Domestic workers are the fastest growing sector for women’s employment in India. With approximately 50 million women who are employed as maids, they contribute to at least 13% of the country’s GDP.
However, over 90% of these women lack any form of social and economic protection and are exposed to cycles of poverty, abuse and poor health, due to the country’s lack of regulation for this sector.
That’s why one Duke MBA student and her two other co-founders are working from all corners of the world to create a solution that would ensure financial and social protection for these maids. Created and led by three women who were raised by maids in their own families, Himayat is a digital benefits and HR management platform for domestic workers and their employers.
While the startup will be focused on and based in India, its co-founding team consists of Duke student Arya Diwase, University College London graduate Anushka Desai and Indian Law Society’s Law College graduate Riya Patil. Diwase and Himayat are participating in the 2023-24 cohort of Duke’s year-long Melissa & Doug Entrepreneurs Accelerator. [We have also written about fellow cohort members Alleviate Health, Hayha Bots, SaveOr, College To Climate, Aurganics and Infinity Portal.]
Diwase is a dual degree candidate at Duke; she’s simultaneously earning a masters in public policy alongside her MBA. She’s also already an experienced entrepreneur, having founded her first startup Jazz Hands while completing her undergrad at New York University. That startup was focused on using drama to teach English and communication skills in India.
During the pandemic, Diwase realized the significant impact that Covid had on all the maids who worked in India. With no work to go to, these maids suffered from lack of funds and any safety net to fall back on.
As a student living in the U.S., Diwase then realized that the reason why employees in the U.S. were generally more secure and stable during the pandemic was because of employment benefits such as unemployment insurance and paid leave. Since the compensation and employment for maids is a more informal process in India—the maids make most of their money in cash—they lack access to loans and have no way to show employment to receive public benefits.
Thus, Himayat was created as a two-sided platform to introduce a formalization of this employment sector to not only provide employment benefits for the employees but also accountability benefits for the employer.
Rollout plan
The team is currently building out Himayat’s MVP (minimum viable product) and the platform is currently on track to target specific communities within apartment complexes first. The density of both families using maids and maids themselves working in such complexes make it a good place to start building both sides of the platform.
The idea is to onboard the families in apartment complexes and the employing families would pay Himayat a subscription fee to provide those benefits through the platform. These fees allow the maids they’ve hired to have access to those benefits.
The platform will also show availability of maids circulating within the community and the families can set their own rates for their maids. The maids don’t pay anything to access the Himayat platform. The benefits that the platform will structure for the maids are health insurance coverage for the maid and their families and a savings account that only the maid can access.
Usually, the employing families will pay the maid in cash for any sort of healthcare needs or for savings. Diwase said that because of patriarchal structures within Indian families, that money can be taken away and the benefits are never realized for the maids. So through the Himayat platform, they can ensure that a maid has her own bank account and is financially independent and protected.
What makes Himayat stand out from existing solutions is its commitment to retaining long-term relationships between maids and their employers. Through this platform, employers are assured and guaranteed that there are maids to hire and will come back, while maids have financial and social protection through their jobs.
“When we pitch our platform, it’s not only about providing benefits to your maid, but it’s also about ensuring accountability and loyalty for you,” Diwase said. “Most existing solutions account for new employees or employees who are finding needs, but we also want to serve employees that already have needs. There’s millions of women already employed, so what’s happening for them?”
Thanks to the Melissa & Doug program and the other entrepreneurship programs at Duke, Diwase has been able to focus her time and resources on Himayat. She plans to continue working on the startup in India after graduating this semester.
“I had a good enough cushion to be able to actually pursue my startup, which is really rare and why not a lot of people get into this sector,” Diwase said. “Everyone at Duke really shows that they care about an issue like this, and setting me up for success is also just something that gives me more reassurance. It’s been incredible because I get to share these ideas with a cohort of extremely intelligent and accomplished entrepreneurs.”
