Empowering Rural Women Entrepreneurs: Enhancing Financial Well-being with FIA Global

FIA Educating Women on Financial Independence

FIA Global Brings Affordable Digital Financing to Women and Other Unbanked Persons

FIA Global, a woman-led organisation offers a comprehensive range of sachet financial services through its state-of-the-art fintech platform that is powered by artificial intelligence (AI). These services are designed for women and women-owned businesses and other financially excluded populations who live or work in underserved geographies and economically backward areas in India.

FIA Global uses its deep-tech expertise, including investments in AI and developing AI skillsets; investments in a massive rural distribution network, with 50% as women banking agents and its large network of financial service alliances with banks, microfinance institutions (MFIs), insurance companies, mutual fund houses, and the government of India to deploy financial inclusion solutions at scale.

 

Women to fulfill their financial potential with FIA Bank Sakhis

FIA Global Bank Sakhis Transforming Lives

FIA Global works with these financial service partners to customize their products for women, micro and small entrepreneurs, and other unbanked markets. FIA integrates the financial products provided by its financial partners into its platform and helps them reach the rural markets through the existing network of banking agents.

Speaking on the subject, Ms. Seema Prem, the CEO and Co-Founder of FIA Global, comments, “FIA invests time and effort to mobilize and build the capacity of SHGs at scale to support our rapid outreach to close the finance gap. We also partner with public institutions like the National Skills Development Corporation and the edtech company Unnati to provide vocational training to SHG members to enable women to get the necessary skills for starting their businesses. Through this focussed approach FIA, an impact fintech has been serving the low-income households in South Asia.”

FIA Global has a three-pronged approach of expanding the services into the new regions.

1. Educating and training women to work as banking agent micro-entrepreneurs in new target regions in India and in Bangladesh. Women run about 18 percent of FIA Global's banking outlets. These women are selected, educated and trained by FIA Global trainers. The model accelerates the inclusion of women and minorities in formal finance. The women are an effective channel to get more local community women to use banking services.
2. Improving financial literacy. Creating financial resilience for lower-income women, women micro-entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs and owners of SMEs requires targeted public education efforts. FIA has been organizing, nurturing and enabling linkages with banks and MFIs by working with the local community partners (NGOs) to create and support Self Help Groups (SHGs). FIA also uses referrals to fill the gap through skill building initiatives.
3. Connecting women-owned businesses to financing and re-engaging women in the workforce. FIA in association with the community partners, provides training and links the women entrepreneurs who operate in cash economies, who are not noticed by the banks, who are also likely to be targets of unscrupulous money lenders. FIA and its partners also get access for these women to a larger pool of working capital loans, and agricultural and livestock loans at market rates. Once credit history is built, banks extend larger loans.

The digital finance model of FIA Global makes it easy for women-owned or -led businesses to avail themselves of efficient banking services to pay wages and bills digitally and access working capital. The business owners can also avail of the benefits and as much as they can provide their employees, through enrolment in social security schemes, including life and health insurance, and pension plans.

In the post-pandemic world, women suffered job losses and depleted savings, losing financial independence. The absence of bank accounts worsened the situation, limiting savings and social protections. Two-thirds of working women lost jobs in April 2020, with few returning unlike men. Even after two years, women business owners in South Asia face a financing gap that threatens their survival. In India, the gender gap in accessing credit for women-owned MSMEs is estimated at $158 billion due to the pandemic. FIA Global strives to create gender-inclusive financial systems and prevent regression of women's progress in finance and workforce integration.

Climate Asia Hosted A Panel Discussion to Unpack Green Jobs for Women and a Path to Climate Solutions

Climate Asia organized a panel discussion titled "Green Jobs for Women: A Path to Climate Solutions". The panel was designed to discuss aspects of the green jobs ecosystem for women and explore how it can contribute to addressing climate change. The event brought together experts in the field: Reemaben Nanavaty, Director of Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), Huda Jaffer, Director of SELCO Foundation, and Prerna Seth, Fellow at JustJobs Network. The discussion was moderated by Aiswarya Ananthapadmanabhan, AVP for Arthan's Women at Work Initiative.

