India Leads BRICS WBA Women's Startups Contest 2026 Applications

By: WE Staff | Thursday, 9 April 2026

• Applications are now being accepted for the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance Women’s Startups Contest 2026
• The program focuses on encouraging women entrepreneurs and boosting their business ventures

The BRICS Women’s Business Alliance has opened applications for the Women Entrepreneurs’ Startup Competition (WESC) 2026. This is a project to develop and accelerate BRICS women-owned startup businesses.

India will host the 2026 competition, the latest in a series of women-led entrepreneurial initiatives to develop and encourage innovation and entrepreneurial activity across BRICS countries.

The 2026 WESC edition continues with the successes of previous editions by promoting innovative companies owned and operated by women entrepreneurs with high potential for innovation and viable responses to customers’ needs.

The goal will be to encourage economic and social integration and collaboration across BRICS countries through knowledge transfer and networking with other industry stakeholders. Contest participants can engage with investors and industry participants in specific areas.

To be eligible to participate, applicants must be a citizen or permanent resident of a BRICS country (which includes Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the UAE).

Additionally, they must have operated at least one business in one or more BRICS country, exported from a BRICS country, or supplied goods or services to customers in one or more BRICS countries.

The startup is expected to have women in the leadership position for strategic decision-making. For example, a founder or co-founder should take an active part in the company's operations. A multidisciplinary team with various expertise backgrounds is also welcome.

The applicants should prove the impact, sustainability, and viability of their solution as well as provide evidence on the existence of market demand for it.

The application should explicitly state the problem to solve, the solution offered, the innovation and scalability aspect of the proposed solution.

The applicants should consider how the solutions can be used to advance priorities of BRICS and the possibility to expand or replicate solutions in other BRICS countries.

The contest welcomes applications from startups at various development stages such as those at the MVP or prototype stage, those that show some traction in the market, and more established startups that already had achieved some success.

The participating startups will compete in six areas including health and wellbeing, agriculture and food security, education and skill development, energy, infrastructure and mobility, commerce, services and digital transformation, and sustainable development and climate solutions. There will be 18 winners who will be awarded for their achievements at each development stage.