WER Week Wrap: Women Shaping Business, Communities and Beyond

By: Women Entrepreneurs Review Team | Friday, 26 June 2026

From the peaks of Denali to the corridors of corporate leadership, Indian women are determined to make their presence felt in all domains of power.

Women continue to establish themselves firmly within the realm of Indian businesses, startups, and social spaces, turning aspirations into accomplishments. The Indian economy is resonating with the increasing prominence of women in leadership, making investments, spearheading community projects, and much more.

This week at WER saw yet another series of headlines powered by women leaders, entrepreneurs, athletes, and innovators. Whether through promotions, innovations in the start-up sector, or groundbreaking initiatives, women continue to be at the forefront of progress in old and new industries.

On the other hand, financial announcements, start-up announcement for a new venture, and business expansion indicate a trust in people who generate value, employment, and economic growth.

Outside the business world, projects that sought to create entrepreneurial opportunities, enhance development in rural areas, improve skills, and ensure women’s security were increasingly being implemented. Various stakeholders from the public and private sectors seek to enhance opportunities for women in all aspects of life.

Whether setting benchmarks in global forums, achieving awards, or being role models for upcoming generation, all these narratives depict women play an active role in driving India forward. These narratives draw attention toward larger pattern of growing female leadership, highlighting the importance of inclusivity and equality shaping the future of India. 

Programs, Initiatives & Community Development: Advancing Inclusive Growth through Collective Empowerment

Across India and globally, governments, financial institutions, corporates and non-profit organizations continued to launch impactful programs and initiatives to enhance women entrepreneurship, women leadership, financial inclusion and community development across India and the world.

IMFA started the Sakhi Seed Initiative, which distributes ₹5 lakh grants and mentorship to 10 rural women entrepreneurs who are outside the formal credit system, and the Ministry of Panchayati Raj introduced the Nirbhay Chetna training module for empowerment of gender sensitive leadership by training 28,500 master trainers who will ultimately reach more than 17 lakh male Panchayat representatives.

In an attempt to support the women led businesses, Kotak BizLabs (in collaboration with NSRCEL) introduced a new Women Startup Program, providing them with structured mentorship, access to the ecosystem, and business development support, especially for women entrepreneurs hailing from Tier-II and Tier-III cities. In Karnataka, a subsidy scheme was launched for Christian Women SHG, which provides subsidy of up to ₹2 lakh as a 50% back-end subsidy to eligible NRLM and NULM group SHGs for entrepreneurship and sustainable livelihoods.

The Women Empowerment Telugu Association (WETA) established its presence in India to offer greater opportunities in entrepreneurship, employment, leadership and participation in the communities in Hyderabad. In addition to grassroots empowerment, ICAR-CRIJAF offered training to the Scheduled Tribe women in value-added jute handicrafts under the Tribal Sub Plan and provided them with training in the skills as well as entrepreneurship.

Assam's Kalakriti was a display of how the local women are turning the traditional weaving and handicrafts into a flourishing business with the support of digital platforms and preserving the state's rich cultural heritage. On the governance side, Delhi LG Taranjit Singh Sandhu urged proactive and technology-enabled policing, with a focus on enhancing women's safety, utilizing AI to prevent crime, community policing, and police welfare reforms.

On the global front, Nisha Paul promoted Cherie Blair Foundation's India Initiatives reiterated its commitment to fostering the ambitions of women entrepreneurs by providing them access to mentoring, training, digital resources, and access to finance and business networks. The EBL honours Women Entrepreneurs for exemplary achievement in loan repayment, boosting financial inclusion, SME development, and responsible borrowing in Bangladesh.

As sustainability gains more relevance to the UAE's development, women engineers at EWEC are playing an increasingly pivotal role in shaping the nation's sustainability future, spearheading efforts in renewable energy, AI, desalination, and water security, while promoting the UAE's Net Zero goals.

At London Climate Action Week 2026, the Women Inspiring Network (WIN) brought together leaders from the business, policy, innovation, and cross-sectorial communities to explore the future of climate leadership, sustainable investment, innovation, and collaboration across sectors, highlighting the need for greater integration between business, policy, and technology to foster a more resilient and regenerative future.

Appointments & Leadership Changes: Strategic Leadership Appointments Driving Business Growth across Industries

From manufacturing to retail, business development to business transformation, brand development to commercial excellence, organisations continue to build their leadership teams with seasoned professionals to propel business growth.

Afrin Noor joined Jindal Steel from Honeywell where she held the position of Vice President – Talent & Strategy, bringing more than 20 years of HR experience to the role to lead the leadership development, workforce transformation and strategic people initiatives. Aditi Krishnan has been appointed as the Head of External Communications at L'Oréal India, where she will work to strengthen the brand's reputation, build stakeholder relationships, and craft more compelling brand narratives by leveraging her strategic communication and reputation management skills.

In the financial sector, Lighthouse Canton appointed Shalini Thakur as Vice President – HR & Head – Talent acquisition (Global), where she will be responsible for hiring in the finance industry in India, Middle East, and UK, building on her experience at CRISIL, JPMorgan Chase and executive search firms. Meanwhile, DriveX Mobility welcomed Jyotsna Chaudhary as Head of Human Resources for leading Talent acquisition, Leadership Development and scalable HR systems to support and contribute to the company's rapid growth in the pre-owned mobility market in India.

