Powering the Economy with Her: Women Entrepreneurship in India

By Google and Bain & Company

India’s economic growth story has left women behind. Female labour force participation has stagnated, and present labour trends, technological disruptions and restrictive social barriers will likely foment further declines.

Over the coming decade, India will have the largest working-age population in the world. That demographic dividend as well as an increasingly educated population have the potential to transform India’s economic and social development, but the private and government sectors have not created sufficient jobs.

Entrepreneurship among women is a vital component of the overall solution. It not only boosts the economy through job creation but also delivers transformational social and personal outcomes.

In collaboration with Google, this report presents four opportunities for unlocking the potential of female entrepreneurship in India:

• Level the playing field for the high-impact, employment-creating entrepreneurs.

• Enable ambitious “solopreneurs” and small business owners to scale and become high-impact entrepreneurs.

• Encourage more women to start enterprises.

• Build, strengthen and scale productive rural “agripreneurs.”