Tackling Covid-19: Our Heroes on the Front Lines (Part-1)

Location: India Date: Wed May 1

Zephyr Peacock invests in businesses that provide unique and innovative solutions to challenging business and social problems. Our portfolio companies have operations in both urban and rural areas of India. Many of our businesses provide access to low cost products and services to customers from low income communities.

In these challenging times, our portfolio companies are increasing their focus on meeting essential needs and providing care for the poor and the underprivileged. In this letter, we present two such stories.

Swarna Pragati Distributes Food to Local Communities to Prevent Hunger During Lockdown

Location: India Date: Wed May 1

Swarna Pragati is an affordable housing finance company that provides micro- housing loans to low-income rural households in India.

Location: India Date: Wed May 1

The Government of India has implemented a nationwide lockdown since 25 March 2020 to curb the spread of COVID-19. Many workers in the informal economy have lost their jobs and their income, particularly daily wage earners and migrant workers from rural regions.

Location: India Date: Wed May 1

In the drought prone region of Vidarbha in the state of Maharashtra, the situation has been grim. A majority of the younger members of many families in the region have migrated to big cities over the last few years. The elderly left behind in the villages do not have savings, social security pensions. With no access to money or food, these vulnerable groups face high risk of hunger and starvation.

Location: India Date: Wed May 1

Swarna Pragati, a Zephyr Peacock portfolio company, is headquartered in Nagpur, in the Vidarbha region. To help some of the most vulnerable families in this region, the company put together and donated packages that included one month's worth of food supplies and sanitation products.

Location: India Date: Wed May 1

Swarna Pragati's employees directly delivered these food supplies and other essential items to help the vulnerable tide through the lockdown period. The company's employees also provided information on self-protection measures including wearing masks, hand washing and social distancing to these families. Posters describing good hygiene practices and safety protocols were distributed.

Location: India Date: Wed May 1

The efforts of Swarna Pragati's employees have helped vulnerable families in times of need. Many of the company's employees and customers reside in these communities.

20Cube Initiates Emergency Operations to Deliver Essential Services

Location: India Date: Wed May 1

20Cube is a pan emerging markets- focused provider of logistics services. 20Cube provides its clients ocean and air freight forwarding and contract logistics services

Location: India Date: Wed May 1

During the Covid-19 lockdown period in India, the Government has permitted the delivery of essential services such as groceries, food and pharmaceuticals. However, these essential services are not available to many of the intended customers since the logistics supply chains have been disrupted due to the lockdown. Cleaning products such as hand sanitizers, soaps and cleaning products are not available in many parts of the country.

Location: India Date: Wed May 1

To help alleviate this problem, 20Cube initiated emergency operations of warehousing and logistics to support the movement of essential goods across the country. The company helped 'Diversey', a provider of cleaning and sanitization products such as hand sanitizers, soaps and detergents, in transporting 250 tons of essential products to high demand markets across the state of Maharashtra.

Location: India Date: Wed May 1

In support of this task, 20Cube set up a new warehouse dedicated to Diversey within 18 hours. Within a week of the start of the warehouse operations, Diversey's products are estimated to have served over 450,000 families in Maharashtra.

Location: India Date: Wed May 1

In the first week of May, 20Cube launched domestic and international airfreight services to deliver essential goods like pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and other healthcare related products. The emergency services have been deployed across the country and have been availed by hospitals, retail outlets and others. The company has served over a million people through its operations during the lockdown. Strict safety protocols including regular temperature checks, protection through masks and social distancing have been adhered to in the company's operations.