Investor Profile: Upaya Social Ventures

Upaya Social Ventures (upayasv.org) is a US non-profit impact investor and accelerator founded in 2011 by Sachi Shenoy. Registered in Seattle with most of its team based in Bengaluru, it invests exclusively in businesses that create safe, stable, inclusive work for people living in extreme poverty across India.

Thesis: dignified jobs

Upaya targets impact-first, early-stage businesses in waste management and circularity, artisan industries, agri-processing, rural manufacturing and other informal-sector enterprises that traditional capital overlooks. It deploys patient, risk-tolerant capital through equity, quasi-equity and convertible notes, alongside recoverable-grant pools — a "recycled philanthropy" model under which it reports roughly $3 of job-holder income for every $1 invested.

The numbers on its homepage: 126,308 dignified jobs created, 64 investments made and 153 businesses accelerated, with a goal of 300,000 dignified jobs by 2030. Reporting in The Telegraph puts its deployed capital at $1.58 million across 27 companies, supporting 31,410 jobs — 46% held by women — with average household income per job holder up 57%.

Portfolio and accelerator

Named portfolio companies include Tamul Plates (US $27,000 invested in 2015, exited at more than 2x to an Indian family office; 3,000+ rural workers), Regrip (tyre-waste SaaS), ScrapUncle (Delhi scrap and e-waste), ONganic Foods, Bastar se Bazaar Tak, Shoegaro Fashions and Hasiru Dala Innovations. Its Dignified Jobs Accelerator takes cohorts of 8–12 ventures through three week-long workshops ending in a pitch for investment; eligibility centres on for-profit, early-stage ventures with revenue or a proof of concept that create jobs for the poorest communities.

Leadership and backers

AB Chakravarthy and Shruti Goel serve as co-CEOs from 1 August 2024, succeeding Kate Cochran (CEO 2016–2024); Richard Wardell chairs the board. Funding partners named on its site include the Autodesk Foundation, Shell Foundation, Laudes Foundation, ANDE, Together Women Rise and the West Foundation.

Fund size

As a non-profit deploying recoverable grants and investment pools, its fund size is not publicly disclosed.

Upaya's funding partners reflect its hybrid philanthropy-investment model: the Autodesk Foundation, Shell Foundation, Laudes Foundation, ANDE, Together Women Rise, the West Foundation, the 3rd Creek Foundation, the Vibrant Village Foundation, the Chintu Gudiya Foundation, GenEM, Wilstar, Interhands and the Delta Fund are all named on its site. It has also partnered with the Biomimicry Institute on a textile-waste decomposition pilot in India.

The Tamul Plates story illustrates the model: US $27,000 invested in 2015 in a venture making sustainable tableware, exited at more than 2x to an Indian family office — with 3,000+ rural workers earning through the business. Founder Sachi Shenoy remains chief impact officer, with Bengaluru-based co-CEOs AB Chakravarthy and Shruti Goel running the firm since August 2024.