Pranitha Pullamaraju & IndiraSamudra

Pranitha Pullamaraju is a Public Policy graduate and first-generation founder based in Visakhapatnam, India, and the founder of IndiraSamudra. After a year working in electronics, she was drawn to entrepreneurship after seeing how unstable incomes and poverty, affecting 97% of fisher households in her community, were hitting coastal families, and set out to build sustainable livelihoods, particularly for women. IndiraSamudra works with small-scale fishing communities facing declining catches, cultivating seaweed as an alternative income source: the venture has already established 30 seaweed rafts, engaged more than 15 fisherfolk, completed three cultivation cycles, and is now building a micro-processing unit to add value to the harvest.

With our $500 Giving Joy microgrant, (generously donated by ARC Collective, a woman-founded and led media company), IndiraSamudra is piloting a training program that introduces 5 to 15 women from local fishing communities to seaweed processing at its micro-processing unit — covering hygiene, handling, drying, and basic processing techniques. The grant will give participants hands-on experience they can turn into ongoing income as IndiraSamudra's processing operations grow.

The Expected Impact

This grant is expected to directly benefit 5 to 15 women from fishing communities in Visakhapatnam through hands-on training and processing experience. Their households stand to benefit as these women take on new income opportunities, and more than 20 community members are expected to be touched directly or indirectly as IndiraSamudra builds out its women-inclusive processing model.

Looking Ahead

IndiraSamudra will start by developing training modules on hygiene, handling, and drying, and identifying women from nearby fishing communities to take part, before running hands-on training sessions at its micro-processing unit. Trained participants will then join regular processing activities as operational batches come through, with IndiraSamudra documenting what it learns to refine the model for future community training programs.