Shweta Thakare

About Shweta Thakare

I am Shweta Thakare — a grassroots development practitioner and social entrepreneur working at the intersection of agriculture, gender equity, and technology. As the Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of GramHeet, I have spent the last several years building a more inclusive, transparent, and sustainable agricultural ecosystem that places smallholder farmers, especially women, at the center of value creation. Growing up in the heart of rural Maharashtra, I witnessed firsthand the structural injustices and vulnerabilities that farmers face — from post-harvest losses to exploitative market practices. These early experiences shaped my purpose-driven career, where I have focused on creating community-led, tech-enabled solutions that strengthen livelihoods, ensure fair prices, and promote sustainable farming practices. At GramHeet, we have directly worked with farmers, including over 22,600 women, across three Indian states. By combining digital tools with grassroots systems, we have increased farmer incomes by up to 30–40%, minimized grain losses through decentralized storage innovations, and enabled access to fair markets and post-harvest credit. One of our flagship initiatives — a digital post-harvest credit solution — facilitated over ₹90 crore (USD 11 million) in credit access for farmers during the pandemic. My entrepreneurial journey began with the Kastkar Foundation, which I founded in 2010 to empower smallholder farmers in Yavatmal. Through Kastkar, we mobilized farmers, launched SMS helplines, organized awareness campaigns in 300 villages, and built direct market linkages for thousands of producers — offering early glimpses into what would later become Awards & Recognition • Forbes Asia – 100 to Watch (2022) • Cisco Global Problem Solver Award (2021) • Baba Amte Manavata Purskar, Zee Yuva Baliraja Sanman, IIT-H Promising Entrepreneur Award • Sharad Joshi Yodha Shetkari Memorial Award, Change Maker Award by IIM Nagpur Fellowships & Accelerators • WISE Fellow (Action for India) • Pusa Krishi Fellow (Govt. of India) • Westerwelle Young Founder • Lead Tribe (Blume Ventures) • MIT D-Lab & Upaya Accelerator • CAUX Scholar (Asia Plateau) • 91Springboard Level Up Accelerator

Experience

1. Co-founder

   Gramheet

   Aug 2020 — Present · Yavatmal, IN

Education

• Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad

  MA in Development Studies, Research and Development Management

• The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

  Master of Public Policy