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FRONTIER INNOVATIONS FOUNDATION
NEW YORK, NY · EIN 461398335 · Form 990 · FY2024 · NTEE Q33 · International Affairs · Small ($100K-$1M) · frontierinnovations.org
revenue
$335K
expenses
$354K
net assets
$179K
employees
0
program ratio
95%
mission · from form 990

(SEE PART III STATEMENT 1)

profile · synthesized from sources

Frontier Innovations Foundation runs the She Leads Bharat initiative, which empowers rural women entrepreneurs in India through digital tools, financial inclusion, and climate resilience programs. The foundation partners with Frontier Markets to deliver services via a network of women-led agents called Sahelis, who provide banking, clean energy solutions, and agricultural support in underserved communities. Programs focus on economic empowerment as a driver of broader social change.

named programs · 3 · from sources

What they call their work

Meri Saheli App
AI-powered mobile platform that digitally onboards and trains women entrepreneurs, enabling access to commerce, financial services, and climate solutions while building credit histories through tracked transactions
She Leads Bharat Mahila Kisaan Initiative
Provides gender-sensitive climate insurance and climate-smart agriculture training to smallholder women farmers in India to enhance climate resilience and sustainable farming practices
She Leads Bharat: Udyam
Connects women micro-entrepreneurs in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh with banking and credit services through the Meri Saheli platform; trains them as Airtel Payments Bank business correspondents to deliver financial services in rural areas
activities · 4 groups

What they do

  • Women's Microenterprise and Livelihood Development 6 activities
    • Delivery of essential goods and services through women networks
      Facilitates over 100 million transactions and delivers 100 million essential solutions—including health, nutrition, and sanitary products—to 4.3 million rural households through a network of trained women entrepreneurs, generating $100 million in revenue.
    • Facilitation of financial inclusion and micro-entrepreneurship
      Launches programs such as She Leads Bharat: Udyam to connect women micro-entrepreneurs with banking and credit services, enrolling 15,000 women in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, with 10,000 trained as business correspondents for Airtel Payments Bank.
    • Partnerships with government and state agencies
      Partners with State Rural Livelihood Missions in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh to strengthen Self-Help Group infrastructure and deliver digital and financial literacy programs to rural women, integrating with state-level development initiatives.
    • Piloting blended finance models for women entrepreneurs
      Pilots a blended finance model in partnership with 360 ONE Foundation to provide zero-interest, zero-collateral loans to 2,000 women in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to expand their businesses, as part of efforts to improve access to capital for rural women entrepreneurs.
    • She Leads Bharat initiative implementation
      Implements the She Leads Bharat initiative to empower rural women in India as entrepreneurs and community leaders, with current operations across multiple states and a goal to engage, train, and support 1 million rural women by 2030. The initiative includes state-level chapters such as She Leads Andhra, aiming to empower 100,000 rural women entrepreneurs over three years.
    • Training and support of women entrepreneurs (Sahelis/Sakhelis)
      Trains and empowers rural women as Sakhelis to deliver essential goods and services, mentor other women, and build self-reliant livelihoods. Digitally onboarded and trained over 36,000 women across 5 Indian states via the AI-powered Meri Saheli App, with plans to scale to 100,000 women across all Indian states within two years.
  • Clean Cooking Solutions Implementation 1 activity
    • Distribution of solar and clean energy solutions
      Enables women entrepreneurs to distribute solar torches, lanterns, home lighting systems, and clean cookstoves to rural households, distributing over 4 million solar solutions and facilitating access to clean energy. These efforts have helped reduce indoor air pollution and enabled children to study at night.
  • Smallholder Agricultural Development 1 activity
    • Provision of climate-resilient agriculture support
      Provides climate-smart agriculture training and resilient inputs to smallholder women farmers, including digital training for 35,000 women and enabling over 1.5 million women farmers with climate-resilient inputs. The Mahila Kisaan Initiative protected 15,000 women farmers in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan during Phase I.
  • Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Initiatives 1 activity
    • Reduction of carbon emissions through clean energy interventions
      Has avoided 1.7 million tons of CO2 emissions through the distribution of solar energy products and promotion of climate-friendly technologies such as solar agri-equipment and energy-efficient appliances.
financials · form 990 · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$335K
Contributions & grants$335K100%
Program service revenue$00%
Investment income$00%
Other revenue$0
expenses
Total expenses$354K
Program expenses95%
Admin / overhead5%
Fundraising0%
Salaries & benefits$0
Grants paid out$166K
Largest expense lineProfessional Fees
balance sheet
Total assets$179K
Cash$178K
Investments$0
Liabilities$0
Net assets$179K
Liquid reserves6.0 mo
2 years on record · 2023–2024 · YoY revenue -76.7%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024

