Upaya Social Ventures

Choosing the right route

• Investment: for early-stage, for-profit companies creating jobs for people in extreme poverty. Use the 'Apply for investment' button on the investments page.
• Accelerator: for early-stage social businesses in India creating dignified jobs. The intake is not open, so use 'Introduce your business' to register interest.
• ClimaFii Alliance: for mid-growth businesses in India. Share details for the next cohort through the linked form.
• Textile waste facility: no open intake. Write to taf@upayasv.org about collaboration, including partnerships, investments or knowledge-sharing.
• Dignified Jobs Collaborative: not a funding route. Write to djc@upayasv.org to become a thought partner, funder, data contributor or amplifier.

How applications work

• The investment form is linked from the investments page. No deadline is stated.
• The accelerator asks visitors to introduce their business and to subscribe. Subscribers are told first when applications for future cohorts open.
• The ClimaFii page does not say whether a cohort is open.

How selection works

• Upaya may select up to three businesses from the 2024 accelerator cohort for investment.
• The 2025 accelerator has a virtual first level for 60 businesses and a six-month second level for 10.

Contact

• General enquiries: hello@upayasv.org
• Accelerator enquiries: cohort@upayasv.org

Upaya Social Ventures is a nonprofit that invests in early-stage, for-profit companies that create jobs for people living in extreme poverty, in India. It was founded in 2011, and its India office is in Bangalore, Karnataka. Alongside its investments, it runs an accelerator, a facility for textile waste enterprises, a cohort in the ClimaFii Alliance and a community of practice on job quality.

Who it invests in

Upaya focuses on what it calls the missing middle: businesses too large for microfinance and too small for traditional bank financing. Its investments page describes them as mission-aligned, early-stage, for-profit companies that create jobs for people living in extreme poverty. Upaya says it is often the first institutional investor in these businesses, and that it gives hands-on advisory support alongside its funding.

Its pages describe its money in two ways. The investments page says seed funding, and the approach page says loans made from a pool of recoverable grants. The site does not say which applies to a given business, or whether equity is taken.

Programmes

Catalytic Investments is Upaya's direct investment work. The Dignified Jobs Accelerator runs in cohorts for early-stage social businesses. The Textile Waste Management Technical Assistance Facility supports sanitation worker-first enterprises. The ClimaFii Alliance is a five-year initiative anchored by Shell Foundation with Accion, in which Upaya is the India partner. The Dignified Jobs Collaborative is a community of practice, and it is not a funding programme.

Accelerator cohorts

The accelerator's two listed cohorts each focused on one sector and each had partners. The 2024 cohort covered the allied sectors of agriculture, ran for six months, and worked with Yunus Social Business Fund Bengaluru. Upaya may select up to three businesses from it for investment. The 2025 Circular Innovation cohort covered plastics and textile and fashion waste management, ran for nine months, and worked with Global Business Inroads and rePurpose Global.

The 2025 cohort ran in two levels. Level 1 is a three-month virtual programme for 60 businesses. Level 2 is a six-month, hands-on programme for 10 businesses. Funding is not part of the accelerator.

ClimaFii Alliance

ClimaFii is a five-year initiative anchored by Shell Foundation in partnership with Accion, with co-funding from UK aid. Upaya joins as the India partner, and BFA Global joins as the Sub-Saharan Africa partner. Its India cohorts include a no-interest loan, and every selected business receives its funding through that loan. The alliance is for mid-growth stage businesses registered and operating in India, with a potential to reach 3,000 to 5,000 micro-entrepreneurs. Its pages list companies in the 2025 and 2026 India cohorts.

Scale

Upaya's homepage gives 153 businesses accelerated and 64 investments made. Both are its own counts, and the site does not define them. Its homepage and careers page give 126,308 dignified jobs created by portfolio companies since 2011. Other pages on the site give different totals for the same measure, and the site does not say which is current.

On gender, its impact page says 41% of jobholders are women. Its gender page says nearly half of the jobholders at its portfolio partners are women. The two figures do not match.

Who can apply

Each programme sets its own eligibility. The Dignified Jobs Accelerator takes early-stage businesses in India that create dignified jobs for people in extreme poverty, and it strongly encourages women-led businesses to apply. Catalytic Investments backs mission-aligned, early-stage, for-profit companies that create jobs for people living in extreme poverty. The ClimaFii Alliance takes mid-growth stage businesses registered and operating in India. The Dignified Jobs Collaborative has no eligibility test. It is a community that invites thought partners, funders, data contributors and amplifiers.

Locations

The site lists an India office on Sri Krishna Temple Road in Indiranagar, Bangalore, and a second office in the United States. It describes itself as a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which is a United States designation.