Reemaben Nanavaty, in her opening remarks, called women “custodians of our environment” who are “always practicing greenways.” Citing an inspirational example from her organization, Reemaben narrated the story of Sarojben, a young entrepreneur from Gujarat who, by choosing to use biogas instead of wood for cooking, not only cut down on the amount of walking for her mother and the other women in the village community but also turned it into a lucrative source of income by selling it to farms as manure. The innovative practice saw a ripple effect by making farming more sustainable too. This example testified to women being game changers in the green field.

Building on this, Huda Jaffer drew attention to the “scope of green jobs in energy and energy efficient environments at both supply and demand side.” She emphasized including women as “innovators, solution developers, service providers, and designers.” She also drew attention to the uneven gender representation on the usability side because climate-smart technology is not created from a gender-centric lens.

Prerna Seth opined the need to unpack key concepts as a first step and described green jobs as “decent jobs that contribute to preserving or protecting the environment.” She further decoded the dichotomy of green and brown jobs. Calling attention to data on the declining women force participation, from 26.8 in 2015 to 20.5 in 2021, which is mostly concentrated on informal work, she insisted that “strategies needed for green jobs for women are the same as strategies to bring women into the workforce” She also emphasized that it was significant to question what is keeping women labor away from the workforce while being mindful of the changing environment.

Reemaben also highlighted how women’s work often goes unrecognized. She said, “women already working in the informal sector towards green jobs are not recognized as green jobs at all.” She further cited examples of street vendors, handloom weavers, and artisans to illustrate how R&D and financing do not go to these types of work but that these types of work are not even recognized as sustainable. She discussed that the solution lies in building capital, assets, technology, and green market while recognizing traditional skills. She also emphasized the need for a decentralized local economy to build community resilience.

Huda explained, “encompassing all three parameters of sustainability including, social, financial and environmental into the discussion.” Building upon the topic of a decentralized economy, she provided functional solutions like taking opportunities closer to the doorstep, reducing bottlenecks in hiring women, and making jobs more accessible without significant barriers.

Prerna added to the easily implementable solutions, including safe transport, safe working spaces, and daycare. She also decoded how the conception of women in the workforce comes off as a challenge because women are viewed as beneficiaries rather than valuable agents. She emphasized the urgency of changing this at the policy level. Furthermore, she highlighted the role of social norms at the industry level, making the factory floor male-dominated, especially when women are interested in those jobs but cannot access them.

On the question of the skills gap and capacity building for women, Prerna mentioned how women’s skilling programs are directly linked to women getting into the workforce. At a systems level, it is important first to understand the required skills and then impart those skills. Moreover, she said, “In the process of addressing gaps and skills, a collaboration between government and industry is needed.”

Reemaben emphasized that the approach to imparting skills should not be limited to a singular focus on individuals but rather encompass an entire ecosystem. This highlights the importance of a holistic approach that involves various stakeholders and recognizes the interconnectedness of different components within a system. She illustrated this point by highlighting the success of green villages, where women are empowered to take charge of energy planning and budgeting at both the household and village level. Through collaboration with panchayats, these women can lead the way in implementing sustainable energy technologies at the local level, positively impacting the entire community.

Huda raised an essential concern about skill-building initiatives for women, pointing out that many of these programs reinforce gender stereotypes by focusing on traditional activities such as candle making or sewing. This narrow focus can create a significant gap between women's aspirations and their skill level, hindering their ability to achieve their full potential. To address this issue, Huda proposed two solutions. Firstly, she suggested that the content of these initiatives must be reviewed to ensure that it is gender-inclusive and reflective of women's diverse interests and needs. Secondly, she recommended providing forward linkages, such as job opportunities, to ensure women have access to employment matching their newly acquired skills. By adopting these strategies, skill-building initiatives can empower women to reach their goals and contribute more effectively to their communities and societies.

The three experts also touched upon the role of partnership and collaboration, which are of utmost importance in addressing systemic challenges. Government stakeholders play a huge role in scalability in every aspect, including tech and finance. From a research standpoint, having well-versed individuals in the labor market and experts in energy or climate ecosystems is important. Additionally, the collaborations should come with women working on their terms.

The session ended with a Q&A where the guests addressed some important concerns of the audience, providing them with advice and solutions.

