ABOUT US
We invest and enable digitally savvy rural women entrepreneurs to drive long-lasting social impact in their communities
Our Mission
Frontier Markets is a social commerce platform with a mission to create 'Saral Jeevan' or an 'Easy Life' for rural households by providing them local access to high quality, climate friendly, and gender inclusive products and services, including clean energy services, to last mile villages by investing in rural women entrepreneurs as our connector to rural communities.
Our Vision
To help 100 million rural consumers join the online market experience with a powerful salesforce of 1 MILLION digitally savvy women.
Our Values
We believe the only way to drive sustainable opportunities for all in the value chain is by amplifying the voice of the rural customer. Our socially conscious, market based approach runs on the following values:
Dignity
We treat everyone across the value chain with dignity and respect.
Inclusivity with a Gender Lens
We create opportunities and innovations that are inclusive of all participants in the rural value chain.
Sustainability
We ensure profit sharing with the entire value chain, driving long-term sustainability for all in the value chain.
Shared-Value
We build relationships to create synergistic networks from NGOs to Companies and ensure win-win coalitions.
Ajaita Shah, Founder
"At Frontier Markets, we believe rural India holds limitless potential, and women are the key to unlocking it. Rural customers don’t need convincing—they need access, trust, and the right connections. Women, as natural influencers and change-makers, are the bridge to transforming communities.
Today, we’ve transformed 18,000 women entrepreneurs to become Phygital store owners, bringing essential products and services—from seeds to laptops—within 15 minutes of rural households. Through our Meri Saheli platform, we bridge gaps in digital skills, healthcare, climate solutions, and access to finance, combining technology with human connection to truly understand and serve India’s last mile.
Our Sahelis inspire us daily with their resilience and ingenuity, proving that women are the future of rural innovation and entrepreneurship. Together with our partners, investors, and Sahelis, we’re not just building a marketplace—we’re driving a movement for a thriving Bharat led by women!
With gratitude and excitement for what’s ahead!"
Ajaita Shah
Founder & CEO, Frontier Markets
Milestones
Frontier Markets, headquartered in Jaipur, Rajasthan was founded in 2011 by Ajaita Shah to bridge markets between rural customers and solutions.
Since 2011, Frontier Markets has shifted its focus from being a solution provider in clean energy to an enabler of women led shared action and change through its assisted commerce platform
2011
2015
2018-19
2020-21
2021-23
2023-24
Founded
FM is founded in Rajasthan as a clean energy end-to-end solution provider
All Women Salesforce
2K Saheli’s joined FM as village representatives, proving our assisted social commerce model
Tech Platform & Multi-State Expansion
With rural women, co-designed
e-commerce platform, launched multi products & service across 3 new states, added 3K new women entrepreneurs in its network, Mobile- based data collection of 100k+ households to assess needs beyond clean energy
Doorstep Deliveries, FMCG & FinTech Launch
Women salesforce grows to 10K, doorstep delivery enabled at rural households, launched AI enabled assisted e-commerce B2C digital marketing features, launched healthcare, FMCG, cattle feed on subscription, co-developed CICO & EMI for products with leading Fintech partners
Delivery of Impact Services & Partnerships
Launched 1st Rural Access COVID Coalition to help 1 Mn rural families to manage COVID crises
Achieved World Economic Forum's Award for Best Last Mile Solution for COVID Response
Successfully closed 2 Govt. Partnerships for scale (UP & RJ);
Launched She-Leads Bharat in partnership with govt, NGOs, and social businesses to reach 1 Mn women businesses;
Expanded to 30K women network
Partnered with UPSRLM, DoIT
RJ, SSP MH
Launch of Digital Women Businesses
Partnership with Mastercard to launch She-Leads Bharat: Udyam to enable 100K women entrepreneurs to become digital stores
Launched of She-Leads Impact Fund to work across 5 states of India to unlock the potential of 1 Mn women entrepreneurs to service 100 Mn families using blended capital
Won of the Schwab Award for Social Entrepreneurship
Award Winning Innovation
Board of Directors
Ajaita Shah
Founder & CEO
Ajaita spent 20+ years in rural markets across microfinance and distribution to create a scalable and sustainable model for women economic empowerment. Expert in gender inclusive business models & technology. Recipient of Forbes 30 Under 30, Digital Women of the Year, Schwab Social Entrepreneur of Year Award among many others. Appointed UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) eTrade for Women Advocate for South Asia, 2024-2025. Speaker at UN Summit, on social entrepreneurship, digital inclusion, gender smart investing. Graduated from Tufts University, Board of Frontier Innovations Foundation and SHINE Invest.
