Context: 

The Government launched the ‘Startup India initiative’ in January 2016 to foster India’s startup culture, promote economic growth, support entrepreneurship, and generate employment opportunities. 

Key Points:

• The initiative also focuses on strengthening women entrepreneurship through policies and enabling networks.

Measures to Promote Women Entrepreneurship in Startup India:

• Fund of Funds for Startups Scheme: Measures taken to promote women entrepreneurship include reserving 10% of the fund (Rs. 1000 crore) in the Fund of Funds for Startups Scheme operated by SIDBI for women-led startups.
• Virtual Incubation Program for Women Entrepreneurs: Virtual Incubation Program for Women Entrepreneurs supports 20 women-led tech startups with pro-bono acceleration support for 3 months.
• Dedicated Webpage for Women Entrepreneurs: A dedicated webpage on the Startup India portal provides policy measures for women entrepreneurs from both Central and State Governments.
• Awareness and Capacity-Building Workshops for Women Entrepreneurs: The department conducts awareness and capacity-building workshops specifically for women entrepreneurs, covering various topics and sharing success stories of entrepreneurs. 
  • These workshops cater to both aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs.
• WING (Women Industrialist Network Groups) Program: It is a capacity development program for existing and aspiring women entrepreneurs. 
  • It offers mentoring sessions in areas such as Venture Ideation and Business Model Validation, Governance, Marketing/Branding, Finance & Financial Decisions, and Mastering Customer Acquisition Strategy & Scaling-up.

News Source: PIB