India has grown as a country in terms of churning out more successful startup stories every year. In the midst of this startup boom, the country’s women entrepreneurs are yet to step up and grab the opportunity of scripting their own success story. Indian women have been sorely missing from the startup scene almost entirely.
According to the Economic Survey 2019-20, out of 27,084 operational startups in India, only 43% had a female director. Combined with the fact that India ranks 52 out of 57 in Women Entrepreneurship rankings 2019, the situation has to be made more conductive to promote an environment in which women can take up the mantle.
As per the data released by Innoven Capital, a venture debt and lending platform, women co-founders have decreased from 17% to 12% between 2018 and 2019. This may be due to lack of support from families, lack of opportunities and funding. The lack of institutional support system also adds to the injury. This results in early discouragement even at the smallest obstacles.
The government has tried putting its best foot forward in promoting entrepreneurship by launching various schemes such as ‘Start-Up India’ but even these have found it difficult to attract women entrepreneurs. The general mindset that women cannot be depended upon for the long run because their familial and marital responsibilities is steeped deep in our patriarchal society. Women are responsible for their household and business which is not an expectation that is set for male entrepreneurs.
According to a survey conducted in 2018, only 14% of Indian startups are led by women. This does not mean that we forget the few women who have managed to rise from this abyss and make something of themselves such as Dr Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Falguni Nayar, Vandana Luthra, Suchi Mukherjee, Vani Kola, Richa Kar, Rashmi Daga. However, female role models in entrepreneurship are rare and few in between.
Organizations such as NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurship Platform, Catalyst for Women Entrepreneurship, and the accelerator for women in tech initiated by Zone Startups India, provide all round and steadfast support for women entrepreneurs but even their reach is limited as most women have no idea how to access their benefits.
What women entrepreneurs in India need is better representation, professional mentoring, faith in their ideas, support from family, limelight for the smaller online businesses they run from home, better access to entrepreneurial networks and finance and a change in the overall Indian mindset. We need to condition our minds to accept that women can and should be in charge, that women leaders can take care of hearth and home while kicking ass at a business place and that it is okay if a woman decides to put her career first.
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