Investee Portfolio

Mantra To Good Nutrition And Enhanced Lives of Rural Dairy Farmers Milk Mantra Dairy Private Limited is an early stage dairy company that works across the dairy supply chain – from sourcing to processing to marketing. The company is building a strong sourcing network in Orissa, a region with significant access to dairy but few organised players. The company is committed to help improve the lives and businesses of the famers they work with and also to provide pure healthy milk to their customers. The Milk Mantra brand is being developed by a team with significant brand building experience and the company aims to be the leading milk brand in Eastern India. www.milkmantra.com

Building Sustainable Livelihoods Through Organised Horticultural Farming INI Farms Private Limited is focussed on creating India’s largest horticulture plantations focused on exports business. The business intends to leverage India’s vast agricultural opportunity with organised farming and supply chain management to maximize the percentage of exports quality, increase productivity, control pesticide residues and provide round-the-year products. The first phase under execution, is with 1200 acres of pomegranate plantations. InI Farms promoters have extensive credentials in horticulture production and trading business. They helped create India’s largest exporter of fresh fruits (Desai Fruits and Vegetable) over last four years. www.inifarms.com

Restoring Health To The Farm Land And Dignity To The Farming Community
Zameen Organic is a pioneering farmer-owned marketing company for fairtrade, organic and pesticide-free cotton. Zameen works with marginalised farming communities in rural India to improve livelihoods by increasing efficiencies, lowering input costs and raising incomes through certification. Farmers are the largest shareholders in Zameen and therefore play a big part in shaping the policies, as well as benefitting from shareholder dividends. Zameen is also a supply chain management company, seeking partnerships with likeminded companies to more evenly distribute profits along the value chain so that farmers get a ‘fairer’ slice of the pie. It works with the textile industry and fashion brands on special projects to help raise social and environmental standards across the supply chains, offering the customers high levels of transparency and traceability.  Aavishkaar invested in Zameen in 2008 as the sole investor. www.zameen.org

Quality Healthcare For Remote Locations
Vaatsalya is a healthcare service provider which offers quality affordable healthcare to the semi-urban and rural population through a chain of semi urban and rural hospitals. Aavishkaar is the founding investor in the company. Since its investment in 2006, Vaatsalya has grown to establish a network of 10 hospitals across Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and aims to establish 50 hospitals over next 3 years. Since Aavishkaar’s original investment in 2006, the company has also attracted successive rounds of equity from Seedfund and Oasis Finance to fuel its growth. http://www.vaatsalya.com/

High-quality, affordable, and accessible medical care
G.V. Meditech is a provider of high quality and affordable healthcare to patients in Uttar Pradesh and the surrounding areas. The company, which is based in Varanasi, has begun expansion into semi-urban and rural areas through the establishment of 25-55 bed secondary hospitals.  These hospitals provide high-quality and affordable medical, diagnostic and pharmaceutical services to patients who otherwise would need to travel several hours, and incur significant cost, for a similar level of care. Aavishkaar funded GV Meditech in March 2010. www.gvmeditech.com

Bringing Reliable And Affordable Traditional Medical Service To Common People
Swas Healthcare is India’s first chain of Naturopathy hospitals and clinics, initially launched in the the state of Gujarat.  Swas’s objective is to provide safe and affordable healthcare solution for chronic health problems such as kidney dysfunction, diabetes, hypertension, ssthma, GI tract problems, neuro muscular disorders and joint pains. Swas also provides preventive healthcare solutions for high risk groups with recurring pain, and individuals with family history of chronic ailments. Swas believes that Naturopathy is one of the oldest and time tested forms of treatment and it wants to take the benefits of Naturopathy to all the sections of Society. Aavishkaar invested in the company in 2010. www.swasheathcare.com

Timely Access To Medical Advice Through Mobile Phones mHealth Ventures India(MVI) is startup venture launching a medical advisory services for rural and semi urban regions starting with rural Maharashtra.MVI is developing a “call a doctor” service for the 40 million households in India’s Maharashtra and Hindi belt regions who have mobile phones but lack easily accessed, quality medical advice. These households span rural and urban areas, and all wealth strata, although nearly two‐thirds are in rural areas. The two poorest quintiles include 17 million rural households who regularly choose ineffective home remedies, postpone care, or seek out cheap nearby practitioners who are often unqualified ‘quacks’.

