Voluntary bodies steering startups in northern region

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 8

As women-owned business enterprises play an important role in society, many not-for-profit (voluntary) organisations in the region are taking initiatives to encourage startups by women. It is felt that many women have entrepreneurial ambitions but it is often difficult for them to succeed because of certain impediments. Tricity-based Startup Accelerator Chamber of Commerce (SACC) is working towards promoting women entrepreneurship.

“A startup ecosystem can never be strong without women participation. It is unfortunate that in our country only 13% women are involved in businesses. At SACC India, our motto is to change this situation. Our incubators house most of the startups with women participation on top positions”, said SACC president Manipal Dhariwal.

Women must participate

A startup ecosystem can never be strong without women participation. Our incubators house most of the startups with women participation on top positions. —Manipal Dhariwal, SACC president

Of the 100 startups incubated at SACC’s five incubators (Panchkula, Karnal, Hisar, Gurugram, Faridabad and startup in a box in Mohali), over 60% have women in leadership positions.

“We are building partnerships for bringing benefits such as seed capital. We are also on track to add a large women mentor pool consisting of successful women entrepreneurs who are open to helping others. By forming such inclusive strong entrepreneurial communities and clusters, we plan to facilitate a strong mentor-mentee connect,” Manipal said.

Similarly, TiE (a non-profit, global community engaged in supporting startups) Women Chandigarh is running boot camps, accelerator and mentoring sessions. It has also announced their quarterly “Open Mic Night” sessions to be held on July 17 for women entrepreneurs in Chandigarh, Punjab, J&K and Himachal. It is a platform where women are given opportunity to pitch their businesses and ask for any kind of support, irrespective of the stage of their startup, whether it is networking, funding, market strategy or just feedback on their business models. “We believe every woman deserves a fair chance to do business. And not just validate but scale as well,” said Ritika Singh, Chair-TiE Women Chandigarh Chapter.

Similarly, Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry Chandigarh Council is taking initiatives to educate women on how to start a business with MSMEs and startup council.