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Tag: REVIVE

5 post-COVID trends from Indian entrepreneurs

India’s MSME sector contributes to nearly one-third of its GDP. However, the sector is particularly vulnerable to crises like the COVID-19 pandemic because they typically have fewer resources than large businesses.

The World Economic Forum conducted a study with 107 Indian entrepreneurs to understand how they have navigated the pandemic and found five prominent trends in their businesses.

Among these trends is a significant rise in social entrepreneurship in India and an emergence of support structures for small businesses. Samhita-CGF’s REVIVE Alliance is one such facility that is utilising blended and grant-based financing models to support informal sector entrepreneurs during the pandemic.

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Can we distribute the burden of recovery from the pandemic more equitably?

As India and the world prepare for any successive waves of COVID-19, many have still not recovered from the economic impact of the previous ones.

Moving forward, we should keep the needs and experiences of the most vulnerable at the center of our approach. While many have shown and continue to show tremendous self-reliance, there is a crucial need to reduce the burden of recovery on individuals.

This article details policy recommendations to ensure a more resilient future for India’s most vulnerable communities. It follows three business owners in India whose livelihoods have been crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic. All of them are participants of the our REVIVE initiative.

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Reviving India

Just as India was recovering from the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the second and more vicious wave pushed many to the brink of livelihood loss. As news of the health crisis takes precedence, the economic ravages of the pandemic and its impact on livelihoods has been less documented and discussed. The devastating effects of the pandemic have had compounding negative effects on women

Using Blended Finance to sustain informal workers during Covid-19

According to the International Labour Organization, more than 400 million informal sector workers in India are at risk of falling into severe poverty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that informal workers have no health, social, or legal protections to fall back on. Without access to formal financing, their ability to survive serious economic shocks is handicapped.

This is the challenge that the REVIVE Alliance aims to address at its core. By bringing together industry leaders and philanthropic capital, REVIVE provides zero cost Returnable Grants and skill training to help India’s workers bounce back from the most severe economic crisis of the 21st century. 

To know more about how REVIVE and it’s parters are helping families and communities build sustainable livelihoods, read this article by our co-funder USAID. 

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Join us in REVIVING India

The most vital factor to contain the destruction created by Covid-19 is to empower the ones dispossessed and at risk. To restore the livelihoods lost during the pandemic, we have partnered with USAID, MSDF and Omidyar Network India to launch a $6.85 million blended finance facility called REVIVE.

REVIVE will provide accessible and affordable capital in the form of grants, returnable grants and loans to previously employed or self-employed workers and at-risk nano and micro enterprises to either restart and sustain their work or find alternative business opportunities.

With REVIVE we are expecting to support 100,000 workers and enterprises with a preference given to youth and women.

I’m glad to inform you that REVIVE has already received support from corporates such as Arvind Limited, Godrej Consumer Products Limited and foundation like Brihati Foundation powered by Claris.

I would like to invite you to be a part of our goal to bring people back to a road to recovery and reignite the economy.

Better Normal – Not just a New Normal

COVID-19 and subsequent lockdowns brought on a convergence of crises across health, livelihoods, education and social justice. 

Millions of people have been pushed back below the poverty line. The impact on our unskilled and semi-skilled workers, and our nano/micro entrepreneurs has been devastating. Healthcare workers and sanitation workers continue to be at the forefront of the COVID-19 response, with little support to ensure their wellbeing and protection. 

The development sector faced its own challenges; funding to the social sector reduced substantially in 2020 and there remains high competition for a small pool of funds. 

COVID-19 didn