An entrepreneur's mobile tech brings buying power to rural India
Akanksha Hazari鈥檚 road to becoming one of India鈥檚 most promising tech entrepreneurs was an unconventional one.
After graduating from Princeton University in 2005, she dreamed of climbing the diplomatic ranks and worked as a project manager for the Aspen Institute, attempting to end the long-standing by creating joint business ventures in hopes they would facilitate peace. At the time, Hazari believed she鈥檇 spend her career in the policy world鈥攂ut life had other plans for her.
In 2009, she volunteered with , an organization that uses business solutions to fight poverty. While serving as a consultant in several rural villages in India, she noticed that residents didn鈥檛 have access to basic services such as 鈥�. In fact, upwards of of Indian households at the bottom of the economic ladder own a mobile phone.
She asked herself, 鈥淲hy can we put a mobile phone in everybody鈥檚 hand, but we are not delivering electricity or water or education or health care, or any of these things that are far more important?鈥� Hazari, now 33, tells TakePart.
The experience led her to found , a data company that harnesses the power of mobile technology to help Indians earn rewards for in-network shopping (think basic necessities such as food and household goods) that can be traded for other vital things, such as water filters or school tuition fee support.
The idea has earned Hazari a nomination this month for the Vital Voices Global Leadership Award, which honors and invests in women leaders who undertake daring work.聽Hazari and her team also won the聽聽and $1 million in seed money to get the company off the ground. In the three years m.Paani has been on the market, the company has been able to connect India鈥檚 low-income consumers to the digital economy.
For Hazani, choosing to return to her country to help underserved communities was motivated by one simple desire: to even the playing field.
鈥淚n many countries, particularly in India, hard work does not equal results, and there鈥檚 something fundamentally wrong with that system,鈥� she explains.
Through m.Paani, Hazari hopes to use what works鈥攎obile technology鈥攖o solve what isn鈥檛 working, while in turn empowering both consumers and local business owners to 鈥渁chieve aspirations, bridge access to basic services, and enhance overall quality of life.鈥�
While m.Paani has earned Hazari accolades from both the tech and business sectors, being recognized for her work isn鈥檛 as important to her as helping others.
鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 very important that I contribute to the world that creates equal access to opportunity,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nyone who works hard, the system should be set up in a way that they can be successful and see the rewards of that hard work.鈥�
鈥� Britni Danielle is a regular contributor to TakePart. She writes on a variety of subjects for Clutch, Ebony, Jet, and others.
鈥� at , a leading source of socially relevant news, features, opinion, entertainment, and information 鈥� all focused on the issues that shape our lives.
