Three women entrepreneurs from across India will be selected as part of a fellowship programme announced Monday that will allow them to visit the US and get hands-on experience on the working of a globally successful start-up in that country, officials said.
The AIRSWEEE is TiE Global's marquee women's entrepreneurship programme, supported by the US Embassy in India, that seeks to not only economically empower women but also promote gender equity and boost their self-confidence.
"A pool of 575 women entrepreneurs drawn from 125 Tier-II and Tier-III cities of India have been trained by mentors from both the countries as part of the two editions of AIRSWEEE, spanning nearly 20 states. From this pool now, 30 candidates would be selected to shadow a successful start-up in their respective regions to gain exposure in the industry," Seema Chaturvedi, chairperson of Project AIRSWEEE, said.
A former TiE Global Board member, Chaturvedi said, from the group of 30, eventually three women entrepreneurs would be selected to visit the US on a sponsored trip, and they would experience from close the workings of a globally successful start-up there.
She was speaking at the opening of the two-day 'Women Entrepreneurs Conclave 2.0 - Engaged and Empowered' held here at the India Habitat Centre, where 25 candidates selected from stage two of the AIRSWEEE 2.0 participated.
The two programmes -- AIRSWEEE Scale-Up Fellows and AIRSWEEE Global Fellows -- were launched Monday by the TiE Global in partnership with the US Embassy in New Delhi and its four consulates in Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Kolkata, the Embassy said.
MaryKay Carlson, Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy, in her keynote address, said, US-India ties are "24x7, 365 days and 360 degrees".
"If there is a big pie chart, and we divide it into every realm of human endeavours, and put a spin dial to it... the dots on it may represent combating tuberculosis or combating terrorism, or entrepreneurship and women empowerment, security collaboration, education, environmental issues," she said.
"And, no matter where that dial lands, for US-India, every field is important. We never get to that point where we have to say, spin it again, we are such strong, natural allies," Carlson said.
On AIRSWEEE, the deputy chief of mission said the US government supported programmes that promoted women entrepreneurs because these programmes "benefit both our countries".
She added Indian entrepreneurs were not only solving problems in India but also in the US and around the world.
"What I find so impressive about entrepreneurs is the motivation, the vision, the guts to break stereotypes, break mould, get out there and try new ideas to improve the world," Carlson said.
Chaturvedi said most of the entrepreneurs were in the age bracket of late 20s and 30s.
"There was one 60-year-old entrepreneur too selected from Coimbatore, who had worked on organic products. And, a young 22-year-old from Bhubaneswar participated
in the event today. A woman we had earlier selected had suffered domestic abuse and entrepreneurship became a way out of it. So, our aim is to not just economically empower them but also promote gender equity and boost their self-confidence," she said.
The event also hosted an 'elevator pitch' session for 25 AIRSWEEE 2.0 mentees, chosen from cities, including Lucknow, Patna and Bhubaneswar. The 60-second pitch was judged by Erik Azulay, director of NEXUS programme, a business incubator housed at the American Center here.
"Funded by the US State Department, AIRSWEEE Scale-Up Fellows programme will provide mentorship to 30 young, innovative women from across India to scale up their enterprises through hands-on industry mentorship. The top three Scale-Up Fellows will be sponsored for a visit to the US as AIRSWEEE Global Fellows and will be mentored by a host US organisation that will provide them a window to global best practices," the Embassy said.
Chaturvedi said, the process for the fellowship programme is likely to be announced early December.
Anna Roy, adviser at NITI Aayog, urged women entrepreneurs to join the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) that was launched on the Women's International Day (March 8) to realise their entrepreneurial aspirations, scale-up innovative initiatives and chalk-out sustainable, long-term strategies for their businesses.
She said the NITI Aayog was open to lending support to the AIRSWEEE, but added, "We need to have deliverables chalked out, which should be timely monitored, before committing to having any entity as a partner onboard".
"We are also working on a chatbot and an app for the WEP," she said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)