Rural Tech Startup Hesa receives INR 450K from NABARD to upskill Rural Women

By: WE Staff | Wednesday, 6 October 2021

Hesa, a rural tech startup based in Telangana receives a fund of Rs 450K from NABARD in order to upskill 100 rural women promoting Self Help Groups (SHGs) through capacity building in Jaipur, Odisha. 

The funds will be used to increase women's participation at work with digital and financial awareness.

The two-month-long programme of the startup aims to empower women in the community with skill development and income enhancement.

Hesa was established in 2020, it is a social, digital, and physically integrated platform that empowers livelihood in rural areas and enables access to quality products and services.

The startup uses the "One District One Product" (ODOP) model which aims to make a product-specific traditional industrial hub. The startup's partnership with NABARD will benefit from scale procurement of inputs, availing standard services, and marketing of products.

“The joint initiative will empower SHG's women, with entrepreneurial opportunities and further boost institutionalized credit support leading to prosperity for rural women in Odisha. With market access creation and enhancing end-to-end infrastructure supply chain, we look forward to the overall development of the rural community,” said Vamsi Udayagiri Co-Founder and CEO Hesa. 

The partnership with NABARD, active women participation from SHG, and skill training aims to address the challenges at the grassroot level such as lack of resources, access to modern technology, and inadequate quality in the food processing industry.

Creating this kind of entrepreneurial opportunity for women in rural areas will improve end-to-end agriculture infrastructure and organize the food processing industry. 

The project will also provide credit facilitation, easy loan access, and financial independence to women.