Climate Asia (www.climateasia.org) is dedicated to strengthening the climate ecosystem in Asia through the capacity building of organizations focusing on human capital, organizational development, and thought leadership. We will accomplish this by building a movement to inspire people to work in the climate, a platform to find climate opportunities: jobs, funding, events, and news.

The Women at Work initiative aims to bring more women leaders to the impact sector while making the organizations they are part of more inclusive. The Women at Work Initiative will work to make the development sector conducive for women to join, grow and lead the workforce by building capacities of organizations to accelerate DEI practices, facilitate learning and growth opportunities for women jobseekers and leaders, and provide knowledge, networking, and collaboration avenues.

Tide and WE Hub Launch ‘Sarthika’ to Operationalise Government Schemes for Women MSMEs

Aims to bridge the information and last mile delivery gap in public schemes and initiatives

Targets ease of doing business for 500,000 women entrepreneurs across India by 2027

Tide, the UK’s leading SME-focused business financial platform, that recently launched in India, and WE Hub, Telangana’s state-led incubator for women entrepreneurs have launched the ‘Sarthika’ programme, to bridge the information and last mile delivery gaps in state and central government schemes for women-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

Through this initiative, Tide aims to reach women entrepreneurs across India and enhance the ease of doing business by improving access to information and uptake of public schemes and initiatives.

The Sarthika web portal (https://www.tide.co/en-in/wehub-tide/) will work with the cohort at the grassroots level to help them navigate through the application process, eligibility criteria, and other important aspects of the schemes. After the completion of full KYC process, Tide India and WE Hub will work with relevant government departments to quicken operationalisation of the schemes.

The programme’s first phase consists of three schemes

1. Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP): The scheme focuses on credit subsidy for self-employment.
2. Raw Material Assistance Scheme: This scheme offers access to higher quality raw materials.
3. Barcode Registration Subsidy: This scheme enables businesses to conform to global standards of trade and commerce.

The Government of India has rolled out a series of measures to boost growth and opportunities for women in business. However, lack of information about eligibility and availability of schemes, poor allocation of resources, and complex processes have led to weak demand from the people these schemes could best serve.

The Sarthika programme comes at a time when W20, under India’s G20 presidency, is focused on realising the vision of women-led development, with women as active change agents of India’s growth story rather than passive recipients of development. The W20 is an official G20 engagement group focused on gender equity.

WE Hub CEO, Deepthi Ravula said, “Enabling access and opportunity for women to partake in the economic workforce of the nation is of pivotal importance to the growth of the nation. While there have been efforts to ease this process, awareness and handholding support is often amiss. In our collaboration with Tide, we are looking at addressing this problem statement and are positive that this will lead to a monumental change!”

This move also elevates Tide’s India Chapter of ‘Women in Business’ and the company’s plan to work as an incubator to digitally transform women-led SMEs beyond Tier 2 and 3 regions of India.

Kumar Shekhar, Deputy Country Manager, Tide India said, “As India presides over G20, there is an increased need to focus on the inclusion of women in finance and creating an enabling and non-discriminatory ecosystem. Last mile delivery of schemes and incentives is a common challenge faced by governments across the globe. While there is no magic bullet to bridge this gap, we are proud to launch a programme that will not just remove barriers to women-led development but help them realise their full potential.”

Earlier this year, Tide also conducted a mentorship programme for women entrepreneurs to decode the Union Budget 2023 and help them understand how new government policies, tax laws, and funding opportunities may affect their businesses.

About Tide:

Founded in 2015 and launched in 2017, London-based Tide is now the leading business financial platform in the UK. Tide helps SMEs save time (and money) in the running of their businesses by not only offering business accounts and related banking services, but also a comprehensive set of highly usable administrative and connected solutions. Tide has nearly 500,000 SME members in the UK (around 9% market share) and has recently launched in India.

Tide has been funded by Apax Digital, Anthemis, Augmentum, Creandum, Goodwater, Jigsaw, Latitude, LocalGlobe, Passion Capital, SpeedInvest, SBI Group and Tencent, amongst others. It employs 1250 professionals worldwide, was awarded the ‘New Market Entrant of the Year’ at the UK-India Awards 2022 and is among the Sunday Times Fast Track Disruptors to Watch. Tide has a long-term ambition to be the leading business financial platform globally.