Safe, pure and affordable water for rural communities
Waterlife provides rural communities with potable drinking water by setting up village-level water purification plants in rural areas. The plants are customized based on the bacterial / chemical contamination of the local water source and seek to use the latest technologies to maximize health benefits while minimizing the environmental impact. After installation Waterlife operates and maintains the plants, selling the purified water to the village community at affordable rates. The company also works with local entrepreneurs to develop a delivery network to expand the geographic reach of each plant. Aavishkaar funded Waterlife in September 2009. www.waterlifeindia.com

Hygiene Redefined
Saraplast is the fastest growing portable toilets leasing company in the country and markets its services under the “Shramik” or “3S” brand. It tackles one of the biggest challenges in India – access to hygienic sanitation – by providing portable sanitation facilities along with cleaning, evacuation and waste disposal services. Based in Pune, its clients include some of the biggest real estate developers in the country, prominent tourism corporations and large event organizers. Saraplast offers its services in the cities of Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and the Union territory of Pondicherry and is presently focussed on public places and slum dwellings. Aavishkaar invested in Saraplast in 2009. http://www.3sindia.com/

Rural Ethos. Business Ethic.
B2R Technologies is a rural BPO business with its first operational centre in Uttarakhand.  B2R – (Business To Rural) – envisages setting up clusters of rural BPO service delivery centres in a hub-and-spoke arrangement to provide business support services to clients.  B2R aims to offer best-in-class service delivery capabilities to cater to the outsourcing needs of businesses at a relatively low cost.  The current focus is on domestic clients, with the possibility to expand intointernational markets at a future date.  B2R is playing a significant role in strengthening the rural backbone of India by bringing employment to the village rather than encouraging mass migration to cities. Aavishkaar was the sole Series A investor in B2R in 2010. www.business2rural.com

Creating A Disabled Friendly Virtual World
Net Systems Informatics (N-syst) is a leading Accessibility Consulting and Knowledge Management firm based in Mumbai, India. Founded in 2004, the company’s mission is to help their clients meet their accessibility goals, widen their target audience by including people with disabilities, and thereby increase market share and revenue.  The company works in the area of information technology, communication and electronic accessibility and clients include large corporations and government bodies. , Aavishkaar invested into the company in 2005. http://n-syst.com/

Building Transparency and Efficiency
Shree Kamdhenu Electronics Private Limited (SKEPL) is one of Aavishkaar’s first portfolio investments and caters to the dairy sector. SKEPL pioneered the automation of the inefficient manual milk collection process in milk cooperatives societies by introducing automation solutions, and, thereby eliminated several inefficiencies that plagued the dairy farmers. Today the company directly benefits around 800,000 farmers spread across 8 Indian states through the 2,000 milk cooperative societies it has automated. SKEPL’s intervention increases each dairy farmer’s income by INR 2,500 annually due to elimination of wastages, accurate measurements, and faster processing in the milk collection process. SKEPL is currently working on developing low cost automation solutions that would enable it to reach a wider number of cooperative societies. Subsequent to Aavishkaar’s original investment in 2003, SKEPL has raised its Series B round from Grassroot Business Fund in 2010. http://akashganga.in/

Taking Banking To Rural India
Vortex Engineering designs and manufactures low cost ATMs, aiming to deliver ATMs which operate efficiently in no-frills locations in remote regions, at a fraction of cost of a conventional ATMs . The ATM, which offers similar functionality to the industry standard, does not need air-conditioning, consumes the lowest power for its operation  , and is the most environment-friendly ATM (it functions only thru solar power). The ATM is biometric enabled to better secure transactions and prevent misuse. Vortex has received orders from several banks including State Bank of India.  They have also received numerous accolades, including being selected as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer 2011. Aavishkaar invested into the company in 2006 along with Venture East. Subsequently Vortex also raised equity funding from Oasis Finance. http://www.vortexindia.co.in/

Improving Access to Quality Education   is a Hyderabad based company dedicated to making learning less tedious and more enjoyable for children in age group of 6-15. Butterfly Edufields which has a current outreach of 30 schools intends to reach a student population of over 2.5 million through government and private schools over next 3 years. 80% of the outreach is planned with Government and affordable private schools. Butterfly Fields believes in learning by doing. The entire program comprises of various kinds of activities and experiences which are specifically designed to make the child understand the underlying concepts or principles and at the same time, enjoying it.

Empowering Rural Artisans
Rangsutra is a company owned by a thousand textile artisans from remote regions of Western Rajasthan. The company supports a widely dispersed network of crafts-artisans, taking their products to market through design & product development, production planning, financial assistance and sales & marketing. Aavishkaar invested into the company in 2007. Rangsutra has since blossomed into a profitable venture with an exceptional y-o-y growth rate of 80% and continues to expand its artisan as well as market base. http://www.rangsutra.com/

Empowerment Through Ownership
Desert Artisans Handicrafts Pvt. Ltd. (DAH) is a handicrafts production outsourcing company which aims to create an innovative model for a corporate intermediary that can aggregate rural artisans, while assuring a market that pays fair prices for traditional Indian craftsmanship. Aavishkaar invested into DAH Jaipur and DAH Bhuj – two of the six companies that split off from their parent entity (DAH) in 2007. Put together, the two companies are owned by over 2,000 artisans and have grown significantly in terms of artisan outreach, product design and sales volumes in the last three years.

