Hyderabad: In a groundbreaking initiative to further strengthen the ecosystem for women entrepreneurs in Telangana, NITI Aayog, in collaboration with Telangana government, on Tuesday launched the first State chapter of Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP), with WE Hub serving as the nodal organization.
This platform aims to promote and support women entrepreneurs across various sectors, providing them with resources, tools, and a robust network to enhance their business growth. The WEP Telangana Chapter is designed to foster entrepreneurship among women by offering customized support such as digital skilling, access to financial services, mentorship, and market linkages. WE Hub, the first-of-its-kind incubation center in India exclusively for women entrepreneurs, will act as the central body responsible for the implementation and management of this platform, leveraging its expertise and extensive network in empowering women entrepreneurs.
Chief Guest for the event, BVR Subrahmanyam, CEO, NITI Aayog, shared his enthusiasm: “Women entrepreneurship is key to India’s economic future, and the WEP State Chapter in Telangana, with WE Hub as the nodal agency, will significantly enhance opportunities for women.”
“Women entrepreneurs face challenges in receiving support in terms of finances, mentoring, marketing. The base that WEP and the State Chapters provide will help elevate SHG women businesses and build high quality brands through the platform,” he said.
Co-chair of WEP and Joint Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals Group Dr. Sangeetha Reddy stressed on the importance of mentoring. “Mentoring is crucial for the success of any business. Networking opportunities, facilitating connections with industry leaders, potential partners and other entrepreneurs along with access to resources offering guidance on funding options, government schemes, business planning mentoring.”
Jayesh Ranjan, Special Chief Secretary for IT, I&C Departments, announced Sita Pallacholla, CEO of WE Hub as the Mission Director, WEP Telangana Chapter. Further, he presented, ‘WE Bridge’, a single window platform for women entrepreneurs across the State.
He said, “Due to Telangana’s great track record of support system for entrepreneurship in SHGs, the State Innovation Ecosystem and Incubators at Academia Institutions, WEP chose Telangana as the first State Chapter.”