIM-Lucknow.

CO-FOUNDER & CEO

Priyanka is the founder of Abira Creations. With 9+ years of experience in the fashion and jewelry industry and 11+ years of volunteering, Priyanka considers herself to be a dreamer who wishes to witness a world without boundaries—whether they be geographic, religious, etc. She has a Masters in Fashion Management from NIFT, and a certificate in Entrepreneurship and Leadership from the Chrysalis Foundation, as well as having been awarded the Savitri Sanmaan Award by Maharashtra One.

DESIGNATED PARTNER

Abhinav Dhoundiyal, a textile designer and independent researcher, is a co-founder of Peoli, based in his home state of Uttarakhand. He is a graduate in Textile Design from the National Institute of Design, where he undertook a comprehensive study of the textile traditions of Central Nagaland. He has conducted several natural dyeing workshops for artisans in the region and holds a special interest in the documentation of indigenous knowledge systems, ideation, and implementation of sustainable practices. His work currently supports around 60 women artisans, training them in spinning, knitting, and natural dyeing.

DESIGNATED PARTNER

Vasanthi Veluri is a co-founder of Peoli. She has a graduate degree in Textile Design from the National Institute of Design. During her studies, she worked on various projects which introduced her to both the importance and the impact of handmade products. As a believer of sustainable and slow living, Vasanthi finds deep value and importance in respecting and improving local skills as well as nurturing the hands and heart of the women who work for Peoli.

FOUNDER & CEO

Anupama holds a degree in Electronics and Communications, and has worked for more than 7 years in the social sector. She has a knowledge of many fields, from managing communications for nonprofits to consulting with social enterprises. She began to pursue her passion for rural community development and set up Dharma Endeavours because she believes that businesses are powerful engines of poverty alleviation, and rural India’s riches are the untapped billions that are the true wealth in the country.

FOUNDER

Yogesh Kumar has a background in Engineering, and a master’s degree in Social Entrepreneurship from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. Through his work with Even Cargo, Yogesh has been working on leading gender initiatives across the Delhi-NCR region over the last three years. Yogesh’s work has been recognized by The New York Times, The New Yorker, BBC, and NDTV among others. His Acumen Fellowship, TISS DBS Fellowship, and Unltd India Fellowship are among his other accomplishments. He is also the winner of the Young Social Entrepreneur Award presented by Singapore International Foundation in 2015, and this year the UK has selected him as one of the five Asia Regional Winners for the Commonwealth Youth Awards for Excellence in Development Work.

FOUNDER

Umang Sridhar is a graduate of Commerce from the University of Delhi. Umang is also a Fellow of the School for Social Entrepreneurs in India. She has been nominated by NatWest Bank London for the WISE 100 award in 2017, and has also been recognized by the Technology Development Board of India as a Top Woman Innovator of India in 2018. She believes in only one thing: “Be the change you want to see in the world,” and lives by it.

CO-FOUNDER

Tanya Chugh is a Human Resources Management Professional, and has an MA in Fashion & Luxury Brand Management from London, as well as a position as a visiting faculty member for Fashion Business at the Istituto Marangoni. Her exposure in the world of ‘global fashion business’ gave her the motivation to come back to India and work towards promoting and uplifting the treasure of art and craft in the country.

FOUNDER & CEO

Ketan has always been passionate about nature and natural living. With that spirit in heart, he graduated with a degree in English Literature and a postgraduate diploma in Human Resource Management, both from MS University of Baroda. He then selected a Masters program in Social Entrepreneurship at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He completed a small pilot project on his venture idea with 50 farmers in Gujarat, before launching his social enterprise called ‘Krishi Naturals’ which aims to make organic farming and indigenous cow rearing a sustainable livelihood for rural farmers. The venture has been supported by many reputable organizations such as the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Development Bank of Singapore, IIM Ahmedabad, SAP India, and more. Krishi Naturals has also been featured in magazines and news articles across the globe.

