Women entrepreneurs in Bengaluru! Apply for Futurepreneur Grand Challenge 2020 and share your inspiring story with the world

A report on 'Unlocking Entrepreneurship Opportunities for Women' by Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME), supported by Facebook, estimates that by 2025, there could be a potential 900k additional women entrepreneurs in the food and education sector, subject to right interventions.

GAME is a platform for mission-aligned partners to learn, innovate and collaboratively build a self-sustaining mass entrepreneurship ecosystem. By identifying and scaling breakthroughs with partners, they want to build a movement for creating and sustaining 10 million job-creating ‘mass entrepreneurs’, half of whom will be women. The organisation focuses on the “missing middle” of the entrepreneurship spectrum, those who typically employ 5-20 people and have been the engines of job growth in a majority of dynamic economies.

Representing mass entrepreneurs in Bengaluru

To help identify Bengaluru-based micro/small-scale women entrepreneurs operating in the food and beverage sector, especially those who have braved hardships and beaten all the odds to get their businesses up and running, GAME, in collaboration with Facebook, has launched the Futurepreneur Grand Challenge 2019-2020.

Srinivas Rao Mahankali, CEO of GAME, said that the Challenge was launched, “so that micro and small entrepreneurs get the opportunity to tell their stories and so that their voice is heard”.

Who can participate?

GAME is looking for women entrepreneurs who are operating in the food and beverage sector in Bengaluru.

If you are a women entrepreneur running a cafe, providing home-cooked or pre-packaged meals, selling jams, pickles and other products online or through a store - don’t miss out on this opportunity and apply today.

It does not matter if you have zero employees. The challenge is open to women entrepreneurs who are employing up to 20 employees. You could be running your business from your home or through a storefront, catering to businesses or individual customers, selling products or services – all of which make you eligible for the competition.

What's in it for women entrepreneurs?

There are several prizes up for grabs for the top 15 winners. While the 1^st prize winner will be awarded Rs 1,00,000, those coming between 2nd and 5th will be awarded Rs 50,000 each. Winners from the 6th place to the 15th will be awarded Rs 20,000 each.

GAME, Facebook and its partner organisations will support women entrepreneurs in many other ways, including:

• Mentoring and training
• Market linkage support (such as connecting to online food delivery platforms, online marketplaces, corporate catering companies, opportunities to sell your food at stalls in melas / stalls in companies, etc.)
• Financial linkage support (through small loans, social security products such as shop insurance, etc.)
• Learning workshops featuring top entrepreneurs in India

Moreover, the top 100 winners will also get a chance to attend a Facebook Boost workshop and learn how to use the Facebook family of apps, tools and services to boost their businesses. The grand finale will take place at the beautiful Bohemian House in Bengaluru.

Be a part of the mass entrepreneur diaries

A go-getter, mass entrepreneur and an advocate of women empowerment, Manasmita Patra’s startup, Fresh Phulka, supplies freshly-made variants of phulkas across Bengaluru. Manasmita started producing rotis from home, and as the demand grew, she started employing more women. She now employs 17 women and delivers phulkas not just to several corporate offices, but also to five-star restaurants.

With an entrepreneurial zeal and an innovative streak like no other, Seema is a nano-entrepreneur who founded Chitti's Kitchen, a startup that provides delicious pickles and powders, and supplies healthy home-cooked meals around Bengaluru.

If you have a similar story of overcoming obstacles with sheer grit and determination, this challenge is for you. Alternatively, if you know of any woman entrepreneur who fits the above description - please nominate her for this challenge. Hurry up, the last date to apply is March 15, 2020.

Registration Link: http://bit.ly/2wyBZKm