BRICS CCI launches WISE Whitepaper on Women Innovators

By: Women Entrepreneurs Review Team | Friday, 24 July 2026

The Women Empowerment Vertical of the BRICS Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BRICS CCI WE) has released a whitepaper titled ‘Women in Innovation, Science & Entrepreneurship (WISE): Challenges and Opportunities' which provides a path to empower women in science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship in the BRICS countries. The report pinpoints the main structural impediments to women's growth and outlines policy and institutional measures to establish more inclusive innovation ecosystems.

The whitepaper has been prepared after the BRICS CCI WE Trailblazers Roundtable 2026, which was organized on a theme ‘Women in Innovation, Science & Entrepreneurship (WISE): Challenges and Opportunities'. The meetings included representatives from the government, industry, start-up ecosystems, law enforcement, and technology and business sectors from the BRICS nations to discuss issues women entrepreneurs encounter and how these can be addressed through cooperation between countries.

The report also takes into account the activities of the WISE initiative which was launched at the BRICS Women's Business Alliance (WBA) Annual Plenary Meeting, also held during the 2025 BRICS Summit, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The project will encourage cooperation among the BRICS countries with regard to the advancement of women's role in innovation, science, technology and entrepreneurship.

Key Highlights:

• BRICS CCI WE launches WISE whitepaper to strengthen women-led innovation across BRICS
• The report identifies seven key barriers, including funding gaps, gender bias, and low STEM representation
• Recommends a BRICS WISE Fund and stronger policy support for women innovators

The 2026 roundtable brought together several influential leaders including Ruby Sinha, President of BRICS CCI WE and Programme Lead for WISE; HRH Lebogang Zulu, National Chairperson of BRICS Women's Business Alliance South Africa; Monica Maghami, Regulatory, Technology and Sustainability Lawyer; Glaucia Regina Alves, CEO of HSM, Singularity Brazil and Learning Village; Geovana Quadros, President of Inspiring Women; Dr. Ananta Singh Raghuvanshi, Founder and Chairperson of NAREDCO MAHI; Dr. Sulochana Segera, Founder and Chairperson of Women in Management; Shormishtha Ghosh, Founder of InTandem Global Consulting; Rashmi Gupta, Head of Marketing and Customer Experience at Esri India; Mohita Gattani, Founder and CEO of MedGlobal360; Bogusia Dhingra, Head of Marketing and Public Relations at Defence Bakery and Alma Bakery; Ankita Sachdev, Joint Director of BRICS CCI.

At the event, Ruby Sinha emphasized that gender equality in STEM needs to go beyond awareness building and transform into economic systems that can support women to lead innovation in the global ecosystem. She emphasized the need for creating an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem and providing equal opportunity for women in leadership positions and emerging technologies.

Lebogang Zulu emphasized the importance of going beyond gender equality to gender equity. Her policies and institutional support agenda should be centred on solving the "real problems" women encounter in entrepreneurship and innovation, rather than just representing women.

The white paper highlights seven important structural issues that impact women in the BRICS innovation ecosystems. These encompass entrenched social and cultural biases, inadequate funding and investor networks, lack of intellectual property protection, lack of representation in advanced STEM and digital sectors, career progression barriers for mid-career women professionals, gaps in the governance and policy implementation, and women's unpaid economic contributions being overlooked.

Although the participation of women in education and entrepreneurship has been on the rise, women-led start-ups still receive a very small proportion of VC investments, the report said. The report further highlights that many female innovators face challenges to protect their IP rights and commercialize their innovations in competitive markets.

The report also identifies a number of emerging opportunities that may help to speed up the involvement of women in innovation along with these challenges. It highlights key factors for inclusive economic growth, including digital transformation, artificial intelligence, cross-border collaboration, women-led business networks, and increased institutional support for gender-responsive innovation. It also highlights the need for innovation labs, hackathons, international cooperation, mentoring and knowledge sharing platforms to create greater market access and opportunities for women entrepreneurs.

The whitepaper suggests the creation of gender-responsive procurement policy, a dedicated BRICS WISE Fund for women innovators, blending of finance mechanisms, gender AI and digital literacy programs, a structured career re-entry policy for women professionals, enhancing gender diversity in leadership positions, cross-border innovation labs and accelerators, and a Women Entrepreneurs Digital Registry for better visibility and market access.

The report also recommends the establishment of a more effective support system for mothers and caregivers in BRICS countries, harmonization of IP protection regimes, and greater cooperation between governments, academia, industry and multilateral entities to build women-led innovation ecosystems.

The whitepaper ends with a gradual roadmap for implementation with emphasis on enhancing data collection, connecting with stakeholders, policy development, financing, and collaborative efforts within future engagements of BRICS. It says that long-term collaboration between the member countries of the BRICS is vital to developing opportunities for women innovators and entrepreneurs and creating a more inclusive and resilient innovation ecosystem.