On the heels of an action-packed Sheroes Summit 2018, the women’s community platform has launched the iconic Women Get Funded programme in India, with three full scholarships awarded to women in the Sheroes ecosystem.
This one-of-a-kind programme, launched by Silicon Valley angel investor Alicia Castillo Holley, trains women entrepreneurs in Art and Science of raising and accessing capital to build, grow and scale their businesses. As more and more women embrace entrepreneurship in India, this is a lucrative step towards supporting the next generation of women entrepreneurs, to become savvy in the nuances of funding their ventures.
After a month-long campaign hosted on the Sheroes app, three women entrepreneurs have been awarded scholarships worth $1,500 (Rs 35,000 each). The fellows 2018 comprise Prerna Prasad, founder of sustainable travel business Ecoplore; Sakshi Khanna, founder of The UnCube, focused revolutionising workspace flexibility, and Monika Siriah, founder of agri-export business Ved Global.
Sairee Chahal, founder, CEO of Sheroes, said: “Women entrepreneurs can join the SHE Starts Up! community and the app, and actively engage and grow via challenges, opportunities, community chats and masterclasses hosted regularly on the app. Our ecosystem has lakhs of entrepreneurs building their businesses of varying scales in diverse domains — from travel and creative businesses to food and services. We want to encourage women entrepreneurs to dream bigger, and get more ambitious for their business ventures. Accessing the right tools through focused programmes like Women Get Funded expands horizons, and I’m happy to share that the first cohort of WGF India Fellows has shown great commitment towards investing in themselves.”
Alicia Castillo Holley, founder of the Women Get Funded programme, said: “India’s progress is amazing, especially with regards to women who are making a huge impact in society. They are smart, curious, and, overall, driven. Women do magic with limited resources, and when they get the funds they need, they transform the world. I couldn’t be more inspired to work with Sheroes, changing stereotypes for women entrepreneurs.”
The programme will be delivered over a period of 10 weeks of bite-size information, pre-recorded lectures, tables, checklists, coaching sessions, Q&As, and videos; modules cover various aspects— from tapping unconventional sources, valuation and negotiations to understanding funding needs and the nuances of taking the venture capital route. It also gives access to a community of investors and driven women entrepreneurs.
