Promoters:: Sonata Microfinance

Sonata is promoted by Anup Singh, Rakesh Dubey, Ashish Kumar Gupta, Swaminathan Ankaleshwar Aiyar along with Bellwether Microfinance Fund.

Anup Kumar Singh:: Managing Director

anup_singh Before starting SONATA, Anup was associated for more than 8 years with the CASHPOR group of companies, since its inception. At the time of leaving CASHPOR, he was an ex-officio Chief Executive and the second most senior executive in the CASHPOR group of companies. Anup holds a Masters degree in Economics & Sociology, a Postgraduate Diploma in Rural Development and Management, and a MBA in Finance. He was born and brought up in Uttar Pradesh, India, and presently resides in Allahabad, with his wife and one child.

Within SONATA, Anup oversees day-to-day field operations of UP, business planning, fund management, quality control and HRD.

Rakesh Dubey:: Chief Finance Officer

rakesh_dubey Rakesh grew up in Uttar Pradesh. He holds a Masters degree in Business Administration & Finance and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Rural Development Management. He has held various positions in technical services and financial management in the CASHPOR group of companies and in various new startups abroad.

Within SONATA, Rakesh oversees fund raising, MIS and finance

Ashish Kumar Gupta:: Chief Operations Officer.

ashish_gupta Ashish Kumar Gupta has got more than eight years of experience in the areas of micro finance and livelihoods promotion among poor. He has worked in various professional environments ranging from a grassroots NGO, Government and World Bank supported project to Development Companies and selfstarted enterprises. He initiated and lead the micro-finance operations of BASIX in Madhya Pradesh.

Having worked in these setups, he moved on to establish an independent organization in Madhya Pradesh Jeevika Livelihoods Support Organization in Jabalpur and acted as their Executive Director. Before and while establishing Jeevika and its operations, he was involved in several consultancy assignments of various organizations, government projects and departments in the field of micro-finance and livelihoods promotion.

On August 1, 2007, SONATA acquired the micro-finance unit of Jeevika and Ashish was appointed Co-promoter and the Chief Operations Officer of SONATA.

Ashish holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management from the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) and a B.Sc. degree in Industrial Chemistry.

Within Sonata Ashish oversees day-to-day operations in Madhya Pradesh.

Swaminathan Ankaleshwar Aiyar

Swaminathan Ankaleshwar Aiyar is a noted Indian journalist. An alumnus of The Doon School and St. Stephen's College, he earned a master's degree in economics from Magdalen College, Oxford, UK. He is currently consulting editor of The Economic Times, India's leading financial daily that is part of Bennett, Coleman & Co., the same company that owns The Times Of India. He is also a research fellow at the Cato Institute, a prominent libertarian think-tank in Washington DC, and an occasional media consultant to the World Bank. Swaminathan Aiyar writes a popular weekly column titled, "Swaminomics" in the Times of India where he discusses economic and political issues pertaining to India and the world. Mr. Aiyar has prepared several reports and papers for the World Bank. He was also, in 1976-85 and 1990-98, the India correspondent of The Economist. Earlier, he was Editor of Financial Express (1988-90) and Eastern Economist (1980-82).

He has two books to his credit: Towards Globalisation (1992) and Swaminomics: Escape from the Benevolent Zookeepers (2007).

The Bellwether MicroFinance Fund (Bellwether)

Bellwether is the first Indian venture capital fund that invests in MFIs in India. The fund invests in high potential start up MFIs committed to efficiency and commercial viability, and in well-established medium sized MFIs that intend to transform into legally appropriate entities. Bellwether has been working with SONATA since the launch of its micro finance operations.

Bellwether provides SONATA with technical and capacity building assistance to further scale up SONATA's operations in a sustainable way.

Visit Bellwether's Website