Resham Sutra enables rural livelihoods by providing affordable, solar-powered machines for silk yarn and fabric production

Seattle, Washington | July 29, 2021

Upaya Social Ventures is pleased to announce its latest investment in Resham Sutra, a New Delhi-based company that manufactures and distributes solar-powered silk spinning machines to rural women in Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and other Northeastern states. Founded by Kunal Vaid, along with his father Ratan Vaid, Resham Sutra, which translates to “silk thread,” is aimed at replacing labor-intensive silk yarn production methods with reeling machines to eliminate hard labor and double a reeler’s productivity and income. 

India is the largest consumer of silk in the world and has an abundance of raw material from Mulberry and Tassar cocoons, but the lack of mechanization hinders India’s sericulture industry. Most of India’s silk reelers, spinners, and weavers rely on antiquated methods that are labor-intensive, tedious, and cause long-term injury and disability. These jobs are viewed as “livelihoods of last resort” and relegated to the extreme poor. 

Resham Sutra aims to formalize the sericulture value chain and bring dignity to these jobs by providing skills training, market linkage, and more stability to extremely poor communities. The entrepreneurs’ commitment to rural development and job creation attracted an equity investment from Upaya.

“Upaya invests in companies that not only create jobs for the poor, but ensures that those jobs have dignity,” said Kate Cochran, CEO of Upaya. “We were impressed by the dignity conferred on Resham Sutra’s weavers through the specialized machines they use and the beauty of their work.”

Upaya’s investment will support the Resham Sutra’s expansion of its Rural Experience Centers, through which it will train a new generation of reelers and spinners, and give them the opportunity to lease and own these machines. The funding will also support the company’s new Farm-To-Retail initiative focused on sourcing raw materials through a network of smallholder farmers. 

"Upaya is excited about partnering with Resham Sutra in creating jobs and enhanced income for silk value -chain stakeholders,” said Upaya’s India Country Director, AB Chakravarthy. “Resham Sutra is well positioned to grow and expand with its blended approach of deploying upgraded technology in silk value chain and providing market linkage for the products.''

“Having Upaya as a partner will help to redouble our focus and serve many more people more effectively," said Kunal Vaid, Co-Founder & CEO of Resham Sutra.

Upaya is Resham Sutra's first institutional investor. The company has also secured a grant through Villgro and CEEW’s Powering Livelihoods initiative. With the current round of funding, the Rural Experience Center expansion and Farm-to-Retail Initiative are projected to create more than 1,500 dignified jobs by 2023.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Madlin D’silva
mdsilva@upayasv.org