Why is in news? Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh says, ‘herSTART’, a platform to encourage women entrepreneurs inaugurated recently
‘herSTART’ platform has been introduced to promote women StartUps and to encourage women entrepreneurs.
herSTART is an initiative implemented by the Gujarat University Startup and Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC).
It is supported by the state government of Gujarat, the Central Government and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) recognized it as key driving initiative of the Gujarat Startup Ecosystem in the States Startup Rankings Framework Report of 2022.
The purpose of herSTART is to aid women-led startups to scale up. It will connect women-led startups with private and government platforms.
It provides free online resources and training modules to aspiring women entrepreneurs in addition to a digital community and digital publication showcasing their success stories.
It includes the herSTART Incubator (a startup incubator focusing specifically on women entrepreneurs and innovators) as well as herSTART Accelerator (a round-the-year accelerator programme for high-impact women-led startups).
As part of herSTART, online and offline modes of engagements have been organized for over 15,000 women entrepreneurs.
The Startup India Action Plan of the Government is a very important step for strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country. The action plan is intended to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation in India as an engine for both economic growth and employment generation.
India is home to more than 93,000 DPIIT Recognized Startups and 108 Unicorns. Over the past four years, this number has been increasing exponentially, with a whopping 66% Year-on-Year growth in the number of additional unicorns being added every year.
While work from home during the pandemic fuelled the growth of digital businesses in India, the incident also resulted in Startup boom.
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