Energy Solutions for the Poor
Servals Automation is a social enterprise whose affordable and sustainable cooking solutions for the masses emphasizes energy conservation, clean & green energy generation, and reduced indoor air pollution in India. Servals encourages rural innovations that contribute towards energy self-sufficiency. Its flagship products include a stove burner that saves up to 30% kerosene, an ‘any-fuel’ biomass stove and a vegetable oil stove. In recognition of its achievements, the company has received many awards including the ‘Sankalp’ forum award for innovations in Clean Energy, L-Ramp Award for Excellence in 2007, the “most energy efficient burner” by the Paraffin Safety Association of South Africa (PASASA). Subsequent to Aavishkaar’s original investment in 2002, Servals raised its Series B round from Grassroot Business Fund in 2010. http://servalsgroup.blogspot.com/

Share Microfin Ltd. (SML) is one of the top five MFIs in the country with an outreach to nearly three million clients across 19 states. It aims to grow its client base to 15 million members by 2012-13. Share is the first MFI in India to obtain a Non Banking Financial Company (Non Deposit) license and also the first Indian MFI to carry out a microfinance securitization transaction. Aavishkaar Goodwell invested into the company in 2007 along with Legatum Ventures Ltd.  http://www.sharemicrofin.com/

Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Ltd (BSFL) is a part of the Hyderabad based BASIX group. Its strategy is to promote a large number of sustainable livelihoods, the combination of financial inclusion services, agricultural and business development services and institutional development services. BSFL currently reaches out to over a million clients and targets to reach 10 million clients by 2014. Aavishkaar Goodwell invested in to the company in 2009. http://www.basixindia.com/

Equitas is a Chennai-based MFI that extends micro credit to people who are otherwise unable to access finance from the mainstream banking channels. It commenced business in December 2007 with the objective to make available finance at a reasonable cost and in a transparent manner to women who are engaged in micro enterprise activities. In the first year of operations, Equitas crossed 250,000 clients, which is a world record. Crisil has given Equitas the highest credit rating (mfR3) for a start up Micro Finance Company in India. Equitas currently operates in five states with an outreach of over a million clients and targets to reach six million customers over next three years. Aavishkaar Goodwell was the sole Series A investor in Equitas in early 2008. Since then, it has raised further equity from MicroVentures, IFIF, Sequoia and CLSA http://equitas.in/

Grameen Koota is a Karnataka based Non-Banking Finance Company micro finance institution which provides small loans to women via Joint Liability Groups to start income generating activities such as trading, animal husbandry, agricultural production, transportation, etc. Launched in 1999 as an NGO, Grameen Financial Services adapted the Grameen Bank’s group lending methodology of microfinance to the Indian setting and launched Grameen Koota. Since then, they have grown to reach nearly 0.5 million members with a loan portfolio of more than Rs. 350 crores. They were ranked #19 worldwide in the Top 50 MFIs in the World ranking (2007) by Forbes Magazine. Aavishkaar Goodwell invested into the company in 2008 post which GK raised further equity capital from Incofin and MicroVentures. http://www.gfspl.in/index.html

Utkarsh Microfinance Pvt. Ltd. is a new entrant in the microfinance sector.  a. It was launched in Sept 2010 in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh - India’s most populous state. The company aims to provide access to finance in this grossly under-served and challenging region where microfinance penetration is less than 4%. Starting from UP, Utkarsh aims to become a significant player serving customers across Northern and Central India over the next five years. Aavishkaar Goodwell funded Utkarsh soon after it began operations in December 2009 along with a co-investment from International Finance Corporation (IFC). http://utkarshmfi.com/

Suryoday Micro Finance Pvt Ltd (SMF) is a young professional MFI that commenced its micro-credit operations in Pune, Maharashtra in May 2009, shortly after receiving its NBFC license from the Reserve Bank of India. It is engaged in providing loans to women from Economically Weaker Sections, Below Poverty Line and the marginal poor who do not have access to traditional banking, with an objective to reduce poverty in its area of operations. Starting from Maharashtra, the MFI has also spread to other states such as Tamil Nadu. Since inception, they have grown rapidly, reaching out to more than 50,000 members in a short span of time.  Aavishkaar Goodwell invested into the company in 2009. http://suryodaymf.com/

Belstar Investment and Finance Private Limited is the microfinance delivery arm of the Hand in Hand (HIH) group, a public charitable trust focused on livelihood promotion. HIH acquired Belstar in 2008 to run its for-profit microfinance operations, which were started in 2004. Belstar is uniquely positioned to reach out to HIHs existing client base and have already reached out to more than 55,000 members. Belstar’s clients will further benefit from HIH’s continuous ‘credit plus’ initiatives, leading to lower client defaults and better retention. Aavishkaar Goodwell invested into the company in 2010 along with International Finance Corporation, Norwegian Microfinance, and Swedfund.