Page 2 - Women Entrepreneurs

Securing funding major challenge for women entrepreneurs, say founders

Securing funding is a major challenge for women entrepreneurs along with balancing the demands of entrepreneurship with traditional gender roles and expectations, say women business leaders. Creating an inclusive work environment and addressing key areas like easy entry into workforce, financial autonomy and healthcare would help women lead and make an impact, women entrepreneurs said on the occasion of Women Entrepreneur Day. According to Assiduus Global CEO & founder and Niti Aayog advisor Somdutta Singh, securing funding is a significant challenge for women entrepreneurs along with balancing the demands of entrepreneurship with traditional gender roles and expectations. Historically, many business networks have been male-dominated, making it harder for women to access key connections and opportunities. I am constantly working to create a diverse and inclusive work environment. I am involved in building networks that support women in entrepreneurship. "I am always advocating for

Women accorded top priority under PM Mudra Yojana scheme, says Sitharaman

Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said women entrepreneurs are accorded first priority under the Centre's flagship Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana scheme which offers financial assistance to beneficiaries. Distributing sanction letters to beneficiaries under the PM SVANidhi Se Samriddhi programme which offers loans to street vendors, here, she said officials of the municipalities should identify the uncovered street vendors and help them avail benefits of this scheme. SVANidhi Se Samriddhi is an additional component of the PMSVANidhi scheme to facilitate access to eight central government schemes to eligible PM SVANidhi beneficiaries and their family members for their holistic development and socio-economic upliftment. Recalling the launch of Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile Trinity, Sitharaman said through the JAM Trinity, AADHAR card was provided to a beneficiary after which he or she can open a bank account and directly the financial aid from the Centre

Women-led MSMEs avail Rs 430 crore in loans in FY2023: Impact report

Nearly Rs 1,900 crore in loans were distributed to MSMEs, with women-led businesses making up 24% of the loans disbursed

Madhya Pradesh is emerging as a hotbed for start-ups led by women

Women entrepreneurs run 1,140 of the state's more than 2,600 registered start-ups, according to data shared by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) department

270 mn loans to women under MUDRA; here's all you need to know about scheme

The MUDRA loans are given by commercial banks, regional rural banks, small finance banks, microfinance institutions, and non-banking financial institutions

Stories of Bihar women entrepreneurs to be showcased during G20 events

The Bihar government will highlight the rise of rural women entrepreneurs breaking all barriers and the success of the World Bank-backed village livelihood programme Jeevika' among several other socio-economic programmes during G-20 events to be held here in June, an official said on Saturday. The G20 meetings in Patna are expected to be held on themes such as women and future of work and upskilling of the women workforce in tech-intensive work environment. During two-day G-20 programmes on June 22 and 23, the Bihar government will showcase women's upliftment and development in the rural sector, besides the state's rich cultural heritage. How rural women are defying odds to become entrepreneurs in Bihar through different initiatives taken by the state government, how Jeevika' has become a revolution and changed the lives of rural women and their families will be presented before G20 delegates, Art and Culture department secretary Bandana Preyashi said. She also said how women in Bi

100% exemption in stamp duty for women entrepreneurs in Uttar Pradesh

The state has also notified 100% stamp duty exemption for setting up of solar energy units, solar energy projects or solar energy parks in the state

Goldman Sachs says 2,400 women entrepreneurs funded under its programme

Goldman Sachs, which has funded the business and management education of 2,400 women in India, has claimed these beneficiaries have helped create around 12,000 new jobs as well as add Rs 2,800 crore in revenues to the country's economy in the past 18 months. The investment banking major first launched the graduation programme in the country in 2008. It relaunched the same 18 months ago when it claims to have funded the business and management education of 10,000 women under its 'Womeninitiative'. The numbers, it said, are based on a study carried out by the Indian School of Business (ISB) among 2,400 women entrepreneurs who participated in Goldman Sachs women initiative. The study found that these 10,000 women have doubled their existing workforce, quadrupled their revenue, and increased their productivity by five times on an average, within 18 months of graduating from the programme and most of them expect to increase hiring and grow revenue. Sonjoy Chatterjee, chairman and chief

PM Modi to address inaugural session on 'Economic Empowerment of Women'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the inaugural session of the post-budget webinar on "Economic Empowerment of Women" on Friday. The webinar is being organised by Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Ministry of Rural Development. It is part of a series of post-budget webinars being organised by the government with an aim to brainstorm and firm up pathways for sustainable growth of women-owned and women-led business enterprises, and develop a strategy and blueprint for implementation of the announcement, according to an official statement. Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani, Union Minister of Rural Development Giriraj Singh, Minister of State of Women and Child Development Mahendrabhai Munjpara will also join the inaugural session.

Logistics firm UPS inks pact to train 500 women entrepreneurs in India

US-based logistics major UPS has inked a partnership with India SME Forum to train 500 women entrepreneurs in India in export and related business areas, according to a company official. The training will be provided through experts via online and offline modes, said Laura Lane, Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer, UPS. The official was in the national capital to sign the pact with India SME Forum. "The experts will educate the women entrepreneurs of the SME segment on rules related to export, help them identity markets for their products, packaging etc.," Lane said. The company will initially train 500 women and later plans to expand the programme later, she said. Post-pandemic, women-owned businesses have increased in India, Laura said, adding that taking them to export markets will help in their economic empowerment. "Many women have started their businesses in India, but due to various reasons, they may not find the right market for