In the hospitality sector, there were also some significant leadership changes. Antara Singhania has joined DoubleTree by Hilton Bengaluru Airport as Marketing & Communications Manager to bolster their branding, digital marketing, PR and guest engagement efforts. Likewise, Tarushree Singh has been appointed the Director of Sales & Marketing at Grand Mercure Bangalore where he will be responsible for overseeing the commercial strategy, revenue growth, and market expansion with a rich 18 years of hospitality experience.

In the marketing and professional services space, The Plan Beyond hired Priyanka Arora, who has been appointed as the Chief Marketing Officer and Founding Member of the firm, for the marketing and professional services segment to head brand strategy, category creation, growth programs and strategic partnerships in preparation for the company's journey to build the emerging Family Continuity category in India. Samvad Partners elevated Meera Moganasundaram as Partner, further strengthening its dispute resolution and real estate practices and bolstering its existing footprint in Chennai given her rich experience in arbitration, commercial litigation and corporate legal advisory.

Funding, Investments & Business Growth: Capital Infusion Accelerates Expansion, Innovation & Market Growth

The startup culture in India continued to gain traction among investors, with businesses in various sectors such as proptech, AI, healthcare, hospitality, and wellness receiving new investment to drive growth and innovation. Entering the unicorn club is the leading act, in this case Square Yards raised ₹900 crore ($95 million) in a debt and equity round. The company has been established by Tanuj Shori and the investment will be utilized to further strengthen its technology, grow its integrated real estate ecosystem and prepare for its upcoming IPO, once it achieves solid financial performance in the current financial year (FY26).

AI marketing startup JustAI is following the trend, which raised more than $17 million in its Series A round led by Base10 Partners. The company was established by Neha Mittal and Jeff Hara, with plans to deploy its investments in engineering, agentic AI infrastructure, enterprise product development, and scaling into the e-commerce and B2B segment in India.

Meanwhile, Bodycraft Beauty and wellness brand earned ₹120 crore from Singularity AMC. The company was started by Manjul Gupta, who would like to expand its presence across the country and introduce cutting edge clinical technologies, change-powerful customer solutions with the aid of AI, and open 30 new locations.

With a $3.5-million raise, SaffronStays, founded by Tejas Parulekar, intends to grow its portfolio of managed holiday homes, boost technology, augment the guest experience and expand into high-value holiday destinations. The company now runs more than 450 properties in India and is a profitable company.

SuperLiving, a company co-founded by Gurjot Kaur, raised a Series A round led by Lightspeed for $7 million, further bolstering investor trust in AI-driven healthcare. The investment will help boost AI capabilities, increase regional-language services, boost user acquisition in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and bolster its preventive healthcare platform that has already achieved over 1.5 million app downloads.

Achievements & Milestones: Celebrating Global Recognition, Sporting Excellence & Innovation

India kept its outstanding performance in law, sports, adventure and intellectual leadership in the world. The induction of Prathiba M. Singh into the International IP Hall of Fame 2026 marks her outstanding achievements in India's intellectual property jurisprudence, and is a testament to the country's emerging role as a global leader in innovation and IP reforms.

In an unprecedented move, Atiqa Mir, the 11-year-old karting star from Srinagar, made her debut in the Formula 1 Academy's prestigious ‘Discover Your Drive' development program becoming the first Indian and Asian girl to be part of the program. Her choice is a big move for the Indian motorsport industry, and a big push to more young girls wanting to become professional racers themselves.

Telangana's Anvitha, who has already conquered the world's highest and one of the toughest Seven summits, Mt. Everest, successfully scaled Mt. Denali, the highest peak in North America on its sixth climb of the Seven summits, in the continuing streak of excellence. The 24-year-old mountaineer had reached a step closer towards achieving the historic “Seven Summits” challenge, making India's mark in adventure sports around the world without guides or porters.

In parallel, Geetika Saigal has made a space that made India's first ever discussion forum, The Sabha, an invitation-only event focusing on a single thought-provoking question. The program has been run twice before and seeks to create a sustainable forum for intellectual exchange beyond traditional conference and networking events and bring about a dialogue.

Sports Central: India hockey glory, women’s cricket setback, standings

The Women's Hockey team of India scripted history as they defeats New Zealand 2-0 in the final match of the FIH Hockey Women's Nations Cup 2025-26 in Auckland. India didn't drop a ball throughout the tournament, and as a result took home their second Nations Cup title, along with a promotion to the next season of the FIH Pro League for the 2026-27 editions. Navneet Kaur and Sunelita Toppo netted the winning goals in the final as the goalkeeper Savita came up with some excellent saves to keep the shutout.

Deepika was the top scorer as she scored six goals in the match, and cash prizes of ₹3 lakh were announced for each player and ₹1.5 lakh for each support staff member by Hockey India.

In the meantime, India W suffered their first loss of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 at their home ground of Old Trafford as South Africa Women picked up six wickets. The unbeaten Marizanne Kapp was the sole opener, with an unbeaten 81 and a figure of 2/27, as South Africa mounted a successful chase of 159. India suffered a defeat but still sit outside the top two of Group 1 with four points from three matches, maintaining the speculations of a semifinal berth.India's loss is not a blow, but they still have a chance of making the top two of Group 1 with four points after three matches to sustain their speculation.