In Conversation with Akshay Soni

“To build an ecosystem for women entrepreneurs, we need more and more successful women to take up the cudgels and help other women rise, ” says Akshay Soni, Thought Partner, Angel Investor, and Advisory Board Member with 20+ years of evaluating and capacitating management to scale ops in the corporate and development sector.

Currently, he is the Executive Director of Saamuhika Shakti at The/Nudge Institute, working to improve the quality of informal waste pickers and their families in Bengaluru.

The Professional Journey 

After graduating from B- School, Akshay joined Unit Trust of India as a Funds Manager. He shifted to Morgan Stanley and was engaged in Equity research for 17 years. 

“It was an interesting experience. I helped domestic fund managers and foreign institutions make financial investment decisions,” he says.

He extensively covered sectors from construction, real estate, hotels, shipping capital goods, sports, roads, railways, defense, airways, etc.

“Moving sectors and learning new stuff was a ton of fun,” he says.

He quit the corporate sector and shifted to the development sector in 2017.

“The move came out of curiosity to explore the development sector as it fascinated me,” he explains.

He joined the Nudge to design and run the first nonprofit accelerator in the country.

“It has been a great experience walking for a small part of the journey of smart and talented people who are deeply passionate about the problems they are solving,” he adds.

Akshay ran 3 cohorts of the Accelerator at the Nudge Centre for Social Innovation(CSI)

“Giving back was never the inspiration to join, but it has become my motivation to stick,” he adds.

Akshay joined Saamuhika Shakti in April 2022.

“Nudge has been a great experience in terms of movement internally, too. I was looking for a new challenge and got this opportunity,” he says.

The Nudge Experience 

The CSI works towards nudging and nurturing India’s top talent to work on India’s developmental problems, focusing on sustainable livelihoods.

Startups less than 3 years old and in the pre-MVP stage are eligible for the Incubator program, and the Accelerator program is for startups over 3 years old.

It provides 3 pillars of support to these nonprofits:

1. Grants

15 lakhs in the Incubator program and 50 lakhs to 2 crores in the accelerator program over 2 years.

2. Connections

“Connects are important because nonprofits need funding regularly, ” Soni explains.

3. Capacitation by expert mentors.

“The fortnightly calls by mentors help the nonprofits break the barriers to scale,” says Akshay.

Saamuhika Shakti

Saamuhika Shakti is the largest collective impact initiative in India. Seven implementing organizations have joined forces to enable waste pickers in Bengaluru to have greater agency to lead secure and dignified lives with a specific focus on gender and equity. The project is initiated and supported by the H&M Foundation, and The/Nudge Institute serves as the backbone.

“We are working with about 25000 informal waste pickers who are the lowest of low on the economic scale,” he says.

Saamuhika Shakti follows the ‘Collective Impact’ methodology, which brings people together in a structured way to achieve social change equitably. 

“If you have multiple interventions into a single household at one time, the likelihood of lifting them from their current situation is significantly higher,” he explains.

The 7 partners and their work is as follows:

BBC Media Action: Aims to bring changes in perceptions about waste picking and waste pickers.

CARE India: Works to provide waste pickers with the skills they need to pursue alternative livelihoods if they so desire.

Hasiru Dala: Works to link the waste pickers to Government schemes, address family violence and substance abuse, and redesign workplace equipment for safer workspaces.

Save the Children: Focusses on access to quality primary education for less privileged children aged 3 to 18.

Sambhav Foundation: Aims to improve the earning potential of waste pickers by opening up alternative livelihood opportunities to them and their families.

Social Alpha: Aims to identify technology and innovations that accelerate waste management and processing in India and build income stability for informal waste pickers.

WaterAid: Focuses on providing access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation. 

“It has been a great experience learning about the working of established and successful local and international organizations that are so different from each other,” he says.

Dos and Dont’s for entrepreneurs 

Akshay believes that entrepreneurship is a lonely and challenging journey. He advises entrepreneurs to build a support system for themselves.

“Have people in your life to share your ideas and personal and professional challenges,” he says.

He points out that a founder needs to have multitasking abilities and be willing to experiment and pivot according to the situation and market.

He also asserts that fundraising is a founder’s job. The investor looks at the confidence, understanding, and expertise of the founder.

“At the end of the day, investors are looking for their exit multiples,” he adds.

Need for women entrepreneurship

“If we leave 50% of the world behind, the world can not move forward,” he says.

Akshay believes that women are no less than men, and according to data women-founded businesses delivered twice the ROI over 5 years compared to male founders.

It is thus ironic that women founders get less funding. The reason is the lack of confidence in women, irrespective of whether the investor is a male or female.

“Women do not need to ask for special privileges. All they require is a level playing field,” he adds.

He asserts that although India has seen a rise in self-made women billionaires, there is a lack of women supporting their tribe. 

“Once you reach a certain level, remember to give back to the women’s community and help them,” he urges.

Message to women entrepreneurs 

“You are pathbreakers, and your journey is going to be tough, but remember that every success makes it easier for the future generations,” is his message to women.

Association with STEP

Akshay discovered STEP’s work on LinkedIn and so started his association with STEP. It was part of the Nudge accelerator, supported by Facebook. His involvement with STEP in the early days was intense and quite meaningful.

He feels that STEP has constantly brought improvements into its program and is moving it in the right direction.

Heappreciates the way STEP brought a sense of community into its cohorts.

“I took back some learnings from STEP and implemented them in our program,” he says.

Akshay, the person

Akshay describes himself as an introvert who is always seeking answers and evolving. 

His motivation to get out of bed is a warm hug from his daughter. Soni loves holidaying with his family.

His definition of success is whatever gives him happiness.

A quote that is the Mantra of his life is: “This too shall pass.”