Kerala government announces major schemes for women entrepreneurs

On the International Women's Day, the Kerala government unveiled major schemes to support women entrepreneurs in the State including raising of the loan limit for women under the 'We-Mission Kerala' initiative of KSIDC to Rs 50 lakh from Rs 25 lakh with a five per cent interest from April 1. Announcing the decision at the women entrepreneurs' meet organised by the Department of Industries and Commerce here on Wednesday, Industries Minister P Rajeeve said the doubling of the loan amount will help women entrepreneurs under 'We-Mission Kerala' project of Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) to scale up their businesses. Also, the moratorium period under the scheme, aimed at identifying, supporting and promoting women entrepreneurs, will be raised to one year from the current six months, the Minister said. Rajeeve announced a composite grant of Rs five lakh for women cooperative societies, which will be available to the co-operative societies that commence operation i

Great strides made but much room for improvement, say women entrepreneurs

Aside from factors such as social stigma, gender biases, insufficient capacity building and access to actionable knowledge, a pressing challenge for women entrepreneurs is access to capital, especiall

SIDBI to partner with AMFI to support Bengal's women entrepreneurs

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) will partner with the Association of Microfinance Institutions of India (AMFI) to support women entrepreneurs in the backward districts of West Bengal. Deputy Managing Director of SIDBI, Sudatta Mandal, said that the women entrepreneurs will also be helped in terms of getting market and credit linkages. Speaking at the AMFI-WB micro-finance summit here, Mandal said SIDBI has already spearheaded the project in Odisha and it has been very successful. "Six backward districts of West Bengal have been identified for this purpose and 12,000 women will be given credit so that their incomes rise. This will be a two-year intervention by SIDBI," he stated. By this intervention, the average income of women will rise by at least 30 per cent, Mandal added. Alok Mishra, CEO of MFIN, a self-regulatory organisation (SRO) in the micro-finance sector, said the basic idea is of financial inclusion which had been the focus of successive governments s

Google India to mentor 1 mn Indian women entrepreneurs: Antony Blinken

Applauding the efforts of the US-India Alliance for Women's Economic Empowerment that connects the private sector and civil society to help women grow their businesses, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that Google India has committed to mentoring 1 million Indian women entrepreneurs. Launching US Strategy on Global Women's Economic Security here on Wednesday, Blinken also said that the Biden administration will promote women's entrepreneurship by addressing some of the challenges that too often hold women back, including a lack of mentorship and training opportunities. "We're working to both create and also, as appropriate, replicate efforts like the US-India Alliance for Women's Economic Empowerment," Blinken said. "That connects the private sector and civil society to provide Indian women with technical skills and networking opportunities to help them grow their businesses. At the alliance's launch, Google India committed to mentoring one million Indian women ...

Women leaders: A way to IPO success?

Indian society may be more advanced than we think it is

Top 500 NSE-listed companies have 18% women directors, reveals study

Gender diversity in boardrooms is picking up, though at a slower pace, with women accounting for nearly 18 per cent of the directorships in the top 500 NSE-listed companies at the end of March this year, according to a study. In the study titled 'Corporate India: Women on boards', proxy advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS) on Tuesday said that at a global level, boardroom diversity continues to improve with an average of almost 24 per cent female representation in corporate boardrooms. "India also has progressed in appointing women on company boards; from 6 per cent in 2014 to 14 per cent five years ago. Women now account for 17.6 per cent of directorships of the Nifty-500 companies. "Although the number of women directorships is increasing, the pace of new appointments has faltered with just an aggregate 1 per cent increase over the last three years. Based on these current rates, India will take till 2058 to achieve 30 per cent gender diversity on boards,"

India is catching up but the road is still long, say women leaders

For most women chief executive officers (CEOs) in India, the real job begins after overcoming this one big additional hurdle - to be accepted as the leader

JKRLM Umeed signs pact with Meesho to empower 1,800 self-help group members

Jammu and Kashmir rural livelihoods mission (Umeed) and e-commerce firm Meesho have signed an agreement to support the growth of 1,800 self-help group (SHG) members by providing them an online platform to launch and grow their business and empower rural women entrepreneurs. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed and exchanged in the presence of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha here at Raj Bhavan on Thursday. Congratulating women entrepreneurs of self-help groups (SHGs) and Meesho officials, the Lt Governor said the partnership will help in building lives and livelihoods for rural communities and provide greater access to economic activities, and financial independence to rural women entrepreneurs. The partnership of rural livelihoods mission and e-commerce giant Meesho is a significant step in making niche products of Jammu and Kashmir available to the wider customer base, providing SHGs global market to grow their business, and making them Aatmanirbhar, he observed. From

Three Indian women among 20 Asian lady entrepreneurs in Forbes Nov issue

Three top Indian businesswomen are featured in the Forbes Asia November issue highlighting 20 Asian women who came up with varying strategies that helped their businesses soar despite the uncertainty of the new normal and three years of Covid-19. Soma Mondal, the chairperson of Steel Authority of India Ltd, Namita Thapar, executive director at India business of Emcure Pharma, and Ghazal Alagh, co-founder and chief innovation officer of Honasa Consumer, are on the list. Some of these women operated in hard-hit sectors such as shipping, property, and construction, while others continue to innovate in areas such as technology, pharmaceuticals, and commodities, Forbes said in a press release on Tuesday. The Asia-Pacific region this year has mostly moved on to a post-pandemic era where governments, people, and businesses are learning to live with Covid-19, it said. The other women on the list are from Australia, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and ..

Randi Zuckerberg bats for more women to participate in Web3, crypto

Zuckerberg also toured several startup and venture capital offices and met many investors and founders in Bengaluru