Resham Sutra, a Delhi-based agritech startup, creates solar-powered energy-based equipment that help rural silk weavers, ladies, and their families improve their productivity, increase their salary, and live better lives.

Resham Sutra is on a mission to transform the lives of silk weavers for the better

Kunal Vaid opted to join his privately-owned Needlepointe Textile Products Pvt. Ltd. in Delhi after completing his MBA at Management Development Institute, Gurugram. Kunal spent over ten years with Needlepointe, which had teamed together with the Jharkhand government to present the world’s first natural silk goods from the state.

Kunal planned to visit the weaver networks in Jharkhand in 2011 to better understand the creative cycle’s obstacles. During his outing, he was exposed to the excruciating agony and drudgery that provincial women endured in the production of Tussar silk yarn.

He observed women who used the ‘thigh reeling’ technique and, as a result, had wounds all over their bodies, as well as spinal discomfort and joint pain. As a result of their work, they were also socially stared down. To assist these regional ladies, break free from the path of thigh staggering, Kunal opted to deploy cutting-edge technology.

After considering that possibility, he began working on a machine that would provide these women with more utility, personal happiness, and freedom from the monotonous production procedure. After considering that possibility, he began working on a machine that would provide these women with more utility, personal happiness, and freedom from the monotonous assembly procedure.

Development with a care for future.

A large portion of Resham Sutra’s machines are powered by solar energy, which constantly improves the working conditions and results in a greater wage for more than 10,000 silk workers in India.

Resham Sutra has only sold seven simple devices thus far. “We need to demonstrate that all-around rural progress is monetarily and beneficially achievable through advancements in plans of action, innovation, and marketing,” Kunal adds.

The company assists vintage silk yarn manufacturers and texture weavers in introducing these machines, which increases their salary and reduces physical and mental stress. Clients and receivers, according to Kunal, are shown the benefits of solar-based energy for day-to-day life applications so they may use it for things like lighting and cooking.

“On average, Resham Sutra’s conveyance devices reduce ozone-harming material discharges by roughly 6,000 tones each year,” he claims.

Resham Sutra sells their equipment through a network of on-the-ground field representatives who also handle sales and maintenance. In various places, the project collaborates with various NGOs, government institutions, and local businesspeople.

Resham Sutra has also established a Rural Experience Centers (RECs) in important provincial clusters, which provide clients with entire purchasing support, including item exhibitions, trials, financing assistance, and after-deals preparation and specialist aid. In reality, RECs assist makers in towns by increasing the value of their yarn and texture throughout their networks by applying locally available unprocessed substance, as well as assisting with the marketing and sales of the goods.

Generating employment

Resham Sutra focuses its activities in the country’s most impoverished areas. These activities mostly include silk cover rearing with tribals in Jharkhand’s backwoods and other states, silk yarn spinning and reeling with provincial women in Jharkhand, Odisha, and Chattisgarh, and handloom weaving with traditional hand weavers in India’s eastern and northeastern regions.

In addition, the business is seeking the establishment of a mixed-use commercial area, item confirmations, improved plan inputs, and the sponsorship of well-known brands. This enormous number of variables coming together will help Resham Sutra’s associate producers get more market access. Resham Sutra, which has a team of 20 people at its core, helps with the establishment of incorporated ranch-to-retail esteem chains and the conglomeration of country makers to dispatch maker-owned organizations, which results in a higher portion of item acknowledgment for provincial makers and small business visionaries.

“Their recipients become self-employed and have a regular source of controllable income thanks to Resham Sutra’s guidance. This is in contrast to the grantees’ previous circumstance, in which they were, in the best case scenario, day-to-day breadwinners with sporadic and uncertain jobs” Kunal clarifies the situation.

Creating a difference

Resham Sutra has been awarded the prestigious Ashden Award (UK) for “driving rustic organisations” as well as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ ISHOW grant. The National Startup Mission, Government of India, named it one of the “Best 10 new firms in Agri-Tech” in 2020. The firm claims to have grown at a rate of 50-100 percent every year since its inception. Resham Sutra is expected to fill quickly as more fresh drives arrive at breakeven points.

Resham Sutra just received its first institutional funding from Upaya Social Ventures for an undisclosed amount. Villgro and CEEW’s Powering Livelihoods campaign also recognized it with an award.