Women Entrepreneurship Programme WEP: The nation’s commercial and economic growth have significantly increased as a result of the growing number of women who are entrepreneurs. Women-owned businesses are contributing significantly to society by creating jobs, changing the demographics of the nation, and serving as an example for the next generation of female entrepreneurs.
The goal of fostering the sustainable growth of female entrepreneurs for balanced national development, Startup India is dedicated to advancing women’s entrepreneurship in India through programs, campaigns, the establishment of supportive communities and networks, and the fostering of collaborations amongst various startup ecosystem participants.
Women Entrepreneurship Programme WEP
The Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) is a scheme launched by the Niti Aayog in partnership with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).
It will provide an ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship among women all over India.
WEP is a non-profit organization that helps women to drive towards the entrepreneurship. In literal, in knowledge based web portal where women can able to get all the information and interaction to the expertise person who can guide them towards the entrepreneurship.
Women Entrepreneurship Programme (About)
The initiative is aimed at building an ecosystem for women across India to realize their entrepreneurial aspirations, scale-up innovative initiatives and chalk-out sustainable, long-term strategies for their businesses.
The platform aspires to substantially increase the number of women entrepreneurs who will create and empower a dynamic New India. These aspirations are manifest in the three pillars on which WEP is built:
- Ichha Shakti (motivating aspiring entrepreneurs to start their enterprise)
- Gyaan Shakti (providing knowledge and ecosystem support to women entrepreneurs to help them foster entrepreneurship)
- Karma Shakti (providing hands-on support to entrepreneurs in setting-up and scaling up businesses).
WEP aims to address the bottlenecks faced by both aspiring and established women entrepreneurs by streamlining information across government and private sector schemes and initiatives.
An informative, interactive website – https://www.wep.gov.in/ acts as a dedicated resource and knowledge base for women entrepreneurs.
Women Entrepreneurship Programme (Objective)
- to assist and mentor women-owned businesses around the country financially. By taking these steps, the strategy seeks to expand the number of women employed by businesses, providing them with more opportunities for employment and a safe work environment.
- to expedite female entrepreneurs’ endeavors by creating enduring, viable business plans.
- Through the integration of data from several programs in the public and private sectors, we can lessen the informational obstacles faced by female entrepreneurs, both new and seasoned.
- establishing a vibrant atmosphere for entrepreneurship through connections to the sector, partnerships, and mentors.
Features of Women Entrepreneurship Programme
The WEP is built on three foundational pillars which are:
- Karma Shakti: Hands-on, practical support in establishing and expanding a business idea
- Gyaan Shakti: Providing knowledge and a supportive ecosystem to encourage women’s entrepreneurship
- Iccha Shakti: Motivation for aspiring women entrepreneurs to launch their own business
Apart from this, the programme provides the following benefits to women entrepreneurs:
- Support for incubation and acceleration of startups that are founded or co-founded by women
- Support to start and scale up a business from scratch through professional hand-holding support
- Partnering with organisations to conduct outreach programmes across the country that encourages entrepreneurship among women
- Professional motivating sessions by established women entrepreneurs for mutual learning through sharing of their entrepreneurial experiences and journeys
- Facilitation of corporate partnerships
- Facilitation of apprenticeship with corporates
- Support for funding
- Mentorship by established and successful entrepreneurs
- Free credit ratings for businesses
Women Entrepreneurship Programme Eligibility
The criteria to be eligible for this programme are women entrepreneurs who:
- Have an established startup
- Have a new startup
- Have a business idea
The following entities who can provide support to women entrepreneurs are also eligible to apply for this programme:
- Research organisations
- Non-Governmental Organisations
- Accelerators
- Incubators
- Corporates
Women Entrepreneurship Programme Services offered
In addition to offering services like free credit reports, corporate collaborations, funding support for female entrepreneurs, mentoring, and apprenticeships, WEP will encourage business owners to share their experiences, stories, and entrepreneurial journeys in order to foster mutual learning.
In partnership with partner organizations, the WEP platform, acting as a catalyst for change, will also support outreach programs and offline efforts aimed at encouraging the spirit of entrepreneurship among prospective female entrepreneurs.
Partners of Women Entrepreneurship Programme
WEP will function within a more comprehensive structure of industrial alliances and partnerships that span all economic sectors. To see the list of participating partners,
Steps to Register on the Women Entrepreneurship Platform
To Register on the platform, the user needs to follow the below-given steps:
- First of all, go to the official website of the platform.
- The homepage of the website will open on the screen
- Click on the Register button
- The registration form will open on the screen
- Now, fill in the form with all the required details like
- First Name
- Last Name
- Mobile Number
- After that set your desired password
- Now, Confirm your password
- Finally, click on the Create Account button to complete the registration process
Steps to Login
Applicants need to follow the below-given steps to Login into the Portal
- First of all, go to the official website of the platform.
- The homepage of the website will open on the screen
- Click on the Login Button.
- Once you will click on the Login button, the login page will open on the screen
- Now, enter your registered Email id and the Password
- After that enter the captcha code
- Finally, click on the login button to get logged in to your registered account.
Launch Details (Women Entrepreneurship Programme)
On March 8, 2018, International Women’s Day, the nation’s capital saw the unveiling of the WEP platform by Mr. Amitabh Kant, the current CEO of NITI Aayog. The purpose of the country’s establishment of the WEP platform is to foster the entrepreneurship ecosystem among women nationwide.
The WEP theme song, “Naari Shakti,” was unveiled during the launch event by pop-rock musician and well-known Bollywood playback vocalist Kailash Kher, who is located in India. The introduction of the 2018 nominees for the Women Transforming India Award is another highlight of the event.
Expectation on Launching (Women Entrepreneurship Programme)
One of NITI Aayog’s leaders, Ms. Anna Roy, stated during the ceremony that the recently published WEP will serve as a gateway for Indian women to enter the world of entrepreneurship. The country as a whole will gain power as a result, and in the near future, we may witness a vibrant new India.
Women are recommended to register on the WEP’s official portal in order to take advantage of all the benefits provided by the program, as the implementation of the WEP has created a bottleneck scenario for women entering the corporate world.