FOUNDER & DIRECTOR

Archana Gautam has over 20 years of Production and Design Experience across the industry. She has a PG Diploma from the School of Gemology & Allied Studies, Swiss Cottage, London, and has been the product developer and manager at various manufacturing and handicraft organizations such as Sur Style Jewellery and Bhavya Manufacturing.

FOUNDER & DIRECTOR

Mokshita Chanana has 5+ years of work experience in the Bhavya Manufacturing Unit in Jamshedpur, as well as an MBA in Agri-Business and a BA in Psychology. Mokshita has done extensive market research and pilot testing using sustainable resources such as waste wood, crafting, and designing, and all this knowledge was used to found Rassaa in 2017

DIRECTOR

Sagar Chanana has 11 years of rich cumulative experience across various corporate and entrepreneurial ventures. He received an MBA in Finance and Marketing from IBS Gurgaon in 2008, and has demonstrated excellence in driving mission-based projects by playing a pivotal role in setting up operations from the ground up and scaling these projects into sustainable and profitable businesses.

FOUNDER & CEO

Manan Majithia is the founder of YouCare Services, a marketplace to provide training and jobs in elderly and infant care services. Incubated in 2016, YouCare today operates across 5 cities and has impacted the lives of over 1,500 families requiring jobs and care services. With over 8 years of sales and marketing experience across multinational companies, Manan has grown passionate about improving lives through personal change. While he is an accomplished speaker and mentor for young startup founders, he also likes music, cross-fit, reading, and trekking.

CO-FOUNDER

Namrata Acharya is a social entrepreneur, originally from Delhi but currently based in Vyara, Gujarat. After completing her BA and Master’s in Economics from Delhi, she worked for a while at Oxford University Press as an editor in the economics list. Yearning to study further and break free from her largely sedentary work, she did her MPhil in Development Practice from Ambedkar University, Delhi, where she closely worked with the Adivasi farmers of Jharkhand. Interested in continuing her work with rural farmers, she briefly worked in the development sector. In order to create a greater social impact, she took part in the Social Startup Leadership Programme at AUD’s Incubation Centre before forming her own enterprise Khedut Samriddhi, in which she manages fieldwork, finances, and fundraising work.

CO-FOUNDER

A Gold Medallist MBA and scholarship holder from the prestigious Amity Business School, Geetika is a perfect example of women leadership. With over 16 years of experience, she led the Marketing divisions of MNCs like Sony and HTC and worked with an oil & gas business to elevate its profile. As an entrepreneurial call, she returned to India in 2016 and became a part of several F&B ventures including a beer brand and restaurants. While in India she was on the constant lookout for hygienic places serving India’s favorite street foods, parathas and pakodas. Failing to find any prominent brand catering to this segment, she decided to capitalize on this opportunity and launched her own venture in this product category as “Mad Over Parathas & Pakodas” which is fondly referred to by customers as MOPP.

FOUNDER

Amita Deshpande is the Founder of "reCharkha - The EcoSocial Tribe" and Co-Founder of "My EcoSocial Planet Foundation". Amita has worked extensively in sustainable development and corporate social responsibility in the past 14 years. An IT Engineer by education, she went on to do her Masters at Purdue University, USA with a focus on sustainability. She worked with CSR teams of multinational corporations, consultancies, non-profits, and community-based organizations in both the United States and India and eventually founded Aarohana EcoSocial Developments with the rich experience she had gathered. After leading Aarohana for 7 years, she founded "reCharkha - The EcoSocial Tribe" to continue the same work of upcycling waste plastic.

FOUNDER

Sumeet Kaur graduated from NLSIU Bangalore, India’s most prestigious law school and worked for nearly a decade in one of the largest tax consultancy firms in the country, before deciding to shift focus to agriculture. A self-taught farmer, she realized from her initial experience growing and supplying produce to friends and acquaintances that the existing food system is comprehensively inequitable and inefficient, and ripe for disruption. She founded Spudnik Farms with the aim of establishing a more equitable and efficient business model for farming, while serving the unmet needs of both consumers and farmers.

