Indira Jain, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Indira Nooyi, Naina Kidwai and Suchi Mukherjee, what all these phenomenal ladies have in common besides their passion for excellence, is that they are just a few names in the not-so-long list of women entrepreneurs in India. Despite India being one of the biggest democracies in the world, 50% of our population is not yet reflected in the fertile commercial landscape, and much less in the start-up genre.
Zone startups India plans to address this issue, through its one-of-a-kind POWERED Accelerator. This week, the program has selected 10 women entrepreneurs as its first cohort entering the POWERED Accelerator program. POWERED Accelerator is the first-of-its-kind accelerator, focusing on women-led businesses in the energy value chain, in an effort to address twin Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Gender Equality (SDG 5) and Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7).
Speaking to IamRenew,
POWERED Accelerator supports female-led ventures by helping them expand their innovative and consumer-responsive products and services. The ultimate goal is to empower women-owned and -managed businesses in the energy space, namely sustainable mobility, waste to value, energy efficiency, and smart energy solutions.
Partnering with UK Government’s (Department for International Development) DFID India, Shell Foundation (the independent global charity), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India; Zone Startups India launched the POWERED Accelerator has expanded from Mumbai to six cities across India.
The ten entrepreneurs selected for the first cohort will receive support for one year to scale their business including a six-week residential mentoring program and access to an equity-free seed fund of $10,000 each.
Women have come a long way from just being a homemaker. Beating all the odds, women have proved themselves time and again and female entrepreneurs have become instrumental in fighting gender stereotyping in the business community.
POWERED Accelerator program has started to invite applications for its second cohort on its website.
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