About Us
We are Impresa
Impresa, its history, and the woman behind it…
To empower and support handloom weavers and artisans all around India, engineer-turned social entrepreneur Anjali Chandran initiated Impresa in 2012. In order to bring on weavers from various Indian states, Impresa launched its website-based platform in 2016. It has evolved from a modest and small Facebook page to an award-winning, renowned social enterprise with a global reputation. Indeed, Impresa and the woman who founded it, Anjali Chandran, do have an inspiring tale to share.
Long ago, Anjali Chandran, now one of the most celebrated women entrepreneurs in Kerala, met a master weaver during her journey to a weaving village in Southern India. Due to the lack of a market for his goods, he was prepared to shut down the looms. He said that they sell the handlooms to middlemen and wholesalers who transport their fabric and other supplies to the cities when she inquired about his marketing approach. That was the actual vision for Impresa, the social enterprise based in Calicut, Kerala, which is quickly becoming a bright spot for India’s handloom industry.
It was during her visit to a weaving community on a career break, Anjali got the idea for Impresa. She tells the story herself. “After learning from the weavers about the challenges they had in maintaining their looms, I created the Impresa Facebook page to sell their supplies. I realised I was capable of being an entrepreneur as it expanded. It is now more than just business. By helping the underserved, I hope to bring about a society that is independent.”
Anjali has a Master’s degree from BITS Pilani and worked with Wipro, before choosing to launch her own enterprise. For Anjali, the suffering of artisan communities and weavers was too personal. She spent a lot of her childhood surrounded by looms in her village, but it hurt her to witness the handloom traditions slowly fading.
So how did Impresa leave its mark? According to Anjali, “We hire weaving communities around India that experienced financial difficulties to weave unique clothing for display, and sale under the brand Impresa through the venture’s Facebook page. We use social media to raise awareness of the importance of supporting India’s weavers.”
Impresa, which began as a Facebook page in 2012, has evolved into a physical store and a thriving e-commerce site that sells ethnic wear for men, women, and children, including Balaramapuram handloom mundu, sarees, and kurtas made by weavers from various parts of the country, as well as ikat, block-printed, and cotton fabrics. It is one of the unique platforms that sources handlooms directly from the weavers, thereby providing the artisans with a great market and a quality income.
Every handloom has a unique tale to tell, one that features various yarns, materials, civilizations, and weaving techniques. The handloom garments worn by the people will also describe a land’s history. Thus, the variety of handloom clothing at Impresa tells many stories of various stripes, civilizations, and weavings. Anjali Chandran, who enjoyed culture and travel, began using handwoven clothing to tell the tale of different lands, and Impresa was born as a result.
Through this initiative, hundreds of weavers are currently able to make a living. Impresa also carries distinctive handicrafts from villages in the country, in addition to handlooms. The mission of Impresa is to recognise and promote the nation’s diverse culture and distinctive traditions.
4.5K
Products for sale
100+
Active sellers
1.8K+
Active buyers
300K+
Annual gross sales
The Challenge
Gaining the trust of the weavers proved to be more challenging than Anjali had anticipated when she first launched Impresa to establish a market for weavers by cutting out middlemen. Anjali found it impossible to identify looms and weavers on her own since the network of middlemen was so extensive and entrenched. However, many weavers now regard her as a member of the family.Gaining the trust of the weavers proved to be more challenging than Anjali had anticipated when she first launched Impresa to establish a market for weavers by cutting out middlemen. Anjali found it impossible to identify looms and weavers on her own since the network of middlemen was so extensive and entrenched. However, many weavers now regard her as a member of the family.
Global recognitions
Eventually, the work Anjali put into creating Impresa was recognised at national and global levels. Anjali received numerous awards along her social entrepreneurial path. Impresa was selected by Paris-based Capgemini as one of the top ten worldwide social startups in 2017. She was also awarded the title of ‘best young woman social entrepreneur’ in the same year by Kairali People TV.
She was invited as the Delegate for the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) by the U.S. Department of State for a multi-regional project, Women in Entrepreneurship, together with delegates from 53 other countries in 2018. It is regarded as the flagship professional exchange initiative run by the U.S. State Department.
Anjali was also among the Goldman Sachs 10000 Women Alumni in 2019 and listed among the best 10 projects by NSRCEL of IIM Bangalore. Also, Impresa got selected for Goldman Sachs Small Market Place, where all the selected women entrepreneurs across the globe can list their products.
She also participated in IVLP’s ‘Virtual Alumni Salon Series’ on Grit and Resiliency: Women Entrepreneurs, leading through the crisis by demonstrating the Handloom Challenge, the first crowd-funding project of Kerala during the pandemic in the year 2020.
The event offered opportunities to discuss and explore the challenges and opportunities facing women entrepreneurs during the current COVID-19 pandemic and related economic and social crises. The women, including Anjali at the event, shared best practices to lead, manage, pivot, and sustain existing and new entrepreneurial projects while they enriched and expanded their connections among their fellow alumnae.