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.

FOUNDER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Smita Singh is an alumnus of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad (NID). She has been involved in the Indian crafts sector for over a decade, having worked extensively in cluster developments, handloom development, workshops for craftsmen, and concept communication development. Smita has worked with export houses as well as in design education in India. Her ability to understand the nuances and profundity while designing and her thirst to achieve perfection makes her a designer with diverse sensibilities. Smita is the founder of Mirandola Designs – she oversees designs and production for luxury fashion houses, interiors companies as well as high street brands.

CO-FOUNDER AND COO

Shweta Thakare is Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at GramHeet where she leads Operations and Business Development. She is passionate about designing solutions that can improve the wellbeing of farmers. She has over five years of experience working with farmers. She is a Lead Tribe Fellow (a Blume venture), a Caux Scholar (Asia Plateau) and a NIRMAN Fellow. Previously, she co-founded ‘Kastkar’ where she mobilized 5000 farmers in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra to strengthen their livelihoods. She is pursuing her Master’s in Development Studies from IIT Hyderabad and holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunication from Amravati University.

FOUNDER & CEO

Savitha Sridharan is passionate about bringing more opportunities to women and youth in the clean energy industry, creating gender equity. She holds a MBA from F.W.Olin School of Business (Babson College), a MSc from North Carolina State University, and a BTech in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. She brings with her a decade of experience in technological innovation and hands-on experience in social work in India. During her free time, she trained for ultramarathons to fundraise for developmental work in rural India.

FOUNDER

Vandana Suri is an ex-investment banker turned cabbie by choice. She decided that change must begin with her and while she brought about change, her passion spread like wildfire among women who had the fire to change the world. Not only did she give a life skill to so many women, she also ensured safety for women and children through women's cabs. She is the recipient of the World Bank Award under their SDGs and Her 2019 contest and is also a TedX speaker.

CO-FOUNDER

Ankur is a social entrepreneur based in Tapi, Gujarat. After completing his BTech in Agriculture from Junagarh Agricultural University, he worked for two drip irrigation companies. He then worked for two-and-a-half years as the technical and marketing coordinator for an all-women farmers’ cooperative, managing the marketing and sale of products sold by the cooperative. He came up with the idea of starting an enterprise that would specialize in producing organic compost starting with vermicompost when he saw that there was a rising demand for affordable organic compost, but not enough supply in the region. He went on to form Khedut Samriddhi in February 2019. He currently handles fieldwork, product development, marketing, and sales of the company and likes to delegate ‘boring’ work that has anything related to writing to his co-founder.

MARKETING DIRECTOR

Shuchi Singh completed her MBA from Management Development Institute, Gurgaon. She has more than ten years of rich corporate experience in the financial and reinsurance sector in India and Hong Kong. Over the years she has handled high-pressure projects at big corporates and successfully managed business at smaller firms. Shuchi turned into an entrepreneur with a buying office in Hong Kong – working with department stores and brands in Asia and Europe. She seamlessly joined forces with Smita to oversee strategy, finance, sales, and distribution for Mirandola Designs.

FOUNDER & NON-EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

Sajeev Viswanathan is an accomplished banker, investor and entrepreneur, with a career spanning 28 years. He is the promoter of New Street Tech, a company engaged in developing advanced technology solutions (including blockchain-based ecosystems) to solve real-world problems.

Earlier, Sajeev had spent a successful 18 years with Citigroup, and in his last assignment was Managing Director and Global Head of Receivables and Trade Finance, based in London. He has also served as Risk Director on the Board of Citicorp Trustee Company. Apart from overseeing several markets across the world, Sajeev has lived and worked in London, Moscow and across India.

CEO & FOUNDER

With over 10 years of experience in the IT consulting industry, Rahul decided to move into agriculture to help Indian farmers grasp the value of their produce. He spent five years working in agri-tech startups under leadership and consulting roles to gain a deeper understanding of the ecosystem. He then founded Amal with a mission to empower the farmers by creating an ecosystem that brings local produce to the central stage. He is a certified SAP SD consultant with a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from NIT Jamshedpur and an MBA from ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad.

