Chennai, NFAPost: Tech Mahindra has announced collaboration with NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) to support women entrepreneurs across the country. Tech Mahindra will provide mentorship, co-create solutions leveraging new age technologies and support in developing a go-to-market strategy.
As part of the collaboration, Tech Mahindra has partnered with the winners of Women Transforming India (WTI) Awards, a flagship initiative of NITI Aayog to recognise women leaders in entrepreneurship across various sectors like Healthcare and Lifesciences, Agritech and Education among others.
Tech Mahindra’s Research & Development arm, Makers lab will support women entrepreneurs through joint research, building go-to-market strategies to drive their growth and by leveraging next-generation technologies to develop cutting-edge solutions.
Tech Mahindra Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer CP Gurnani said, “Empowering women and creating equal opportunities play a crucial role in building and sustaining a gender-equal world. Our partnership with WEP will enable us to nurture an ecosystem for women entrepreneurs that can foster entrepreneurial conditions as well as facilitate technological support for innovative ideas and better positioning.”
Through this collaboration, Tech Mahindra and WEP will jointly focus on breeding new ideas, identifying gaps and providing technological prowess to develop innovative solutions for better positioning in the market and commercial success.
NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said, “The next-big disruption in the Indian startup ecosystem will be driven by women-led entrepreneurs, with digital platforms being the biggest enabler. This partnership with Tech Mahindra underscores our mutual commitment of leveraging new-age technologies to uplift societies and support the aspirations of women entrepreneurs in India.”
Tech Mahindra will support the women entrepreneurs to build a robust ecosystem for them and help them in long-term business strategies. The WTI Awards comes under the aegis of WEP, a first of its kind, unified access portal which brings together ecosystem players and industry to provide support to women entrepreneurs from different parts of India and help them realise their entrepreneurial aspirations.
Tech Mahindra Global Head of Makers Lab Nikhil Malhotra said, “Women constitute a critical part of our workforce and their up-skilling in digital technologies is going to be a key driver in promoting entrepreneurship to build a self-reliant India. Our collaboration with NITI Aayog, as part of our TechMNxt charter, is an opportunity to support established as well as aspiring women entrepreneurs. In line with the same, we are enabling 10 women entrepreneurs working in the domain of Technology, Health, Lifesciences, Agritech, and Education to scale up growth.”
Women Transforming India (WTI) Awards are organised in partnership with the United Nations and recognise and celebrate the contributions of women who are not just addressing and solving key societal challenges but also challenging the stereotypes and breaking the glass ceiling.
NITI Aayog Senior Adviser Anna Roy said, “WEP aims to empower women in their entrepreneurial journey by creating an enabling ecosystem for them and supporting them in overcoming systemic barriers and contextual challenges. We are happy to partner with Tech Mahindra to facilitate a transformational and inspirational journey for the WTI winners.”
Tech Mahindra, under its TechMNxt charter, continues to focus on leveraging next-generation technologies to disrupt and enable digital transformation, and to build cutting-edge technology solutions and services for customers globally.
The Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) is NITI Aayog’s flagship initiative that has been envisioned as a novel unified access portal for women entrepreneurs. It strives to improve industry linkages and awareness of existing programs and services and provide access to peer support, learning resources, fundraising opportunities and mentorship.
With an overarching objective of becoming an aggregator platform that solves for the information asymmetry in the ecosystem, WEP serves as a one stop solution for information and services relevant to women entrepreneurs. The platform currently hosts over 16,000 registered users and 30 partners and caters to six focus areas: Funding & Financial Management, Incubation Connects, Taxation & Compliance Support, Entrepreneur Skilling & Mentorship, Community & Networking and Marketing Assistance.
