Encubay, a global diversity-focused network, has joined hands with US Consulate General, StrongHer Foundation, and MyStepUp to launch ‘Fempreneurs Upskilling Program’ in India. It is a first-of-its-kind extensive growth program to help women entrepreneurs to acquire critical skills beyond fundraising to grow their businesses. The women entrepreneurs will also get mentorship from industry mentors under this program. It is a sector-agnostic program for early-to-growth-stage women founders from across the country.
The 4-month long program will provide holistic support to women entrepreneurs to scale up their businesses in a sustainable manner. It consists of curated sessions focusing on vision, scaling up, brand building, and fundraising.
Deeksha Ahuja, Founder, Encubay said, “In the past 5 years, female founders have grown by 300 percent, both in India as well as globally. More women are becoming entrepreneurs each year, but they are still receiving only 2% of VC money. Encubay was started with a mission to support the women entrepreneur ecosystem across the globe. Through this program, we are hopeful to navigate critical fundraising journeys for female founders and help their businesses generate sustainable ROI.
“We know what can happen if we bring more women into the workforce and lift them up through the ranks,” said Rob Anderson, Cultural Affairs Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai. “Beyond the values our two countries share of inclusion and opportunity for all, empowering women in the workplace makes economic sense for a company’s – and a country’s – bottom line. The U.S. Consulate General will continue to advocate for women’s economic empowerment through programs like this that help female founders grow their networks and their businesses.”
Ankita Vashistha, Founder, StrongHer Ventures said, “Unfortunately, there’s always been this bias that women don’t necessarily build scalable businesses or they may be doing a hobby or a lifestyle business. However, women have proven that they can build successful businesses and there is a capital available for women. So, when you are pitching to a VC investor, you have to change that mindset of the VC investor as well. We need a lot more inclusive funds out there that are giving equal opportunities to women founders and women-focused businesses. Through this collaboration, our aim is to help as many women”.
Through this program, Encubay aims to have a productive and execution-oriented direction so that the journey of women entrepreneurs is supported by Venture Capitalists worldwide.
The Fempreneurs Upskilling Program will choose 30 women entrepreneurs to be a part of the program through an application process. The last date to apply for the program is 15th November 2022.
