Rural-tech startup Hesa announced today that it will onboard more than 1.5 lakh microlevel entrepreneurs by the end of 2022. With this latest move, Hesa will empower entrepreneurs across rural parts of India such as the states of Karnataka , Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and plans to grow into five additional states by the end of this year, it said in a press statement.
What does the startup do?
Expanding its network of microlevel entrepreneurs (Hesaathi), the startup focuses on offering a range of products and services in order to solve the challenges of accessibility, availability and buying and selling in remote rural locations. Identifying the right talent on the ground, the field officer onboards Hesaathi who are then trained to use the platform. After the completion of the training, Hesaathis are awarded with a certificate and then enrolled on the platform.
Established in 2020, Hesa is a technology-enabled rural commerce platform empowering livelihood in rural areas, access to quality products and services. With currently a total of 30000+ microlevel entrepreneurs (Hesaathi), the startup continues to bolster its rural network across India. Hesa claims to provide the micro entrepreneurs to settle with dignified work in local villages allowing them to make Rs 8000 to Rs 12000 income monthly.
What do onboarded microentrepreneurs do?
Hesaathis onboarded at Hesa will be incharge of the supply chain at a local level, facilitating village level mapping, surveys, campaigns and promotions for the company's brand partners. Hesaathis also help rural consumers with everyday transactions on the platform like utility bill payments, buying and selling of products across sectors and more.
The rural customer visits Hesaathi in their village for multiple needs in a single visit that also fulfils the demand of social distancing in current times, avoiding long commutes in shared vehicles or standing in longer queues. Hesaathis are also able to generate income through commission on every transaction they make on the platform. The startup's business model thereby provides solutions at both ends- Connecting businesses to rural India and enabling scalable solutions for rural households, helping them with progressive livelihoods.
Team expansion plans
On the team expansion plans, Founder & CEO, Vamsi Udayagiri said, “As a technology-enabled platform we are empowering livelihood in rural areas, providing access to quality products and services. Our endeavour is to bridge the gap between rural and urban India by leveraging technology and the workforce.”