CEO & FOUNDER

Sharayu has nine years of IT industry experience and has worn many hats as the Project Manager, Technical Consultant , Sr. Infrastructure Engineer with companies like Mphasis , Amdocs and Velocity, respectively. With a mission of making the lives of farmers easier and more self-dependent through technology, she founded Bharat Krushi Seva with a team of enthusiastic individuals to uplift the lives of farmers.

CO-FOUNDER & COO

Hemant is a passionate farmer with over nine years of experience in Computer Engineering and has worked for companies like Amdocs and HSBC as Technology Specialist and Technical Consultant. His strong desire to utilize his technology experience towards Sustainable Agriculture has led him to join Sharayu in founding Bharat Krushi Seva. He believes that farmers can maximize their quality yield to cost ratio of their production if given the right personalized crop advisory and the right access to agricultural input at the right time.

FOUNDER

With over 10 years of experience in management consulting, technology, and leadership roles, Manjari decided to leverage her experience in driving impact at ground level through FarmDidi. With a bold mission to impact one million rural women, she finds purpose in working with farmer didis!

FOUNDER

Gowri has 10 years corporate experience in IBM working in business operations and six years of development work with women from diverse communities. She believes that a sustained livelihood will help these women to uplift the living standard of themselves and their families.

FOUNDER

With 10 years of corporate experience in multinational corporations , Krishnan has built a progressive career in crafting a social enterprise from scratch across people development operations, sales, and marketing. He is a big supporter of various grassroots social impact organizations in Marudai.

FOUNDER

Avijit is an IT graduate from RCC Institute of Information Technology with over nine years of experience in the fields of digital transformation, new age technology, leadership, and technological advancement. Before founding Drivershaab, he worked as a Business System Analyst in a multinational corporation where he explored a plethora of business opportunities in the IT sector.

CO-FOUNDER

Pavan holds an MBA degree from FMS Delhi and has co-founded numerous startups, such as Mentorally and Investor Rooter Sports. As the CEO of Redian Software Global, he focused on strategic growth by adding valuable partnerships and alliances with global companies like Salesforce, Google Workspace, and Kissflow. He is always helping fellow entrepreneurs and has been a guest speaker at many college events and the jury at Amazon Sambhav 2020. As the Co-Founder of DriverShaab, he has helped the startup to expand its operations in over 35 Indian cities.

FOUNDER

With an MBA in Finance & Marketing and B. Tech in Instrumentation & Control from Pune University, Aastha is a competent professional with over 12 years of experience in Project Management, Operations, Technology, and Financial Planning. In the past, she has utilized her expertise in Business Development via Technology and Financial Acumen to provide consultancy to external Government funded projects in Rural Livelihood and Development. Her prior assignments include playing the role of City Head at OYO, Energy Manager atBharti Infratel, and Network Engineer at Tata teleservices. With a strong technological background and dedicated will to resolve the issues of Indian farming, she has founded the Patna-based startup Gramshree Agriservices Private Limited.

FOUNDER

With over 20 years of experience in Project Management, Procurement, and Financial Management in World Bank, other externally aided projects and government organizations, Puneet has extensive consulting experience on projects dealing with Rural Development, Livelihood, Social Development, Panchayat, Disaster Management and Infrastructure, Food Security, and Municipal Local Government Projects. His work areas include Financial Management and Procurement, Resource Maximization, Design & Implementation of multi-year expenditure framework for fiscal transfers, Fiduciary Risk Assessment (FRA) studies, etc.

CO-FOUNDER

Nishit is a Secretarial, Finance, and Development professional working in the field of municipal finance, audit, public procurement, urban planning, and skill development since 2012. He has worked in externally funded projects (ADB, WB. DFID), Government of Bihar and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and has managed a diverse portfolio of managerial, HR, and Operational Activities. As the Co-Founder of Gramshree, he has helped define business strategies, perform business analysis, and execute decision making with his profound experience in Rural Livelihood & Development projects.

