Give A Job
Change A Life
Upaya Social Ventures creates dignified jobs for the poorest of the poor.
Upaya is breaking the vicious cycle of extreme poverty through job creation.
We have invested in 14 businesses that have created 10,559 jobs for the extreme poor and improved over 200,000 lives.
We start by selecting early-stage entrepreneurs to join our accelerator program.
We select up to three businesses from each accelerator for investments and ongoing consulting support.
The businesses we partner with have created thousands of dignified jobs for the poor in their communities.
Read the stories of the jobholders whose lives are being transformed through your contribution to Upaya.
Plate Maker & Trainer, Barpeta, Assam
Craftsman & Designer, Mirze Town, Assam
Paper Maker, Mirze Town, Assam
Dr. Kavitha Sairam has had a passion for science since a very young age. That’s why she’s on a mission to use science to address global farming problems, particularly the issues surrounding biofertilizers.
Vinay Kothari’s company, GO DESi, is an Indian confectionery brand that sells candies and treats inspired by regional flavors in Indian cuisine. All of GO DESi’s products are sourced, packaged and branded by the farmers who grow them.
Founded by Rakesh and Namita in 2014, GramShree’s mission is to establish an innovative marketing system to market the produce of poor, rural families in India.
The Taank Brothers aim to create self-sustaining employment opportunities by helping tribal farmers farm and sell Kadaknath poultry on a commercial level. Read more about their aptly named social enterprise, TaankBrothers Ventures. >>
On July 20, 2018, Kate Cochran and Sachi Shenoy, gave an update on Upaya's portfolio and jobholder metrics at the Upaya Breakfast Briefing, hosted at Global Washington. Watch a recording of the event which was streamed live on Facebook!
Aneel Kumar Ambavaram grew up in a Kadapa, a village in India known for its labor-intensive sweet orange cultivation. He left is 15-year corporate career to uplift sweet orange farmers, creating new sources of income for the poorest of the poor.
India is no longer the nation with the largest poor population, thanks to great strides across several key industries. But the work is far from over.
When Selvakumar Varadharajan, founder and Chief Executive of Laymen Agro Ventures settled in Bangalore to start a family, he and his wife soon began to long for the farm-fresh produce and dairy of their childhood that was not available in urban India. This prompted them to move back to Coimbatore to start a venture that would provide urban citizens with access to fresh agro-products while improving the livelihoods of small-holder farmers and rural youths in the process.
Upaya's second accelerator program, focused on the agribusiness industry in India, successfully launched with a workshop in Bangalore on June 1.
Looking at the glaring gaps in the organic farming ecosystem in West Bengal, Ekta Jaju started an organic company called ONganic in 2015 with a vision to create better livelihoods for farmers, health & wellness for consumers and a sustainable planet.