Paula Mariwala
Partner, Seedfund
Paula serves as a Partner at Seedfund and has been its Executive Director since inception in 2006. Worked extensively and been actively involved with the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India to source, evaluate and mentor early stage start-up companies for the firm. Her primary focus is on education, healthcare and technology sectors and works closely with portfolio companies to take them to their next stage of growth and has led investments in education, healthcare, and mobile technology.
Audrey Selian
Nominee Director
Audrey Selian currently serves as Director of the Artha Initiative associated with Rianta Capital Zurich and is a team member/advisor to the Halloran Philanthropies. She has been active in the impact investing sector since 2006, and is founder of ArthaPlatform.com, an online impact investment platform that is designed to tackle the economics of due diligence around high impact, small scale SMEs/SGBs.
Sharda Balaji
Non-Executive Director
Sharda is the founder of Novo Juris Legal, an innovative new age law firm specializing in corporate, private equity, fund formation, fund investments, technology, cross-border transactions, IP, SEZ & real estate, mediation & settlements.
Executive Team
Ajaita Shah
Founder & CEO
20+ years in rural India through microfinance, rural distribution, marketing, and gender inclusive business models, and technology. Recipient of Forbes 30 Under 30, 40 under 40, Digital Women of the Year, Schwab Social Entrepreneur of Year Award among many others. Appointed UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) eTrade for Women Advocate for South Asia, 2024-2025.
Speaker at UN Summit, on social entrepreneurship, digital inclusion, gendersmart investing. Graduated from Tufts University, Board of Frontier Innovations Foundation and SHINE Invest.
Mehdi Rizvi
COO
25+ years of experience across Telecom, FMCG and Retail industries with expertise in Sales Distribution, Business Development, Strategic Planning, Procurement & New Product Launches.
Mehdi’s seasoned business acumen comes from his experience working with leading organizations in diverse sectors such as the Rajasthan State Cooperative, Parrys Confectionary Ltd., Dairy Den, Suamaria Group (Tanzania), and Tata Teleservices Ltd.
At Frontier Markets, Mehdi Heads Business, Operations, Distribution and drives revenue, profitability, and overall business success.
Amrit Mohan
Chief Marketing Officer
20 years of experience in rural analytics and consumer insights. Prior to joining Frontier Markets, Amrit spent a decade working with large scale marketing agencies.
His expertise ranges from communication strategy, user acquisition, stakeholder engagement, business analytics, trend analysis to brand development and more.
In his duties at Frontier Markets, Amrit manages the technology, data center and direct-to-consumer marketing and communications.
Gautam Malik
Chief Revenue Officer
Certified Six Sigma Black Belt with 28 years of experience in Business Operations , Sales & Distribution.
He has steered many new rollouts in Telecom & the Retail Industry. Prior to Frontier Markets, he has worked across diverse sectors at leading organizations such as Cipla Ltd , Essar , Aditya Birla Retail , Airtel and Tata Docomo. In his last corporate assignment he was Business head at Tata Docomo for UP Circle operations.
At Frontier Markets, Gautam drives revenue & growth through e-Commerce Operations, directs our 150+ field force and optimizes end to end supply chain strategy and execution.
Anurag Gangwar
Chief Development Officer
10+ years of experience in development sector, innovative finance and technology. He's previously worked at IFC World Bank, P&G and other notable organisations. He is a graduate from IIT Delhi and he completed his MBA from FMS Delhi.
At Frontier Markets, Anurag is leading strategic initiatives, fundraising and donor engagement by engaging leading philanthropic partners to scale our impact.
Akshita Ladda
Chief Program Officer
10+ years of experience in Project Management, Strategy, Performance Evaluation, Audit & Finance.
Previously worked at Dalberg Advisors, NITI Aayog, KPMG and other leading government and private sector organizations. Her experience spans multiple domains, including education, agriculture, innovative finance, public policy, and sustainable development. A Chartered Accountant and a Commerce graduate from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University, Akshita brings a strong analytical and strategic perspective to her work.
At Frontier Markets, she manages programs and partnerships to elevate rural women businesses and their communities.
Women Leadership Council
Meet the Leadership Team driving our rural women entrepreneur network with a strong gender lens
Rita Sharma
Saheli Engagement
Business Manager
Kritika Mudgal
Design & Graphics Head
Girija Kumawat
Data Centre Manager
Anshu Khandelwal
Compliance Head
Sushmita Ganguly
HR & Admin Manager