Rising Women: A women first founder-investor conclave

As part of the Women Wielding the Workplace initiative, supported by U.S. Consulate General, Kolkata, we conducted a two day long event at Ameriacn Center, Kolkata on 14^th and 15^th March. The meet was attended by women leaders from different fields, women entrepreneurs, academicians, students, researchers and investors to name a few. This meet delved into conversation on two themes, ‘#InvestInHerBusiness’ and ‘InvestInHerSkills’ with the objective of chartering a route map to continue supporting women entrepreneurs in doing business and young girls in joining the workforce. Here are some highlights:

Building positive dialogues on women in workforce:

Advocating for the rights of women at workplace

1. Better working conditions for women, such as access to hygiene and healthcare
2. Ensuring zero discrimination at workplaces by incorporating policies of equal pay and eliminate any kind of biases at work.
3. Equal distribution of unpaid care work at home among partners and other family members.

1. Suggested good practice at work
2. Provision for affordable care units at workplaces
3. Adopting gender sensitive wellbeing practices at work including better work-life balance and taking break from work when needed
4. Gender sensitive supply chain models that promotes and supports women entrepreneurs.

Using technology and innovation to support women in workforce:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mpower-u: This innovative platform by Ecodev Solutions aim to provide comprehensive support, leveraging advanced technology and behavioral sciences to enhance entrepreneurs’ effectiveness powered by machine learning and AI.

 

NASSCOM incubates tech-enabled women-led businesses, offers mentorship, facilitates funding access, and boosts productivity in weaving clusters using tech driven solutions.

Association of Computing Machineries -Women wing (ACM-W), works to sustain women in tech through skill-building, information access, and networking opportunities with top talents.

 

ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) is a tech-based initiative in India, that enables e-commerce through an open protocol based on open-source specifications, making it affordable and user friendly for MSMEs and other entrepreneurs. This model can be advocated in other countries to support women entrepreneurs.

 

International efforts to help women go global:

 

• International Exhibition cum fair for women entrepreneurs from Nepal and neighboring countries organized by FWEAN
• Recurring fund creation by FWEAN members that provides collateral free loans to its members in times of need.
• FWEAN values collaboration among like minded people and supports co-production through collective wisdom among the entrepreneurs.
• SAARC Women Entrepreneurs Council also organizing exhibition in SAARC countries promoting women owned good s and services.
• Several networks and chambers are also collaborating with SAARC platforms to build a regional network of women founders in South Asia.
• Existing networks and chambers should advocate for a feasible online payment platform for entrepreneurs selling goods across countries of the South-Asian region.
• FNCCI is advocating for policy development on an integrated e-commerce platform in Nepal for MSMEs. Additionally, they address concerns such as expensive air freight and metal export laws.
• Lisa Glidden leads the OUTSTEPS startup network, collaborating with over 100 students, researchers, and community stakeholders. They aim to co-produce knowledge, value wisdom, and acknowledge their shared environment for a cause.

Innovative capacity building and networking strategy:

Amrita Vishwavidyapeetham introduced the AWESOME (Advancing Women’s Empowerment through Systems Oriented Model Expansion) framework that uses system thinking for holistic women’s empowerment. It emphasizes empowerment of individuals at household, and community levels, considering diverse contexts like environment, culture, and health, while emphasizing continuous monitoring.

 

 

 

 

 

Tahreem Shah shared that, empowerment involves embracing tech, teaching, networking, and communication skills. Global internships enhance skills, fostering innovation through diverse collaboration to address contemporary challenges effectively in emerging sectors.

 

 

 

 

Lisa Glidden of College at SUNY Oswego, notes expanding opportunities for women in sustainability, data science, and entrepreneurship. She stresses diverse team building for innovation and advocates systematic thinking and barrier reduction to sustain women’s labor force participation.

 

 

 

 

Educational institutes are integrating life skills and unique subjects, challenging stereotypes. NGOs are combatting gender discrimination in education policies and curriculum, fostering gender inclusivity.