Who runs it

board members · 1
  • AJAITA SHAH — DIRECTOR
relationships · 35

Who they work with

  • 210+ solution partners Partner — Collaborates with over 210 solution partners to deliver services and products to last-mile communities through the Meri Saheli App.
  • 360 ONE Foundation Partner — Collaborated on a blended finance model to support first-time women borrowers with zero-interest, zero-collateral loans.
  • 360 ONE Foundation Partner — Piloted a blended finance model to provide zero-interest, zero-collateral loans to women entrepreneurs.
  • Airtel Payments Bank Partner — Partnered to train women as business correspondents and expand access to banking services in rural areas.
  • Airtel Payments Bank Partner — Partnered to train women as business correspondents to deliver banking services in underserved areas.
  • Awe Impact Partner — Benedicte Bjorn, co-founder of Awe Impact, supports FIF’s Nordic engagement and capital strategy.
  • Frontier Markets Partner — Delivery partner and implementation lead for the She Leads Bharat initiative, operating the Meri Saheli digital platform for rural assisted commerce.
  • Frontier Markets Partner — Delivery partner collaborating to enhance the Meri Saheli platform
  • Frontier Markets Partner — Implementation partner for the She Leads Bharat initiative, delivering programmes across rural India.
  • Frontier Markets Partner — Technology and delivery partner in the She Leads Bharat Initiative.
  • Global Parametrics Partner — Partner in Phase I of the Mahila Kisaan Initiative, providing support through the Natural Disaster Fund
  • Global Parametrics Partner — Supported Phase I of the She Leads Bharat Mahila Kisaan Initiative to provide climate insurance for women farmers.
  • Humanity Insured Partner — Partner in Phase I of the Mahila Kisaan Initiative
  • Humanity Insured Partner — Supported Phase I of the She Leads Bharat Mahila Kisaan Initiative to provide climate insurance for women farmers.
  • KADA Government — State agency in Andhra Pradesh supporting the She Leads Andhra chapter.
  • MEPMA Government — State agency in Andhra Pradesh supporting the She Leads Andhra chapter.
  • Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth Partner — Collaborated on the launch of She Leads Bharat: Udyam to connect women entrepreneurs with banking and credit services.
  • Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth Partner — Collaborated to launch She Leads Bharat: Udyam, connecting women entrepreneurs with banking and credit services.
  • MeitY Government — Central government agency supporting She Leads Bharat through digital and technological engagement.
  • Ministry of MSME Government — Central government ministry engaged with She Leads Bharat to support rural entrepreneurship.
  • Ministry of Rural Development Government — Central government ministry supporting the She Leads Bharat initiative.
  • Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Government — Central government ministry providing recognition and support for the She Leads Bharat initiative.
  • Ministry of Women and Child Development Government — Central government ministry engaged with She Leads Bharat to advance women’s economic empowerment.
  • NITI Aayog Government — Central government think tank engaged with She Leads Bharat as a model for inclusive growth.
  • Niiti Consulting Partner — Meena Vaidyanathan, Managing Director of Niiti Consulting, supports FIF’s strategic leadership development and corporate partnerships in India.
  • Rianta Capital Zurich Partner — Audrey Selian, Director of Artha Impact at Rianta Capital Zurich, advises FIF on investment strategy and capital mobilization.
  • Rockefeller Foundation Government — Peter Hall serves on the Urban Resilience Fund’s Resilience Committee on behalf of the Rockefeller Foundation and supports FIF’s climate resilience programming.
  • SERP Government — State agency in Andhra Pradesh supporting the She Leads Andhra chapter.
  • Saheli Network Network — Network of trained women entrepreneurs who deliver solutions and recycle funds through the program.
  • Saral Jeevan India Foundation Partner — Sister NGO and partner organization collaborating on the She Leads Bharat initiative.
+ 5 more
strategies · 4

How they approach the work

Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.

  • Co-Designed, Technology-Enabled Empowerment
    methodology: co_designed_tech_empowerment
    By co-creating AI-powered, multilingual mobile platforms with rural women entrepreneurs, we increase adoption and effectiveness of economic and distribution models because the technology is tailored to local needs, builds credit histories, and enables market linkages — turning digital access into financial inclusion and business growth.
  • Financial Inclusion via Mobile Credit Building
    methodology: mobile_credit_building
    By using mobile transaction data to build credit histories for rural women, we enable access to formal financing and banking because alternative credit scoring removes traditional barriers, creating a pipeline from informal entrepreneurship to formal economic participation.
  • Gender-Responsive Climate Resilience through Community Networks
    methodology: gender_responsive_climate_adaptation
    By combining digital innovation, community-led networks, and tailored insurance products, we improve climate adaptation among rural women farmers because trusted peer networks increase adoption and data-driven models enable responsive risk protection, scaling resilience where traditional systems fail.
  • Women-Led Entrepreneurship as Economic Catalyst
    methodology: women_led_entrepreneurship
    By training and supporting rural women as entrepreneurs (Sakhelis/Super Sahelis), we expand last-mile delivery and financial inclusion because women reinvest in their communities, build trust, and drive self-sustaining economic growth. This model shifts from aid dependency to agency-driven development, where initial catalytic funding leads to long-term self-sufficiency and reinvestment.