The NITI Aayog and a US-based tech giant, Cisco launched the next phase of the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) on August 26, 2021.

Highlights

• This phase of the WEP has been titled as ‘WEPNxt’.
• It will leverage technology from Cisco and experience working with India’s start-up ecosystem in order to enable more women-owned businesses in India.
• Cisco, in collaboration with Sattva Consulting, Nasscom Foundation, and DeAsra Foundation, will enable technology-led experiences and engagements in a bid to address the challenges that women entrepreneurs face at individual as well as enterprise levels.

According to the Sixth Economic Census, women only comprise of 13.76 per cent of the total entrepreneurs, amounting to 8.05 million out of total 58.5 million entrepreneurs in India.

WEP Nxt will catalyse women entrepreneur movement. This technology platform will soon become a personalised guide for every woman entrepreneur in India and help them to realise her dreams. It is a significant step to augment these efforts. It will be driven by evidence-based decision making on the basis of focused study of Indian women entrepreneurs and their urgent needs across following factors:

1. Community and networking,
2. Skilling and mentorship,
3. Incubation and acceleration programs,
4. Financial, compliance, and marketing assistance.

WEP is a first of its kind unified access portal. It brings women from different parts of India together and help them to realise their entrepreneurial aspirations. Platform was launched by the NITI Aayog in 2017. It brings together women from diverse backgrounds and provides them access to multiple resources, support, and learning.

By: Brijesh Kumar