CO-FOUNDER

Pawan leads the IT wing of Gramshree with his expertise as a software developer. With a degree in Computer Science from Cimage College, Pawan has over four years of deep domain technical experience in developing, implementing, and supporting complex infrastructures for fast growing startups in the Talent Acquisition industry. He has been a strategic advisor for top growing startups and their clients that generated 50% growth in revenue. His core expertise is developing new technologies, managing servers & domains, and developing mobile applications. His Android projects that are available on Play Store include: Gramshree Kisan, Gramshree Fresh, Gramshree Matasya Seva kendra. He also has expertise in the fields of Digital Marketing, Computer Hardware & Security, and UI/UX.

FOUNDER

As the Founder and CEO of Pasidi Panta with over 17 years of experience in the Indian and African agribusiness and agritech industries, Krishnaiah is responsible for the overall management of the organization, program design, execution, business development, and external relations. He holds an MBA degree in Strategy and Marketing from Indian School of Business and has functional expertise in Consulting, Technology, Business Development, and Project Management.

CO-FOUNDER

As an MBA graduate from Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Narender brings with him 25 years of experience in the NGO sector as a Development professional. He is the Co-founder of Pasidi Panta and is responsible for managing the impact metrics, system development, and capacity building of community collectives. He has an expertise in building community institutions and has been the advisor for multiple development funding institutions.

FOUNDER

With over 16 years of experience in sales and marketing for industries like FMCG, Retail, and Real Estate and Technology, he has a PG in Retail Communications and plays a key role in launching India’s first affordable housing project in Mumbai. He left his corporate life to found reThela with a vision to connect “retail” with “thelas” by providing market opportunities for brands and providing livelihood support to street vendors.

FOUNDER

Amit is a computer engineer and MBA graduate with over three years of work experience in the field of finance and strategy. He is currently spearheading an artisan-driven textile and fashion endeavor to create a sustainable and eco-friendly global brand to uplift the Indian indigenous textile by leveraging various industries like IT, E-Commerce, Art, etc.

FOUNDER

As a hardcore techie with over 15 years of experience, and a mother of two, Asmitha not only brings in the perspective of consumers but also wants to use technology in scaling up FarmDidi to become the most loved FMCG brand in the area.

FOUNDER

By combining his expertise in in Aeronautical Sciences with spectroscopy, Amandeep founded BharatRohan to empower famers to communicate with their crops. With a mission to solve the difficulties of the Indian agriculture in face of hunger, he created a data analytical. tool to help Indian farmers identify problems and challenges.

CO-FOUNDER

With a Bachelor of Technology in Aeronautical Engineering from Uttar Pradesh Technical University, Rishabh brings his expertise in Computer-Aided Design (CAD), Digital Mapping, and SCADA into BharatRohan with a mission to mitigate the risks in agriculture by developing an integrated solution for diagnostics of fields and crops using data analytics.

FOUNDER & CEO

Senthil has over 15 years of professional and entrepreneurial experience in agribusiness strategy & consulting, Agricultural Research and Development projects, International Project Management, Operation Management, Farm Procurement & Supply Chain Management, Agri-input Marketing, Product Management & ICS Business in Asia Pacific Countries. He has worked with Sathguru Management Consultants, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Syngenta and Innoterra. He had Professional engagements with diverse organizations - US land grant universities (Cornell University), USAID, World Bank, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOPFI) and Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) centers , National Agricultural Research System (NARS), State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), private foundations i.e. ICICI, Tata Foundation, Private sector, NGOs, farmer association in India. He graduated from TNAU with an MBA in Agribusiness.

CO-FOUNDER & DIRECTOR

As a graduate from Ethiraj College, Chennai, Abinaya has 5 years of professional and entrepreneural experience in people and organization development. She practices nutrition and dietetics as personal engagement and is passionate about women empowerment, public health and uplifting people from poverty.

