Lets fund women who need Funding !
The empoWer initiative recognises women entrepreneurs & awards the best one with a seed fund, mentoring & excellent networking. Through this crowdfunding campaign we want to raise the price fund of 10L INR & transform the live of a woman ,who will go on to impact more.
What is empoWer ?
empoWer is a wonderful initiative to encourage and equip women entrepreneurs operating in the tech space .It’s a first of its kind program for women and was rolled out in 2016 & was a huge success.Powered by Zone Startups India, the accelerator program shortlists 15 women entrepreneurs and helps them scale their business to new heights. The shortlisted entrepreneurs received tremendous support in terms of mentoring & given valuable networking opportunities .The impact was tremendous as those women leaders whose efforts were found to be most promising received over INR 60 Lakhs in cash in addition to many professional services as takeaways.
This year too, Zone Startups India is all set to empower a new set of rising women stars! We are raising INR 10 L to fund the cash prize for the 1 undisputed winner among 15 finalists & need your help. Please fund this campaign and help us get to our crowdfunding goal.
Zone Startups India understands and recognises the importance of the right mentoring and bankable social networks for all the rising women entrepreneurs. However, to take their tech ventures forward, most women entrepreneurs are in need of seed funding in order to bring their ideas to life and scale their ventures to the next level. Which is why the cash prize plays a major role in accelerating the growth of the shortlisted women entrepreneurs.
Impact : Success stories from 2017
Below are the stories of 2 women entrepreneurs who benefitted from the empoWer initiative last year.
Suhani Mohan, Founder, Saral Design
Saral Designs is a product driven start-up with the mission of solving critical problems in the field of menstruation, hygiene and sanitation. They aim to provide every girl with high quality hygiene solutions, to help her embrace womanhood with dignity.
Suhani won Equity-free seed funding of INR 10 Lakhs from sponsor partners through empoWer.
Pre empoWer:
- Received Seed Funding from Powai Lake Ventures - INR 95 Lakhs
- Won the Acumen Fellowship, Indiafrica Young Visionary Award.
- Coverage in Economic Times, Business Standard, Tech In Asia, YourStory & VCCircle
Post empoWer:
- Raised a bridge round from existing investors
- Won a grant of INR 5 Lakhs
- Won the Anita Borg Institute’s Women Entrepreneur Quest & got a visit to silicon valley for 2 weeks as a part of the quest
- Coverage in Outlook Business and TOI
PIC: Suhani Mohan, spreading smiles every day
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Sanskriti Dawle, Founder, Project Mudra
projectmudra is a start-up by alumni of BITS Pilani to put Braille within reach of all visually impaired people.
Won Tech Grant by GIZ of INR 7 Lakhs worth of services from professional organisations of choice through empoWer
Pre empoWer:
- 100% bootstrapped business with around INR 5 Lakhs investment
- Project Mudra won the GTRS award by UK Trade & Investment
- Also awarded the 'Best Social Innovation' by InTech50
Post empoWer
- Raised INR 1.3 Cr from angel investors
- Was a part of Sandbox Startups 500K Biz Launchpad by the Deshpande Foundation
- Participant in Conquest 2016, an international startup conclave organised by BITS Pilani the Mass Challenge UK Dell Startup Challenge
PIC: Sanskriti Dawle, brightening lives of the visually impaired
These overwhelming achievements and the acceleration of Suhani and Sanskriti’s efforts are not just inspiring, but also validate the pressing need for such initiatives in the country. This year, the empoWer accelerator program is expecting to receive over 250 applications for the program. Women entrepreneurs exploring deep tech, and building technology driven ventures, be it a social impact start-up or one on consumer internet will be best fits for the program.
empoWer : Program Schedule
The program will kick start on September 1st, 2017, with a series of roadshows in selected cities of the country, to create awareness about the initiative and also inspire women entrepreneurs to come forward and apply for the empoWer initiative.
Once all the applications come in, there will be several rounds of selection for the program that’s set to accelerating the success of women entrepreneurs. Many renowned industry experts and influencers like Avani Davda, MD - Godrej Nature's Basket, Deepali Naair, Chief Marketing and Digital Officer, IIFL, Vicki Saunders, Founder & CEO, SheEO - an international women entrepreneurs network and fund based out of Toronto and many more will be on the board to shortlist entries. These influencers will also mentor the finalists following which one winner will be selected on 15th December.
The empoWer initiative needs your backing to raise INR 10 L, to be able to raise funds for the seed fund for the winner! You can be a part of the change you always wished to see.
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empoWer : Key takeaways of the Program
- Equity Free Seed Fund of 10 Lakh for 3 women entrepreneurs from each track
- Access to Amazon Launchpad program to exclusively market one entrepreneur to millions of Amazon customers
- Seed Investment upto 50 Lakhs by Social Alpha - an initiative by Tata Trust, to eligible entrepreneurs
- Exclusive Media and PR Coverage
Our Partners
Some of the biggest and best brands in India are partnering with us in this initiative .
About Zone Startups India
Zone Startups India is the international footprint of the Toronto-based Ryerson Futures Inc., an early technology accelerator and seed stage investment fund. In India, we have been set up in a joint venture with the Bombay Stock Exchange; and are the only independent accelerator in India to be supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. We have been operating in India for 3 yrs now, during which our portfolio has grown to comprise 120 startups that have been through our flagship accelerator - Zone Startups India; and we have impacted over 150 startups indirectly. 30 of our startups have raised in excess of $11.5 Mn, cumulatively, and created over 600 net new knowledge economy jobs.
FAQs
How does crowdfunding work?
Crowdfunding in India is a relatively new concept & is growing very quickly.
It’s a concept that allows a large number of funders (like you) to fund an Idea or a cause or event by giving small amounts of money online. Fueladream.com is a crowdfunding platform in India that allows for such a pooling of funds.
You can fund innovations & ideas on FuelADream and be the first to get these products or make them come true. You can also do a good turn by funding charities and causes through crowdfunding. When you fund a charity it’s more like a donation & you get small innovative rewards like a shout-out on an FB page or a thank you email from the beneficiaries.
