Jaydeep Mandal

Aakar Social Ventures

Aakar Social Ventures is the outreach arm of Aakar Innovations, based in Navi Mumbai, focused on menstrual and reproductive health for women and girls. It trains rural women as 'Anandi Ben' village-level entrepreneurs who sell and distribute Aakar's compostable Anandi sanitary pads door-to-door, combining livelihood creation with last-mile hygiene access. The organization also runs school and community workshops and digital health tools in regional languages to build awareness around menstrual hygiene management.

Aakar Social Ventures reports the following, on its own site:

• 576,000+ individuals empowered through health, education and behavior-change programs