WE-Hub Picked 10 Rural Women Entrepreneurs for Second Cohort of Her & Now Programme

By: WE STAFF | Wednesday, 26 August 2020

WE-Hub, the Telangana-based incubator for women entrepreneurs has selected 10 rural women entrepreneurs from Narayanpet District for the 2nd cohort of ‘Her&Now’ Programme implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The first cohort of 30 startups graduated last year by formally registering their enterprises and raising finance through credit linkages and equity investments. WE-Hub received applications from 15 rural women entrepreneurs for the programme from the district, out of which 10 of them have been selected for the second cohort, which was announced through a virtual launch.

Telangana principal secretary Jayesh Ranjan asserted that the Government of Telangana is working proactively to enable women to be part of the innovation ecosystem of the state despite the ongoing global crisis. “This has been shown in the success of the Project Her&Now first cohort where WE-Hub has been helping startups cope with challenges arising from the Covid-19 by mapping solutions for them. In order to keep them afloat post the lockdown, it is helping startups to re-strategize and reconnect with the market,” stated Jayesh.

Deepthi Ravula, CEO, WE-Hub stated that the programme is being launched in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Selected women entrepreneurs would be offered solutions in terms of finances, machinery, among others. She also added that to adapt to the changing times the cohort will be a blended model where sessions would be delivered virtually to the entrepreneurs. All aspiring women should register their names with the Hub. Eight months of training by successful entrepreneurs and experts would be given covering different sectors. The training helps to set up new enterprises and to expand existing ones. The tailor-made program along with sessions for the selected entrepreneurs will be kicked off from 16th September 2020, post the completion of need assessment and curriculum design.