During the lockdown, when the looms stopped spinning, Anjali Chandran hurried to aid weavers who were struggling to make ends meet. “The pandemic has thrown the weavers’ lives out of gear. Tonnes of fabric are lying unsold with the weavers, and families are in debt with no kind of support system. That is why I came up with the challenge,” Anjali says.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, I kicked off an online handloom challenge, one of the first crowdfunded projects in Kerala during the COVID crisis. I believe I am successful when I change the lives of people around me. Hundreds of participated in the handloom challenge, which in turn benefited hundreds of weavers. The handloom challenge continued for more than 100 days.” Later, this challenge prototype was followed by policymakers.
Impresa also onboarded local tailors, where they can do custom stitching for both men and women. Impressa also came up with the happiness challenge to encourage mothers of children with disabilities to market their handmade bags. Both of these challenges were well accepted by society.
Eventually, the work Anjali put into creating Impresa was recognised at national and global levels. Anjali received numerous awards along her social entrepreneurial path. Impresa was selected by Paris-based Capgemini as one of the top ten worldwide social startups in 2017. She was also awarded the title of ‘best young woman social entrepreneur’ in the same year by Kairali People TV.
She was invited as the Delegate for the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) by the U.S. Department of State for a multi-regional project, Women in Entrepreneurship, together with delegates from 53 other countries in 2018. It is regarded as the flagship professional exchange initiative run by the U.S. State Department.
She also participated in IVLP’s ‘Virtual Alumni Salon Series’ on Grit and Resiliency: Women Entrepreneurs, leading through the crisis by demonstrating the Handloom Challenge, the first crowd-funding project of Kerala during the pandemic in the year 2020.
The event offered opportunities to discuss and explore the challenges and opportunities facing women entrepreneurs during the current COVID-19 pandemic and related economic and social crises. The women, including Anjali at the event, shared best practices to lead, manage, pivot, and sustain existing and new entrepreneurial projects while they enriched and expanded their connections among their fellow alumnae.
During the lockdown, when the looms stopped spinning, Anjali Chandran hurried to aid weavers who were struggling to make ends meet. “The pandemic has thrown the weavers’ lives out of gear. Tonnes of fabric are lying unsold with the weavers, and families are in debt with no kind of support system. That is why I came up with the challenge,” Anjali says.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, I kicked off an online handloom challenge, one of the first crowdfunded projects in Kerala during the COVID crisis. I believe I am successful when I change the lives of people around me. Hundreds of participated in the handloom challenge, which in turn benefited hundreds of weavers. The handloom challenge continued for more than 100 days.” Later, this challenge prototype was followed by policymakers.
Impresa also onboarded local tailors, where they can do custom stitching for both men and women. Impressa also came up with the happiness challenge to encourage mothers of children with disabilities to market their handmade bags. Both of these challenges were well accepted by society.
Eventually, the work Anjali put into creating Impresa was recognised at national and global levels. Anjali received numerous awards along her social entrepreneurial path. Impresa was selected by Paris-based Capgemini as one of the top ten worldwide social startups in 2017. She was also awarded the title of ‘best young woman social entrepreneur’ in the same year by Kairali People TV.
She was invited as the Delegate for the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) by the U.S. Department of State for a multi-regional project, Women in Entrepreneurship, together with delegates from 53 other countries in 2018. It is regarded as the flagship professional exchange initiative run by the U.S. State Department.
Impresa’s vision
Impresa was founded with the noble goal of giving craftspeople and artists a dynamic platform to display their work and find a market for it. As Anjali believes it is a socially responsible business with a goal to improve the lives of poor weavers while also bringing these high-quality handlooms to the public at large. Every textile has a backstory, and Impresa believes in honouring the rich culture and traditions of this ancient civilization, which are distinctive due to their genetic make-up. Our goal is to build this business using a social entrepreneurship framework by recognizing and celebrating the stories of each weaver. Impresa will become a hub for handloom textiles where buyers can get the best products from weavers all throughout the nation, pursuant to our goals.
The Mission
By giving their work tremendous value and recognition, Anjali and Impresa are meant to give craftspeople and artists a platform to showcase their skills. “We empowered the weavers’ lives and created opportunities for them to prosper financially, enabling them to live better lives.”
Impresa also provides a platform for supporting female entrepreneurs and other business owners who are pursuing sustainable business practices. For an engineering professional, choosing an unconventional path to become a social entrepreneur may be difficult. However, Anjali Chandran and Impresa, her social venture, have worked with hundreds of weavers and artisans to safeguard the ancient loom industries in India’s rural heartlands. She is moving to forward her goals with a strong sense of confidence and fulfilment.
Impresa also provides a platform for supporting female entrepreneurs and other business owners who are pursuing sustainable business practices. For an engineering professional, choosing an unconventional path to become a social entrepreneur may be difficult. However, Anjali Chandran and Impresa, her social venture, have worked with hundreds of weavers and artisans to safeguard the ancient loom industries in India’s rural heartlands. She is moving to forward her goals with a strong sense of confidence and fulfilment.
