CII CIES to launch a Programme to recognise 100 Women Entrepreneurs

By: WE Staff | Wednesday, 15 February 2023

The CII Centre for Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Startups (CII-CIES) has created a programme to honour female founders and co-founders who are using technology to advance innovation, change, and social impact. "The goal is to recognise and honour 100 women founders/co-founders with innovative enterprises across India through a compendium, promote their ground-breaking businesses extensively both in India and abroad, roll out a series of fireside chats by the selected women startups to discuss their exciting, creative ideas and ambitious goals that will inspire others, and more," says Varun Akhnoor, Director, CII Centre of Excellence for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology.

The programme will feature a compendium to thoroughly highlight these trailblazing companies in India and worldwide as well as a series of fireside talks with founders of chosen women-founded entrepreneurs who will share their inspiring, cutting-edge concepts, aspirational goals, and ambitious plans. "This Women in Innovation project intends to draw growth-stage firms that have been in operation for three years or longer, with PwC serving as its knowledge partner. We are inviting startups who are generating income, have paying clients, and have a ready product," he continued. The compendium will be released at a ceremony on March 16 that also serves to inaugurate the CII-new CIES's Hyderabad office.

Past female presidents such as Shobana Kamineni, Anushree Ram, and Suchitra Ella—all well-known businesswomen—will attend the occasion. 

The main focus of this programme is market access, which offers female entrepreneurs corporate connections, mentorship, awareness, and access to funding and resources. According to Varun, "We offer engagement in a hybrid style for six to eight months after the applications are evaluated and decisions are decided by a panel of women industry executives along with PwC. Market access is one of our main strengths. We work with almost 9,000 corporate organisations as partners, and our current initiatives concentrate on giving this to entrepreneurs in the growth stage. In the past four months, we have onboarded six corporate clients. different ways to interact Three interaction models are available through the programme.

One is that CII-CIES identifies the corporate needs for innovation. 

Thirdly, a corporation can invest solely in a startup from a strategic standpoint if there is a specific answer the corporate is seeking for with a startup. For instance, if a woman entrepreneur wants to connect with a Tata company, Infosys, or Wipro to provide technology, we assist those links, he continues. Not just a handshake, either. We collaborate with corporations to discover needs on both sides. Varun thinks there won't be a need for many interventions because the chosen firms will be at their growth stage.

"We are certain that most entrepreneurs know what they are doing, but if we can support them in case they want to modify their offering or create a business plan deck, or anything as simple as how to pitch to a corporation," he continues. They are also considering private pitching events for startups and corporations, similar to the ICONN programme now offered by CII-CIES. A business can get more involved if it finds a startup solution valuable. The organisation, along with Infosys, organised a Women in Stem compendium the previous year, identifying 50 women working in the field. With the goal of becoming the largest network for career women, CII launched the Indian Women Network (IWN) in 2013.

The idea behind the creation of IWN was that career women needed an organised network to connect with other like-minded individuals to discuss and resolve issues they might be having at work. Through projects and events, IWN strives to give women the tools they need to excel as professionals and achievers in their particular industries. Applying to the Women in Innovation programme is open to female entrepreneurs here. The main requirements are tech-enabled companies, women owning at least 51% of the company, at least one paying customer, and being in the early stages of growth with at least five years of operation.