The prestigious Schwab Foundation Social Innovation Awards were presented to two Indian entrepreneurs, Shuchin Bajaj of Ujala Cygnus Hospitals and Ajaita Shah of Frontier Markets, a social commerce platform, for their ground-breaking projects that are improving communities and changing lives in India. According to the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, addressing global issues and enhancing the state of the world depends significantly on social entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs.
Frontier Markets, founded by Ajaita Shah, is a social commerce platform investing in rural women entrepreneurs and rural communities to provide high-quality, gender-inclusive, climate-friendly products and services to last-mile villages in India, combining high touch and tech. Established in 2011, the business has evolved into a high-tech digital platform, collaborating with rural women influencers in India and offering essential services to meet market demand.
Frontier Market, with over 60 years of experience in rural markets, aims to connect rural customers and companies, offering reliable access to products and services. This firm provides rural households with high-quality, climate-friendly, and gender-inclusive products and services, investing in rural women entrepreneurs and a powerful salesforce of 1 million digitally savvy women.
The Schwab Foundation Social Innovation Awards, part of the World Economic Forum, recognize social entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs for their contributions to global challenges. The 2024 awards honored 16 organizations that joined the global community of 477 change leaders and improved 891 million individuals. Organizations, for their sustainable models in business, social change, and environmental initiatives have been honored with the awards.