CO-FOUNDER & CSO

Kajal Malik is the Co-founder and CSO, PickMyWork. She takes care of Business development and Marketing. In 2012, Kajal completed her B.Tech in Electronics and Communications Engineering from NIT Kurukshetra. In 2013, she went to pursue her MBA (Marketing and Strategy from FMS) from Delhi University.

Right out of college, Kajal joined Samsung R&D, Noida as a Software Engineer and worked on a project to manage Big Data on Samsung’s cloud system. Other than being the Co-founder of Reculta and PickMyWork, Kajal also had a prior experience of being a Sales Manager for Mahindra Holidays (2015-2017) where she was awarded, CSO (Chief Sales Officer) Club – R&R for commendable business contribution. Also, in the fiscal year of 2015 - 2016, as a member of Shadow Board for Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India Limited, she was responsible for the yearly revenue delivery of INR 2.6Bn from Referral Sales.

Kajal's upbringing in a defense family has instituted the vigorous passion in her. She is keen to make a visible change in society. In her free time, Kajal is interested in reading novels. Her favorite genres include biographies, travelogues, and fantasy fiction. Apart from it, Kajal likes to travel and is interested in capturing the beauty of landscapes. Some of her photography has been featured in Lonely Planet, National Geographic Articles, and various other travel blogs.

CO-FOUNDER & COO

Utsav Bhattacharjee is the Co-founder and COO, PickMyWork. His responsibility in the company is to manage and look after the operations and business growth. Utsav has an MBBS degree from Medical College Kolkata and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM, Ahmadabad.

Before Cofounding PickMyWork and Reculta, Utsav started his professional career in 2013 as a resident doctor at Medical College Hospital Kolkata, working in the cardiology ICCU and pediatric surgery departments. This was followed by the move to AstraZeneca Pharma India where as a Regional Medical Advisor, he worked with the sales and marketing teams on growth of existing brands and launching new pharma products. Post IIM-A, he joined CK Birla Group in 2017 as a Management Trainee and worked on the 0 to 1 journey in setting up the flagship CK Birla Hospital for Women in Gurgaon.

Born to working parents in a middle class family, the importance of hard work and academics was instilled early on in Utsav’s life. Reading fiction and playing chess continue to interest him as does travelling and meeting new people. Creating an impact at scale remains the cornerstone of his career choices and the eventual transition to entrepreneurship.

CO-FOUNDER & CEO

Vidyarthi Baddireddy is the Co-founder & CEO, PickMyWork. He takes care of Product Development and manages the technology team. Vidyarthi completed his MBA from FMS Delhi in 2015 and his Engineering Degree from VIT Vellore in 2011.

Graduating out of VIT, Vidyarthi joined General Electric as an Engineer and also completed a fellowship with Make a Difference. After receiving his MBA, he joined Deloitte S&O and worked with them in the Product Development and Supply Chain Practice working for clients like Biogen and Revlon in the US. He received multiple awards at both GE and Deloitte for exceptional performance on Project Delivery.

Vidyarthi enjoys reading non-fiction and biographies. His new found love for running marathons has shaped up his philosophy for running a business as well.

CO-FOUNDER

Akash is a Technopreneur with a demonstrated history of working in the AgriTech, FMCG, IT, eCommerce, Pharma & Healthcare industry. he is skilled in Service delivery, Project management, Creative Entrepreneurship, Startup Advisory/mentorship, Financial advisory, Fundraise with a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in Information Technology from College of Engineering & Technology, Bhubaneswar.

Over the years, he has been a prominent part of Mac Technology Services, Infosys Technologies, Unilever and also a Board Member at Impez LLC. He is now the Co-founder of Farmology, a tech enabled platform to assist farmers in their entire farming journey.

FOUNDER

Anup started his career as a hardcore sales professional in the FMCG industry. With 8 years of experience in sales and working in 4 different industries, he gained a very rich experience in handling businesses, clients accumen and marketing. He holds MBA in Marketing from Christ University, MBA in International Business from Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt and B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from MIET.