Ajaita Shah, an Indian entrepreneur, Social Activist and founder and CEO of Frontier Markets

Ajaita Shah is an Indian social activist and entrepreneur. She is the President of Frontier Innovations Foundation and the creator and CEO of Frontier Markets. Frontier Markets is a social commerce platform with a mission to provide rural households with ‘Saral Jeevan,’ or a ‘Easy Life,’ by bringing high-quality, environmentally friendly, and gender-inclusive products and services, including clean energy services, to last-mile villages by investing in rural women entrepreneurs as our link to rural communities.

They believe that elevating the voice of the rural customer is the best way to create long-term opportunities for everyone in the value chain.

Shah was born in an Indian community in New York City and graduated from Tufts University with a B.A. in International Relations. In 2006, she was a fellow of the American India Foundation. After graduating, she traveled to India to work in microfinance. Shah has previously worked in India for SKS Microfinance and Ujjivan Financial Services, as well as on a number of development initiatives in seven different states. She has also given World Bank advice on microfinance in South Asia and Latin America.

Blenders Pride Reserve Collection offers Entrepreneur’s 35U35 includes Ajaita Shah, who enables ambitious businesses to have an online presence. For the past four years, the company has grown at a rate of 200 percent year over year while remaining profitable.

They now operate in 2,000 villages across India, with 20 micro-distribution hubs managing 10,000 Sahelis who use our Meri Saheli App to provide over 350,000 households with access to products and services in agriculture, digital inclusion, home appliances, clean energy solutions, essential services, and finance. She was a member of the Social Performance Task Force’s Committee. She was a Cordes Fellow, Echoing Green, and Clinton Service Corps member.