DICE Districts partners with NITI Aayog's "Women Entrepreneurship Platform," creates a Rs 10 Crore fund for it

DICE Districts will be making equity investments worth Rs 10 crore into the ventures of the women entrepreneurs that will be identified under WEP.

Mumbai-based DICE Districts has partnered with NITI Aayog's flagship Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) and announced a Rs 10 crore fund for the women entrepreneurs that will be identified under the initiative. This funding will be funnelled to them in the form of equity investments, through their accelerator program.

Launched on International Women’s Day by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, WEP aspires to substantially increase the number of women entrepreneurs, by providing opportunities to women to realize their entrepreneurial aspirations, scale-up innovative initiatives and chalk-out sustainable, long-term strategies for their businesses. The three pillars on which WEP is built are "Ichha Shakti" - that is motivating aspiring entrepreneurs to start their enterprise; "Gyaan Shakti," which is providing knowledge and ecosystem support to women entrepreneurs to help them foster entrepreneurship and lastly, Karma Shakti - providing hands-on support to entrepreneurs in setting-up and scaling up businesses.

Besides the dedicated fund, DICE has also earmarked fifteen seats for up to six months at their co-working space in Mumbai’s Lower Parel, for the finalists of the Women’s Transforming Awards 2018- which is another NITI Aayog initiative, with the theme ‘Women and Entrepreneurship.’

Mumbai-based DICE, which is building India’s first and largest education, knowledge, innovation & entrepreneurship ecosystem, wants to assist NITI Aayog in partnering and collaborating with organisations across sectors in India. In that regard, DICE will also be creating a community of roughly hundred women entrepreneurs and leaders, named ‘Sisters in Business’ to enable mindshare for women entrepreneurs in need of reference points, mentorship as well as crucial access to other industry players.

“DICE Districts plans to provide budding and established Women Entrepreneurs with the access and opportunity to start and grow a business, learn the ropes of finance and digital mechanisms and run a company – while overcoming limited mobility, access to information, networks etc. I sincerely hope that this initiative serves as a catalyst for mainstreaming of women entrepreneurship as an active economic component for the overall economic development of the country,” says Radha Kapoor Khanna, Founder & Executive Director DICE Districts.

WEP's official website www.wep.gov.in - was also designed by DICE District, and will be a dedicated resource and knowledge forum addressing the bottlenecks faced by both, aspiring and established women entrepreneurs. It has a "user-friendly interface, with the information segregated under government and private schemes, initiatives and announcements," Radha informs us.

Radha believes that private players must be proactive in supporting the government’s efforts to promote entrepreneurship in women. “Now, more than ever, State and Central Governments have begun to recognise the often insurmountable contributions made by women entrepreneurs to the socioeconomic well-being of families, communities and nations. It is however critical that the efforts of Government and its agencies are supplemented by the result-oriented steadfastness of private players and organisations,” she says, signing off.