WER Weekly Wrap: Women Take New Strides in Enterprise & Asian Sports

By: Women Entrepreneurs Review Team | Friday, 25 September 2026

This week, the Women Entrepreneurs Review (WER) captures wider expanse of women’s progress across enterprise, leadership, wellbeing, and sport.

Women are finding more ways to grow and thrive, whether through rural marketplaces in Bihar, mobility initiatives in Tamil Nadu, new business platforms in Qatar and enterprise support in Afghanistan.

Further, leadership shifts were made at various levels across finance, legal education, media, and professional networks, while fresh funding brought new momentum to women-led ventures and startup ecosystems. The Asia-Pacific research addressed an emerging view on women's health and nutrition.

Indian women also had an eventful week on the sporting side, as they set records, milestones, and medals in the Asian Games and the Women's Chess Olympiad.

Here is the latest WER Week Wrap, that curates all top stories related to Indian women’s growth and achievement throughout the last week.

Rural Women Find Wider Markets, Stronger Business Pathways

Rural women entrepreneurship in markets, mobility, finance, business knowledge and sustainable livelihoods emerged this week across India, Qatar, and Afghanistan.

In Bihar, Saras Mela 2026 introduced women entrepreneurs from 15 states and offered a platform for rural self-help groups to showcase their handicrafts, handlooms, organic produce, traditional foods, and various other locally produced items to a larger audience. The launch of the ‘Biharika’ logo added another layer to this effort by creating a stronger identity for products emerging from women-led rural enterprises.

Mobility emerged as another important pathway in Tamil Nadu, where the expanded Vetri Payanam scheme is set to provide free travel to 84.32 lakh women on 12,692 government buses. The scheme will increase the numbers of non-regular bus usage and is anticipated to increase the accessibility for people to travel to work, school or medical appointments, as well as helping to reduce commuting costs.

Beyond India, Qatar Chamber gathered women business leaders to engage in a discussion on the realities of being a woman entrepreneur. Conversations around customer expectations, branding, business development, changing markets, and networking placed experience-sharing at the centre of business growth.

UN Women and UNDP launched the Afghanistan Women's Fund for Resilient Enterprises in Afghanistan with a financial contribution of $1.7 million to benefit a maximum of 1,500 women entrepreneurs by providing them with finance, mentoring, financial literacy, digital literacy, business development and market access.

In addition to the activities related to climate-resilient agriculture, food processing and value addition and rural livelihoods development, Jammu and Kashmir also brought another dimension to the table with its Millets Mission with focus on women entrepreneurship. The focus places traditional crops within newer opportunities for enterprise creation and sustainable income.

Better access is becoming a stronger foundation for women to turn enterprise into lasting growth.

Across Sectors, Women Step Into New Roles and Responsibilities

Today's leadership is changing not just by the names that are held, but by the influence that women are gaining in various professions.

Aditi Pai has been promoted to the role of Group Chief Financial Officer of Transasia Bio-Medicals Limited, continuing her ascent in the company. In February, 2024, she joined Transasia as its Head of Finance and was appointed to CFO in April, 2025 and became CFO. Her role has expanded her financial responsibilities throughout the organization and has been with over 15 years in finance, accounting, governance and business leadership.

Professor Dr Jyoti Bhakare has been appointed as Vice-Chancellor of Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur for a term of 5 years in the legal education. She currently serves as Senior Professor of law at Savitribai Phule Pune University and has a wealth of academic and administrative experience. She replaces the late Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dr Vijender Kumar as the new Vice-Chancellor.

The media and design space has also marked a new editorial appointment, with ELLE DECOR India named Ela Das as Editor. With more than two decades of experience spanning design, architecture, art, and culture journalism, Das will oversee the publication’s print and digital editorial direction.

Alongside individual leadership appointments, Women Leadership Circle has also launched its Delhi NCR Chapter, offering a professional space to women CXOs, senior executives, founders and entrepreneurs. The focus areas are mentorship, leadership development, peer learning, decision making, executive presence and entrepreneurship.

The significance of these moves lies beyond the designations; everything places women closer to shaping the direction of their fields.

Funding, Startups & the Founders Building What’s Next

Women-led enterprise is taking new shape, with fresh capital, expanding markets and stronger startup support creating room for ambitious businesses to scale.

The latest movement spans consumer brands, preventive healthcare and regional startup ecosystems. Protein Pantry, founded by Disha Bhattacharya and Prashanth Bhushan, has raised Rs 9 crore in seed funding led by Sharrp Ventures. The high-protein frozen food brand will direct the capital toward manufacturing, research and development, and supply-chain expansion as it takes its products to more Indian markets.

The healthcare space is seeing fresh momentum too, with Betterhood securing Rs 11.5 crore in seed funding from a round led by Sauce. Founded by Vikram Kadam and Neha Zade, the Bengaluru-based preventive pain care startup plans to widen its product portfolio, strengthen retail and quick-commerce distribution, and expand its physiotherapist network.

