Launched in June 2020 by a team of three co-founders and directors, Paritosh Srivastava, Captain Ritu Dubey and Shaurya Srivastava; Upscale.Work is an initiative of three professionals, who come with diverse experiences in leadership roles at India’s top incubators, accelerators, government and venture capital (VC) funds. The brand was born when two professionals and an entrepreneur, who spent their professional lives in Tier-1 cities of Mumbai, NCR and Guangzhou (China), returned to their hometown, Lucknow only to realise that the professional landscape and the startup ecosystem in UP was in its nascent stage and no match for the resources and opportunities available in Tier-1 cities. Upscale.Work will focus on grooming potential entrepreneurs in academic institutions and creating opportunities for local entrepreneurs by bringing in relevant expertise and resources from their network.
Upscale’s focus lies in its 6D principles of discover, define, design, develop and deliver, the 6 dimensions of growth and infinite possibilities. Upscale has a team of young, cool, creative and fun loving people with diverse experiences into start-up investments, setting up incubators and accelerator programs and helping ventures scale up their businesses. Upscale.Work’s offers a seasoned, highly accomplished team of experienced thought leaders from the business ecosystem; custom solutions where customised solutions based on client needs, and problem statements are catered to as well as a robust network of experts, mentors and investors are ready to help. For instance, right from Startup Assistance (B-Plan, GTM, Product Market Fit, Capital); Product Development (Web and Application Development); Marketing Solutions (Digital Marketing Solutions); Incubation’s/Acceleration Programs (Customized programs for corporates and institutions); Network (Access to a network of entrepreneurs, industry experts and VC’s); Business Consulting (Business turnaround/revival solutions for MSME); Fundraising (Fundraising assistance to startups); Enterprise and Corporate Connects, and hackathons.
Team Upscale.Work
Captain Ritu Dubey is an ex- Army Officer, with experience over 20 years. Prior to Upscale she was the CEO of SCIFI incubator at IIM Lucknow. She has worked in a leadership role at the first state run incubation centre by Department of IT & Electronics, IT-UPVAN set-up under Uttar Pradesh IT & Start-Up Policy 2016. She has also worked as a Senior Manager at JSSATE- Science & Technology Entrepreneurs Park, Noida for five years.
Paritosh Srivastava is a Product and Venture Capital Professional with over 10 years of experience into new product development, startup investments and setting up accelerator/incubation programs. Before starting UpscaIe.Work, Paritosh was associated with Zone Startups, Venture Catalysts, Microsoft Ventures and Google. He likes to work closely with startups to help them attain “Product Market Fit” and make them Investment ready.
Shaurya Srivastava is a Supply Chain and Manufacturing expert with over 9 years of experience working in India, Hong Kong & China. He has facilitated startups to raise funds from Investors from China, Hong Kong, UK, India and USA. He has keen interest in Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality/Mixed Reality, Voice Recognition Technology, Education, Medical & Healthcare, Bio- Technology, Gaming, Precognition Technology, Hyper-local Solutions, etc.
Operating in Business Consultancy and Advisory and Entrepreneurship Development domains, the company’s goal is to change the work landscape in India. “We primarily focus on startups, SME’s, NGO’s and institutions based in Tier-2 and Tier -3 cities with the intent to catalyse their growth and scaling up process. We are a young team of hustlers trying to make a difference in the diverse yet high potential Tier-2 & 3 demographics where we work on custom solutions based on client needs and problem statements,” say the co-founders.
It is noteworthy that this venture was started under lockdown conditions. Hence, the brand is currently working only on Virtual Programs and offering virtual support in view of the pandemic situation. Once the grip of the pandemic loosens, they will begin with physical outreach and programs. The brand’s USP is to focus on bringing professional support services and advanced resources to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and towns to enable decentralization of the startup revolution in India. Upscale.Work differentiates itself by offering tangible, measurable, outcome-based customized services for growth of startups and business entities. Talking about challenges faced in this industry and possible solutions for overcoming them, the team remarks, “Reaching out to the potential entrepreneurs and establishing credibility of the support agency through tangible outcomes are the biggest challenges for us. Establishing partnership with reputed support institutions in the ecosystem and employing digital media to reach out to potential entrepreneurs for various programs as well as conducting physical workshops and programs once the pandemic is in control can definitely be looked at as some of the solutions.” For more details about UpscaIe.Work , log on to https://upscale.work/
Aditi Srivastava
