Tag: Sanjay Shah

Sanjay Shah, Chief Operating Officer, Wadhwani Foundation
Business

On the occasion of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day 2021 Wadhwani Foundation urges aspiring women entrepreneurs to seize the opportunity

Nov 18, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Chief Operating Officer, #Sanjay Shah, #Wadhwani Foundation - India/SE Asia

Bengaluru: On the occasion of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, the global not-for-profit, Wadhwani Foundation, celebrates the indomitable spirit of women entrepreneurs by emphasizing the social and economic importance of more and more women realizing their potential by starting up new ventures by leveraging a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in India.

· A McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) report states that India could add $770 billion to its GDP by 2025 simply by advancing gender equality

· A Google and Bain & Company report concludes that 13.5 to 15.7 million women-owned enterprises make up only 20 percent of all the enterprises in the country

· An International Monetary Fund (IMF) research paper postulates that improving the gender imbalance in favour of woman entrepreneurs could lead to a gain of 6.8 percent in India’s GDP

Making a strong case to tap into the largely untapped entrepreneurial spirit of women, Sanjay Shah, Chief Operating Officer, Wadhwani Foundation – India/SE Asia, says, “Women entrepreneurs in India are breaking glass ceilings and creating waves across sectors. However, they are few and far between. Empowering and encouraging women entrepreneurship at scale will not only enhance their contribution to India’s GDP from the current 18% and fuel economic growth but also accelerate their socio-economic independence. Aspiring women entrepreneurs need to take inspiration from many role models around them and keep a few basic tenets in mind to give shape to their entrepreneurial dreams and follow their passion, like finding a mentor or business coach to navigate through the crucial initial period, actively networking in the right business forums and upskilling through sector-specific programs. Even If you don’t want to take the leap into entrepreneurship, you can still celebrate Women’s Entrepreneurship Day by showing support for local, regional and national women-owned businesses!”

Here are some tips for aspiring woman entrepreneurs to startup on the right footing:

1. Get access to the right mentor who can decisively provide purpose to the startup journey – from idea to execution.

2. Get access to the right networks that provide peer-to-peer learning, business-enhancing connects and experience-sharing.

3. Get a trusted partner who can keep a hawk’s eye on business operations to ensure against any slip-ups.

4. Invest in learning and upskilling: Learning the ropes of the trade, keeping abreast of current trends and best practices, and upskilling as per domain/sector requirements will go a long way in establishing strong business fundamentals.

5. Build a support system: Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey, which applies to both men and women. Therefore, co-operation and encouragement at both home and beyond can be critical for women to effectively manage their businesses.

It is time to fast-forward women entrepreneurship in India, and aspiring women entrepreneurs should seize the opportunity by leveraging the evolved inclusive environment and conducive business ecosystem.

Wadhwani Foundation
Business

Wadhwani Foundation and Frontier Markets announce a strategic partnership to empower up to 10,000 women of rural India

Nov 10, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Ajaita Shah, #Chief Operating Officer, #Founder and CEO, #Frontier Markets, #Sanjay Shah, #Wadhwani Foundation - India/SEA

Wadhwani Foundation and Wadhwani Catalyst Fund today announced a strategic partnership with Frontier Markets to empower and support up to 10,000 women in rural India over two and half years by helping them to earn income independently.

Referred to as ‘Saral Jeevan Sahelis’, these are local women from villages who will be sourced, recruited and skilled, and then provided an opportunity to earn a livelihood. Sahelis are an integral influencer in rural communities, especially their villages. So, by enhancing their income opportunities, the objective of the Wadhwani Foundation and Frontier Markets is to improve rural households’ overall quality and enable investments in their children’s future.

Rural women crave for sustainable livelihoods, but consistent opportunities for them are few and far. To fulfil their mission of empowering Sahelis, Frontier Markets to expand to new geographies (from the current 2 to 7 states), make a significant investment in their tech platform and add new Sahelis as they move to new geographies. The long-term objective is to catalyze the achievement of onboarding thousands of Sahelis in 5-6 years.

This funding is in sync with the mission of the Wadhwani Catalyst Fund of amplifying impact through catalytic funding aimed at large-scale job creation. This partnership endeavors to grow the income of Sahelis to Rs. 7,000-10,000/month so that they can lead an independent and dignified life. In the rural areas, this is a significant additional income for a family.

Speaking on the funding closure, Sanjay Shah, Chief Operating Officer, Wadhwani Foundation – India/SEA, said, “Wadhwani Foundation is excited to partner with Frontier Markets. From selling only clean energy and agri products in 2011, they have managed to add multiple categories, including consumer durables products and essential services, by leveraging their social commerce platform and by simply listening to the pulse of rural consumers. Frontier Markets is changing the way villages buy products and services, and the way business is done across the hinterland by building an army of rural women salesforce (or Sahelis), armed with smartphones and deep consumer insight. They are driving change, creating an impact while managing to make money and profits. We certainly look forward to leveraging the Wadhwani ecosystem to help them grow their network and touch more lives.”

Frontier Markets is a rural social commerce platform providing quality products in 3000+ villages through a network of ~10,000+ rural women entrepreneurs (Sahelis) who earn stable & growing incomes. Its product basket includes clean energy solutions, energy-efficient home appliances/mobile phones, agri-products, FMCG and digital financial services.

Ajaita Shah, Founder and CEO, Frontier Markets, said, “We are extremely excited about partnering with Wadhwani Foundation and the Wadhwani Catalyst Fund as they validate our mantra that investing in rural women is smart business and the key to driving SDG goals at scale. This partnership also becomes one of the first to showcase how blended capital can be leveraged to support social businesses and help drive accelerated scale.”

Through a Phygital Model, the ‘Sahelis’ understand customers and curate demand. The app collects customer data, showcases products, manages sales & inventory, while the ‘Saheli’ homes double up as stores/local touchpoints supported by branches of Frontier Markets, which serve as warehouses. It’s the first data-centric model leveraging insights to drive customized solutions for rural consumers.

Sanjay Shah, Chief Operating Officer, Wadhwani Foundation
Business

Wadhwani Foundation announces Sanjay Shah as its Chief Operating Officer for India and SE Asia

Sep 6, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Chief Operating Officer, #Sanjay Shah, #Wadhwani Foundation

Sanjay has over three decades of experience in founding and steering software product companies to the global market. He founded Zapty, Instavans Logistics, Skelta, Everest Software and Accel Computers, some of which were successfully acquired and his last stint was with iManage as its Managing Director for Asia responsible for business development of its solutions in Asia. With M.S. in Computer Science from Virginia Tech and a B.Tech in Aeronautical Engineering from IIT, Bombay, Sanjay sits on the board of Sasken Technologies and Instavans Logistics as an Independent Director, and on the advisory board of Avo Automation.

Expressing happiness on joining the Wadhwani Foundation, Sanjay Shah said, “My experience in building multiple technology startups, working with entrepreneurs and helping businesses to scale using technology has inspired me to embrace the mission of Wadhwani Foundation. Emerging economies today require massive job creation, which can be achieved through large-scale initiatives in entrepreneurship, innovation and skilling. All three are necessary as entrepreneurs and small businesses create brand new jobs, innovation helps drive job creation, and skilling provides the supply of industry-ready candidates to fulfill these new jobs In addition, if technology is used as a force to scale these initiatives massively, it can only accelerate the mission of the Foundation.