NITI Aayog launches Women Entrepreneurship platform on International Women’s Day
On the occasion of International Women's Day, India’s premier think tank NITI Aayog launched Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP), aimed at providing a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem where women do not face gender barriers.
At the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in November 2017, discussions around women entrepreneurship challenges took centrestage, and at the culmination of the three-day summit, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant announced the launch of a Women's Entrepreneurship Platform.
Delivering on its promise to boost the women entrepreneurship ecosystem in India, the government think tank unveiled the platform on International Women’s Day.
NITI Aayog unveiled the Women Entrepreneurship Platform in Delhi on March 8.In the presence of several women founders, industry leaders and other dignitaries, including UN Resident Coordinator in India Yuri Afanasiev, and Ramanan Ramanathan, Mission Director of Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog CEO Kant officially launched the platform in Delhi.
“The platform aims to bring all stakeholders together to create a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem where women do not face any gender-based barriers. The platform will aspire to substantially increase the number of women entrepreneurs who will create and empower a dynamic New India,” he said.
Objectives of the platform
WEP aspires to provide opportunities for women to realise their entrepreneurial aspirations, scale-up innovative initiatives, and chalk-out sustainable, long-term strategies for their businesses.
The platform intends to promote women entrepreneurship by collaborating with various partner organisations; provide industry linkages and partner support to women entrepreneurs; increase the visibility of existing schemes, programmes and services across government and private sectors; identify and address issues and bottlenecks through appropriate channels; develop a national database through a centralised portal for registration of women entrepreneurs; and provide evidence-based policy recommendations to develop a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Onboarding experts to handhold women entrepreneurs
To provide support and mentoring to women entrepreneurs in India, the platform has partnered with several ventures and industry bodies including NASSCOM, CRISIL, SIDBI, Shopclues, CII, FICCI, Facebook, and many others.
At the event, the partner companies unveiled their offerings and how their platform will help boost the women entrepreneurship ecosystem.
“We are delighted to collaborate with NITI Aayog on this important initiative. CRISIL will provide technology-enabled verification and assessment solution to women entrepreneurs on the NITI Aayog platform. Going ahead, CRISIL plans to help women entrepreneurs in screening of business ideas on digital platform,” said Amish Mehta, CEO of CRISIL.
At the event, Amitabh Kant also unveiled the third edition of the Women Transforming India Awards 2018, in partnership with United Nations.
The awards’ last two editions have honoured women who have established themselves as role models for the women of tomorrow.
The theme of this year’s campaign is ‘Women and Entrepreneurship’ and this year's edition winners will receive rewards and mentorship by WEP.