At the ecosystem level, Assam presents another notable shift. The study by the Innovation Park, IIM Calcutta Report found that women entrepreneurs made up 52.6 per cent of the 116 start-ups surveyed and that funding, business knowledge and technology access were critical gaps.

Health, Nutrition & Women’s Wellbeing Gain Attention

New research this week highlights how women across Asia-Pacific are seeking more personalized wellness solutions shaped by different life stages.

Lubrizol’s report, based on IQVIA Consumer Health research across China, South Korea, and Indonesia, highlights gaps in existing supplement offerings. China emerged as the primary focus, with 87% of respondents preferring products tailored to their life stage. There was a higher prevalence of interest in preventive wellness as the age increased and 93% recognized a need for iron and nutrition solutions for pregnancy. Consumer concerns about benefits, safety and transparency continue.

The results highlight the growing demand for wellness products that cater to the evolving health, beauty, and lifestyle needs of women.

Indian Women Make Their Mark on the Asian Games Stage

From historic podium finishes to record-breaking performances, Indian women athletes are shaping a memorable sporting week across disciplines.

The Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya have produced a series of landmark performances by Indian women, with athletes making their name in various disciplines including shooting, cricket, weightlifting, Wushu and mixed martial arts. Meanwhile, the Indian women's chess team has also upped its game in the Women's Chess Olympiad, making it a close race.

In mixed martial arts, Suchika Tariyal secured India’s first-ever Asian Games MMA medal by winning bronze in the women’s traditional 60kg category. She entered the semifinals after defeating Mongolia’s 2025 IMMAF World Champion Altanchimeg Baigalmaa 2-0 in the quarterfinals. Suchika later faced Singapore’s Hui Hoon Teo in the semifinal, where she lost after taking the bout into an extra round.

Shooting delivered another early highlight through Elavenil Valarivan, who claimed two silver medals in the women’s 10m air rifle events. She joined Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa K Vinod to secure team silver before winning individual silver. Elavenil scored 252.4 in the individual final, finishing behind Japan’s Hinata Taichi, while Ban Hyo-jin of the Republic of Korea took bronze.

For the first time in the history of women's team skeet, Raiza Dhillon, Maheshwari Chauhan and Parinaaz Dhaliwal teamed to claim bronze with 331 points. China went home with gold and Kazakhstan with silver. Raiza and Parinaaz also reached the individual final, finishing fourth and eighth respectively.

Indian women cricketer posted a classy defense in the final against Sri Lanka. Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana had India to 216/3 before Richa Ghosh rallied India to an unbeaten 49. In the first innings Sri Lanka were bowled out for 69 runs in the initial 45 deliveries with Shree Charani (2wkts), Deepti Sharma (3wkts) and Shafali Verma (2wkts) getting wickets. With this win, India won two successive Asian Games gold medals in women's cricket, having first picked up a gold with a 142-run triumph over the archers.

Smriti Mandhana scored 11,000 international runs to join the club of the first ever female cricketer to reach the milestone.

In the weightlifting event, Mirabai Chanu had her first ever Asian Games medal, earning the silver at the women's 49kg event. Ri Song Gum from North Korea took gold with 215kg, with three world records to her name while Indonesia's Wijayana Luluk Diani Tri bagged bronze. Mirabai’s silver also ended India’s 28-year wait for an Asian Games weightlifting medal.

Wushu athlete Roshibina Devi added another historic achievement by winning silver in the women’s 60kg sanda event. She lost to China's Zhang Xiaoyu in the final following a semifinal win over Indonesia's Thania Kusumaningtyas, 0-2. Roshibina is the first Indian wushu athlete to stand on the podium at three successive editions of the Asian Games with her gold medals in 2018, 2023 and 2026 editions.

In the Women's Chess Olympiad, the women of India maintained their impressive record in the Asian Games. Humpy Koneru had beaten Germany and Divya Deshmukh had defeated Vaishali Rameshbabu to put India ahead by 3.5-0.5 and Elisabeth Paehtz had drawn with Vaishali Rameshbabu. Savitha Shri was the day's winner with a win over Lara Schulze.

Meanwhile, there was a draw between China and Kazakhstan with a score of 2-2, which was critical to the game and was won by Zhu Jiner, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Song Yuxin, Alua Nurman, Lu Miaoyi, Meruert Kamalidenova, Elnaz Kaliakhmet and Yan Tianqi. Georgia was up 12/14 when Nino Batsiashvili and Lela Javakhishvili pulled out their victories.

Across the week, these performances have added new milestones to India’s sporting record, with experienced champions and emerging athletes delivering results on major international stages.

Final Note:

From enterprise and leadership to health and sport, this week’s stories reflect women expanding the spaces they occupy and the possibilities they create. WER continues to spotlight these shifts, bringing forward the journeys, milestones, and opportunities shaping the evolving landscape for women.