NITI Aayog and Cisco on August 26, 2021 launched the next phase of the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP).
- Titled “WEP Nxt”, this next phase of NITI Aayog’s flagship platform will leverage Cisco’s technology and experience working with India’s startup ecosystem to enable more women-owned businesses across the country.
- WEP, initially launched by NITI Aayog in 2017, is a first-of-its-kind, unified portal that brings together women from diverse backgrounds and offers them access to a multitude of resources, support, and learning. WEP Nxt is a significant step to augment these efforts.
- Based on a focused study of Indian women entrepreneurs and their most urgent needs across six key verticals – community and networking, skilling and mentorship, incubation and acceleration programs, and financial, compliance, and marketing assistance.
- WEP Nxt will be driven by evidence-based decision-making. The focused study, fuelling this transition, is also being made available for the benefit of the ecosystem.
- As per the Sixth Economic Census, women only constitute 13.76% of the total entrepreneurs, i.e., 8.05 million out of the 58.5 million entrepreneurs in the country.
About Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP)
- The Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) is NITI Aayog’s flagship initiative – a one-of-its-kind, unified information portal for women entrepreneurs.
The platform currently hosts over 16,000 registered users and 30 partners and caters to six focus areas: Funding & Financial Management, Incubation Connects, Taxation & Compliance Support, Entrepreneur Skilling & Mentorship, Community & Networking and Marketing Assistance.