 

 

 

 

CII-IWN regularly organizes, ‘Campus to Career’ program in colleges, and conducts training sessions on financial literacy, business development, communication skill development to ensure women’s participation in the workforce.

 

 

 

 

Sikkim Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Cell (SEED, Sikkim) fosters youth entrepreneurship through capacity building, training in colleges and aiding access to funds, and mentorship support to entrepreneurs.

 

 

 

 

Dr Lipika Dey, a renowned data scientist shared the power of networking and how specific association and forums (example – Association for Computing Machinery-ACM) can help foster knowledge and connection of its members.

 

 

 

 

Mahbub Gulnahar Monika an athlete , triumphed over her hesitance and now runs a basketball academy at Dhaka, inspiring girls to embrace sports, driven by recognition and livelihood. Her framework of empowering girls can be replicated to address gender biases in the field.

 

 

Crafting business narratives and accessing funds:

 

Impact investors, angle investors, venture builders, venture capitalists and mentors joined in the conversation on accessing capital. Their conversation busted myths and developed a framework to explore diverse funding opportunities.

Identifying Investors:

• VCs are roughly of three kinds, one: who invests on impactdriven businesses, second: those who invest only on commercial businesses, and third, those who are interested in businesses that are both commercially viable and impact oriented.
• Founder-Investor partnership is a long term collaboration that requires a certain level of compatibility, shared interests, passion and goals.
• Venture Builders are the one who mentors and funds ideas to build a scalable business and they a viable option for pree-seed funding.
• Impact investment is a new thing in India and Impact VCs can be a favorable choice for those who are building slow-growth, steady, and impactful businesses.
• Social impact organizations can attract investor funding by adaptingalternative administrative processes and exploring hybrid models, beyond traditional NGO structures, for innovative fundraising.

Crafting Pitch decks:

• A compelling pitch deck is crucial for fundraising, integrating storytelling, strategy, and relationship building.
• Effective communication, showcasing traction and scalability, a solid business plan, key metrics, and innovative storytelling are emphasized by expertswhile presenting a pitch
• It is important to not bombered the pitch with information rather highlight the USPs and delving into interactive conversation can prove effective.

 Things to keep in mind:

• Separating personal and business expenses for maintaining goodwill and sustenance of founder-investor relations alongside fundraising.
• Not all businesses are VC investable, choose investor wisely.
• Havinga diligence check on the investors is essential before pitching.

Learning of entrepreneurs

 

Anindita Sengupta, a tech professional turned agricultural entrepreneur, emphasizes the importance of continuous learning, and overcoming barriers to acquire new skills.

 

 

 

 

 

Bambi Kevichusa, a renowned wedding outfit designer, advises starting small with quality and passion, emphasizing customer relationships, attention to detail and knowing the craft to grow.

 

 

 

 

Alemjungla Jamir, a hospitality professional turned food entrepreneur, advises entrepreneurs to make strategic decisions, emphasizing foresight and financial planning. Her venture promotes local cuisine, providing livelihood opportunities for locals.

 

 

 

Ankita De, a young tech business founder, prioritizes well-being and family time to manage business stress. She underscores team relationships for productivity and growth.

 

 

 

Nino Zhasa, sustainable tourism expert acknowledged the power of learning new things and incorporating lessons learnt in practices. She highlighted on “learn to learn” in order to grow.

 

 

 

Evolving tech-driven innovative models for change:

 

In Nepal, startups like Code Rush  led by Melisha Ghimire, aims to retain young talent by partnering with educational institutions. Shequal Foundation, is another initiative by Ghimire, that focuses on better access to health care and capacitate women in the rural areas with digital technologies.

 

 

 

 

 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Tahreem Shah and her team from Bangladesh developed AmarLab, a user-friendly health app offering doorstep tests and lab results amid faltering health systems in Bangladesh.

 

 

 

 

Ankita De, developed a online platform that offers puja services to devotees. Currently they are operating in more than four thousand temples in India.