March 8, 2018
The WEP platform was thrown open by Amitabh Kant, the CEO of NITI Aayog, on March 8th, in presence of UN Resident Coordinator in India, Yuri Afanasiev.
The WEP was envisaged during the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in November 2017, which was themed around “Women First, Prosperity for All”.
Led by Anna Roy, Adviser (Industry) of NITI Aayog, WEP will provide an enabling network of industry collaborations, partnerships, mentors and peer-to-peer connect.
Leading corporates and industry bodies such as the NASSCOM, CII, FICCI, SIDBI, Facebook and Mann Deshi Foundation have partnered with WEP to provide support.
The National Institution for Transforming India, also known as NITI Aayog, has launched the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) on the occasion of International Women’s Day on March 8th. The initiative is aimed at building an ecosystem for women across India to realize their entrepreneurial aspirations, scale-up innovative initiatives and chalk-out sustainable, long-term strategies for their businesses. NITI Aayog is a policy think tank of the Government of India, established with the aim to achieve Sustainable Development Goals and to improve the participation of all relevant stakeholders in the economic policy-making process. The platform was thrown open by Amitabh Kant, the CEO of NITI Aayog, in New Delhi, in presence of UN Resident Coordinator in India, Yuri Afanasiev.
The WEP was envisaged during the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in November 2017 in Hyderabad, which was themed around “Women First, Prosperity for All”. It aims to provide an enabling network of industry collaborations, partnerships, mentors and peer-to-peer connect. With an informative, interactive website to act as a dedicated resource and knowledge base, WEP aims to address the bottlenecks faced by both aspiring and established women entrepreneurs by streamlining information across government and private sector schemes and initiatives. Established under the leadership of Anna Roy, Adviser (Industry) of NITI Aayog, the platform aspires to substantially increase the number of women entrepreneurs who will drive a societal and economic growth of New India.
WEP is to operate within a broader framework of industry collaborations and partnerships, which cut across sectors in the economy. From providing unique services such as credit evaluation of women-led startups by CRISIL and potential equity investments through a US$1.5 million fund established by DICE Districts, the WEP opens up avenues of growth and opportunity for women entrepreneurs. Several leading corporates and industry bodies such as the NASSCOM, CII, FICCI, SIDBI, Facebook and Mann Deshi Foundation have partnered with WEP to provide business acceleration, mentorship and other start-up support for women entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, at the WEP launch, nominations for the Women Transforming India Awards for 2018 were also opened by Mr Kant and Mr Afanasiev.
For more information on WEP, click here