iCreate (International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology), India’s leading innovation-based startup incubator, has unveiled iWIN365; a one–of–its–kind global platform that aims to inspire, incentivise, and support women technology entrepreneurs across all of the G20 countries. The program was unveiled by Dr. Sandhya Purecha, Chair W20 at the inception meeting of the Women20 (W20) group in Aurangabad in the presence of Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, Hon’ble Minister Women & Child Development, Government of India, Shri. Amitabh Kant, Sherpa G20, Dr Gulden Turktan, Founder Chair W20 and Smt. Dharitri Patnaik, Chief Coordinator W20 Secretariat along with an international audience from the G20 nations.
iWIN365 has been designed to empower women entrepreneurs to develop, launch and scale their businesses successfully in the market. The program aims to bring together the largest global network of ecosystem enablers including incubation centres, investors and mentors on a single platform / unified portal, giving women tech innovators the opportunity to access a diverse portfolio of offerings and opt for the best suitable support based on their requirements. The portal will include a list of the closest incubation partners, programs based on the stage of development of the start-up, funding schemes, incubation and mentorship support, and market access, among others.
Commenting on the announcement of iWIN365, Dr. Sandhya Purecha, Chair W20, stated, “Our goal of becoming an Atmanirbhar Bharat can come to fruition only when women entrepreneurs contribute significantly to it. Today, India has the 3rd largest startup-ecosystem in the world, and while we are seeing significant strides in women-led innovations, a lot needs to be done in bringing women entrepreneurs to the forefront of this ecosystem. The need of the hour is to create a robust support network that will not just enable women entrepreneurs to successfully launch their ventures but also help them create a mark in the global start-up landscape. I congratulate iCreate and all of the partners who have joined hands to promote women entrepreneurship and write India’s next big success story.”
Sharing his thoughts on the initiative, Avinash Punekar, CEO, iCreate, Secretariate of Startup20 said, “At iCreate, our vision has always been to harness the entrepreneurial capital of this country by supporting innovations that can act as a game changers for the Indian economy, and we believe that women entrepreneurs are an integral part of this growth story. Today, 18 percent of startups in India are led by at least one woman founder or co-founder, and of these, the number of unicorns and potential unicorns has gone up to around 36 in 2022. Through this initiative, our goal is to create an enabling environment for women entrepreneurs to successfully build and scale their ventures. I wholeheartedly thank all our partners who have joined us in this mission of empowering women entrepreneurs to innovate, accelerate excel and successfully achieve their entrepreneurial ambitions.”
With the intent of creating large-scale awareness and encouraging a larger section of women innovators to join the initiative, iWIN365 will see a host of several events including AMA sessions, webinars, bootcamps, and fireside chats. Women-led start-ups, registered with any of the G20 nations and with demonstrated market traction, are encouraged to join the program.
As part of the program, partner organisations focused on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment will also be able to associate with these year-long activities and support women-led innovations.
