Sirohi supports rural artisans skilled in rope-weaving to produce and market upcycled furniture and home décor products

Seattle, Washington | January 10, 2023

Upaya Social Ventures (Upaya) today announced an investment in Sirohi Furniture Private Limited (Sirohi). The home decor brand creates sustainable jobs for artisans in rural Indian communities by manufacturing and marketing handmade home decor products, including furniture, boxes and bags.

Sirohi was started in 2019 under the Skilled Samaritan Foundation by Gauri Malik, an investment banker turned social entrepreneur. Gauri’s vision for the new venture was to support artisans in rural communities after witnessing the opportunity gap in rural communities, where people have immense talent but lack the means to showcase it.

““For several years, Upaya has had a commitment to a gender-balanced portfolio. We believe in women entrepreneurs like Gauri because we have seen that women leaders create opportunities for other women,” said Upaya CEO Kate Cochran. “That’s exactly what attracted us to Sirohi, and we’re excited to watch them grow.”

Traditionally, the craft sector in India has always been a supplier to existing global brands; Sirohi aims to pave the way for establishing an Indian brand in the world market. Sirohi’s focus since has been to create a range of home decor and furniture products that balance functionality and sustainability. Each product is made from weaving upcycled ropes made out of textile waste, plastic waste, or natural fibers, creating an environmental impact by utilizing low-value waste.

“We are excited by the prospect of Sirohi’s unique business model of creating home décor products from spent materials,” said Upaya’s India Country Director, AB Chakravarthy. “They have introduced modern design sensibilities while unleashing the innate talent of rural artisans of India to manufacture and export high-quality products. The company is a thriving example of the Indian Government’s vision of Make-in-India and a business with the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit.”

To date, Sirohi provides livelihoods for over 550 artisans, known for their rope-weaving craft skill, across six artisan clusters in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. Each cluster is led by a master artisan who trains and onboards crafts people in their community to work for Sirohi. About 90% of artisans are women from Muslim Orthodox communities who were previously discouraged from working and now are earning livelihoods for themselves and their families. The start-up’s vision is to create livelihood opportunities for marginalized artisans across India.

The investment from Upaya is Sirohi’s first institutional investment and the first commitment in a round of funding that will support offline and online marketing, team expansion, and building a B2C platform. As part of Upaya’s active investment portfolio, Sirohi will also receive support in impact measurement and management, and raising co-investment and follow-on capital.

“Sirohi aims to be a global brand for artisan-made well-designed products from India, and I could not be more excited about our collaboration with Upaya at this stage of our growth journey,” said Sirohi founder Gauri Malik. “We always wanted an investment partner who would understand our vision to create tangible impact in local communities, while providing us with strategic advice required for a fast paced tech start up in its early growth phase.”

This investment is Upaya’s 34th impact investment in India and one of 19 made from its first $1M ‘recycling philanthropy’ initiative. This pioneering model pools together foundation grants in a fund from which to draw investments in early-stage social enterprises. Financial returns from these investments are returned back to the original donor with a capped premium of up to 5%. This unique structure lets one donation make an impact over and over again, and opens up investment in “missing middle” companies to funders who typically cannot make smaller single investments.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Madlin D’silva
mdsilva@upayasv.org