Guwahati: Women-owned business enterprises play a critical role in the socio-economic empowerment of women. However, it is only 7 out of 100 start-ups in India are led by women (IWWAGE, 2020).
It is a ground reality that many women quit their start-up dreams because of a lack of resources, higher risk factors, and lack of marketing, management and financial skills and the burden of compliance costs. Women-led start-ups in eastern and northeast India have often shared that there is an absence of mentorship, and most importantly an ecosystem that can guide and strengthen first-generation women entrepreneurs.
A mentoring platform is being launched on June 28, 2022, at Assam Startup-the nest, for supporting women-led startups in eastern and north eastern India by offering seamless access to Industry experts, domain specialists, statutory compliance professionals, and entrepreneurs to help women startups overcome growth impediments.
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Some of the benefits will be access to sector-specific mentors, support to test proto-type, information on funding sources etc.
The workshop to design and plan the mentoring platform was co-organised by the Assam Startup-IIMCIP, US Consulate General Kolkata and its partner Contact Base (a social enterprise headquartered at Kolkata and with office at Dibrugarh in Assam), as part of a year-long project to increase women’s workforce footprint in South Asia.
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Representatives from different incubation centres, funding bodies, alumni networks, Universities, social organizations and women-led start-ups from Guwahati, Jorhat, Shillong, Kokrajhar, Itanagar, Aizwal, Kohima, Mumbai and Kolkata participated in the workshop.
More information about the program can be found at www.women4economy.net