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Additional USD 1 million pledged to provide mid-day meals to school children
Bengaluru, India – August 21, 2019 – Vista Equity Partners (“Vista”), a leading US-based investment firm specializing in enterprise software, data, and technology-enabled businesses, has announced the expansion of its partnership with The Akshaya Patra Foundation (“Akshaya Patra”). Vista and its portfolio companies operating in India have pledged an additional USD 1 million to Akshaya Patra to support the Foundation’s Mid-Day Meal Programme across India, helping deliver hot, nutritious, and hygienic meals to children every school day.
The expansion of the partnership between Vista and Akshaya Patra was announced by Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Vista, during Vista’s International Best Practice Sharing Summit (“International BPSS”). International BPSS is an annual event that brings together several hundred portfolio leaders and team members from throughout the Asia Pacific region to provide professional networking and development opportunities and share Vista best practices in areas such as go-to-market success, product and technology leadership, and financial and operational excellence. The event, one in a series of BPSS’, also hosts Vista’s APAC Hackathon, bringing together global teams from throughout the portfolio to share technological innovations and compete for prize money.
The extended partnership is part of Vista’s commitment to invest in and give back to the communities in regions where they operate.
“Around the world, Vista and our companies make it their mission to engage with and give back to our communities on a global, national, and local level,” said Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Vista Equity Partners. “With our rapidly expanding footprint in India, it is important for us to partner with an organisation that is able to make a real and scalable impact on people’s lives. We are thrilled to continue to partner with Akshaya Patra to help ensure that children across India have access to nutritious meals that will enable them to excel in the classroom and beyond.”
In 2017, Vista partnered with Akshaya Patra for the first time, pledging USD 1 million to the organisation over a period of five years. This enabled the Foundation to procure delivery vehicles to serve mid-day meals to children in 145 schools across three states, Gujarat, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, and milk to children in 345 schools in Karnataka through its milk kitchen in Jigani.
Mr. Shridhar Venkat, CEO, Akshaya Patra, expressed his gratitude to Vista. He said, “We are immensely grateful to Vista and its portfolio companies in India for partnering with us and enabling us to serve freshly cooked, nutritious mid-day meals to our beneficiary children across the country. It has always been our endeavour to reach out and serve the society while ensuring sustainability and this partnership will contribute to the sustainability integral to our endeavour.” He also thanked the Government of India and State Governments for their continued support to the programme.
About Vista Equity Partners
Vista Equity Partners is a U.S.-based investment firm with offices in Austin, Chicago, New York City, Oakland, and San Francisco with more than $50 billion in cumulative capital commitments. Vista exclusively invests in enterprise software, data, and technology-enabled organizations led by world-class management teams. As a value-added investor with a long-term perspective, Vista contributes professional expertise and multi-level support towards companies to realize their full potential. Vista’s investment approach is anchored by a sizable long-term capital base, experience in structuring technology-oriented transactions, and proven management techniques that yield flexibility and opportunity. For more information, please visit www.vistaequitypartners.com.
About The Akshaya Patra Foundation
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation headquartered in Bengaluru, India. The organisation strives to fight issues like hunger and malnutrition in India. By implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Government schools and Government aided schools, the Foundation aims not only to fight hunger but also to bring children to school. Since 2000, the organisation has worked towards reaching more children with wholesome food on every single school day. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is continuously leveraging technology to cater to millions of children. Its state-of- the-art kitchens have become a subject of study and they attract curious visitors from around the world.
In partnership with the Government of India, various State Governments and inestimable support from many philanthropic donors and well-wishers; Akshaya Patra has grown from humble beginnings serving just 1,500 school children across 5 schools. Today, The Akshaya Patra Foundation is the world’s largest (not-for- profit run) Mid-Day Meal Programme serving wholesome food to over 1.76 million children from 15,668 schools across 12 states in India.
