NEW DELHI: Epigamia has launched the Step-Up Program with a mission to provide food & water to communities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Driven by a purpose to improve food & food systems within the country, Epigamia has set up many initiatives under this program, right from providing food to migrant workers, to improving access to water in villages around the country.

Danone Manifesto Ventures, one of the investors in Epigamia, is supporting the Step-Up program through its global COVID-19 Relief Fund, which helps its investee companies across the world by supporting the latter’s community outreach programs to improve the lives of those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, among other initiatives.

Rohan Mirchandani, Co-Founder, and CEO, Epigamia, said, “The pandemic & subsequent impact on migrant workers in the cities got us going. We launched the Step-Up program in May 2020 and have donated and distributed over 7.5 lacs cups & bottles of yogurts. We have partnered with Danone Manifesto Ventures, who supported us for this initiative and provided some guidance on planning & execution. The Step-Up initiative is now a rallying cry in the organization with active participation from employees and our supply chain partners. Over 215 members of Epigamia’s team also stepped-up and donated a portion of their salary towards the distribution of cups”.

The first phase of the Step-Up program was completed in September through partners such as Robin Hood Army, Zomato Feeding India, Annapurna Movement, Rise Against Hunger, Akshaya Patra, and Goonj, to name a few. For the second phase, Epigamia is focusing on supporting rural communities across the country. Epigamia has partnered with Habitat for Humanity India to help improve access to safe drinking water, and help the communities through training and support for livelihood options including agricultural productivity.