7 Programs that Support Women Entrepreneurs to make their Dreams come true

Have you ever heard about Ritu Kumar, Vandana Luthra, and Falguni Nayar? Yes, they are a few of the famous women entrepreneurs in India. Entrepreneurship has gained a lot of importance these days. Women have shown their supremacy even in this field, leaving their success marks. Are you someone who would love to be financially independent and be your boss? Are you interested in managing your own business?

Without any second thought, you can step into entrepreneurship. We got your back with all you need to know about companies and institutions’ details that provide programs, schemes, and funding that support women entrepreneurs to make their dreams come true.

1.Empower

It is India’s first tech accelerator for women entrepreneurs. Launched in 2016, Empower provides mentorship, industry connects, peer network, and investor meets through a 6-week accelerator program followed by a 1-year support program. It is a program in which participants get access to extensive learning in the form of workshops, case studies, round table discussions, coupled with rigorous feedback and improvement. Participants also get a chance to meet corporate CIOs one-on- one basis for identifying business opportunities. Pitching sessions are also an integral part. Interested participants can fill out a google form, and they will be notified whenever the application process for 2020 is started.

2.Women Entrepreneurship Platform: NitiAyog

NitiAyog, in partnership with the Government of USA, started WEP to promote and establish aspiring women entrepreneurs. It is the first of its kind, a facilitation platform that integrates public and private sector organizations on a single platform. WEP has about 30 partners who are working towards delivering the necessary values to the women entrepreneurs who have a fierce passion for changing.
WEP and its partners offer Incubation and Acceleration, Entrepreneurship Skilling, Marketing Assistance, Funding, and Financial Assistance, Compliances Support, and Social Entrepreneurship. The platform is benefiting urban and rural women alike. Two mentorship programs were launched with the help of the WEE Foundation, first at IIT and second at IITB. With the assistance of SREI and Google Internet Saathi, WEP will extend support to around 3,000 women entrepreneurs from rural areas.

In December 2018, WEP launched a new portal backed by the latest technologies of AI/ML. The additional ‘Mapping’ layer will help in recommending information, schemes, programs, events, courses, news, etc. based on the user’s chosen area.

3.Women’s Startup Program by IIM Bangalore

NSRCEL is the startup and innovation hub at IIM Bangalore. It launched the third Women’s Startup Program in September 2020. With the support of Goldman Sachs, the program has been working towards helping aspiring women entrepreneurs to reach their goals since 2016 when it was first started. Until now, the program has over 10,000 applications from 34 states and union territories across India. The applicants are from all age groups, 18-60 years of age. Most of the startup ideas are either in the initial-stage or idea-stage.

The program is conducted at a 5-week training program on the Government’s online learning platform, Swayam. The course has been from August 31. The shortlisted startups from this course will receive mentoring, startup workshops, and potential incubation at NSRCEL.

4. Udyogini by World Bank Institute

Udyogini was started in 1992 and entered the micro-enterprise domain through the ‘Women’s Enterprise Management Training Outreach Program’ (WEMTOP). The World Bank Institute itself funded WEMTOP. It aims at promoting and teaching the Grassroots Management Training (GMT) to budding women entrepreneurs. Their services include skill and entrepreneurship training, business counseling, marketing & financial linkage, and functional literacy.

It especially targets rural women and helps them with the product and service enterprise, which have market potential. Value chain analysis is also taught in order to help some of the enterprise to scale up. Not just the business aspect, Udyogini also works to promote enhanced income, improvement in health and nutrition by promoting and helping women with agriculture and allied fields.

5. Udemy’s Online Course on Starting a Business for Women

According to experts, one of the main reasons why many women entrepreneurs don’t reach great heights is because they do not formulate important strategies before starting a business or startup. This course is specially designed to equip women with all the knowledge they need to start and efficiently run a business. It will be beneficial for beginners and women with existing businesses at both big and medium scales.
This 60 days course will help women entrepreneurs to:

• Initiate clear strategies for your business.
• Evaluate your value.
• Develop your brand.
• Create SMART objectives to reach monthly and annual profit milestones.

The course also includes a workbook that has an extensive plan of business research, submitting documents, starting a business account, and establishing and growing the first business credit line.

6. Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment (WEE)

WEE foundation was started by IIT Delhi to support college-going students, employees, homemakers, and middle-aged women who want to excel in entrepreneurship. The Science and Technology Department of the Indian Government is supporting this program. The idea is to get connected with investors to boom their business. The program trains 30 women in six months. They have trained rural women to make money from micro-enterprises. They teach marketing and essential social skills and help women to develop business.

7. National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (NI-MSME):

NI-MSME is launched by the Government of India to support Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises. This program’s components include providing Common Facility Centers, Infrastructure Development, Thematic inventions like Training Programs, Strengthening Business Development Services, Creating a business ecosystem, and support to State Innovative Cluster Development Program. Government identifies the potential clusters and supports to improve technical skills, social skills, and marketing access. It also provides infrastructure if it is necessary and promotes green and sustainable industries.

When it comes to business and entrepreneurship, the passion and will to succeed is what counts the most. If you are determined to achieve what you want, nothing can stop you. These schemes, funding, and courses are the empowering tools that aspiring entrepreneurs can use for their advantage in their journey to success.

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