Tide selected India as its first international market in 2020. With over 500 highly skilled employees in India, most based in its Hyderabad technology centre, Tide has launched two business financial solutions for SMEs in India – a Business Account and a RuPay-powered Expense Card and is working to introduce a host of other features to the Tide app in the next few months.

https://www.tide.co/en-in/

WE HUB is the first-of-its-kind and only state-run platform for women entrepreneurs by the Government of Telangana. WE HUB supports women entrepreneurs with innovative ideas, solutions, and entities focusing on emerging areas in technology and allied sectors. WE HUB also supports under-explored/unexplored sectors, such as FMCG, retail, and e-commerce, including the service sector. The mandate and goal of WE HUB are to eliminate financial and societal barriers for women and help them succeed in their enterprises. WE HUB aims to create a supportive community for aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs where they can interact with VCs for funding, connect with corporates for scaling up their business, get advice from mentors to fine-tune ideas; and benefit from technical mentoring.

http://wehub.telangana.gov.in/

WE HUB Celebrates Five Years of Driving Women Entrepreneurship in India and Inspiring Innovation punny

WE HUB, India's first and only state-led incubator by the Government of Telangana, celebrated its fifth anniversary on International Women's Day. The event was held at Taj Krishna and featured notable speakers, such as Telangana state’s Information Technology (IT) Minister, K. T. Rama Rao; Principal Secretary to the Government of Telangana, IT E & C department, Jayesh Ranjan; and other dignitaries. The celebration recognised the achievements of women entrepreneurs and honoured their contributions to the economy.

WE HUB has been a beacon of hope for women entrepreneurs in India over the past five years, providing them with the resources and support they need to succeed in the business world. The event kicked off with a welcome address and a video presentation by WE HUB showcasing the projects, initiatives and programmes that have helped women entrepreneurs in their entrepreneurial journey. It was followed by five successful women entrepreneurs sharing their inspiring stories of overcoming challenges and achieving success in their respective fields.

Minister K. T. Rama Rao, said, We are on a mission to make Telangana a women's entrepreneur hub, and the WE Hub has played a significant role in engaging with over 35,000 women entrepreneurs across India. The upcoming launch of a single window mechanism and targeted interventions will provide a professional identity for women entrepreneurs and enable them to scale their businesses, creating more employment opportunities in Tier 2 and 3 cities.

The event also included an interactive session with the women entrepreneurs and the audience, where IT Minister, K.T. Rama Rao, engaged in a Q&A session with them. Mr Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Information Technology (IT), emphasised the importance of women's participation in entrepreneurship and applauded WE HUB's role in promoting women entrepreneurship.

Over the past five years, WE HUB has incubated 3194 start-ups and SMEs by women founders and successfully engaged with over 5,000 women entrepreneurs, 1247 students, 986 social impact entrepreneurs and 609 urban entrepreneurs. The incubator has been actively working towards enabling women-led start-ups across sectors scale and accelerate through global market access.

The CEO of WE HUB, Deepthi Ravula, said, "At WE Hub, we believe that women entrepreneurs are a force to be recognised. Our mission is to provide them with the resources and support they need to succeed, regardless of their background or circumstances. Through our work, we have seen first-hand the incredible impact that women can have on their communities and the economy. I am proud to lead an organisation that is dedicated to empowering women and fostering innovation in India. Together, we can create a more equitable and prosperous future for all."

About WE HUB:

WE HUB is the first-of-its-kind and only state-run platform for women entrepreneurs by the Government of Telangana. WE HUB supports women entrepreneurs with innovative ideas, solutions and entities focusing on emerging areas in technology and allied sectors. WE HUB also supports under-explored/unexplored sectors, such as FMCG, retail and e-commerce, including the service sector. The mandate and goal of WE HUB are to eliminate financial and societal barriers for women and help them succeed in their enterprises. WE HUB aims to create a supportive community for aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs where they can interact with venture capitalists for funding, connect with corporates for scaling up their business, get advice from mentors to fine-tune ideas and benefit from technical mentoring.

Nykaa PRO Boosts Entrepreneurial Dreams of Young Women Through a Special Make-Up Training Program

Nykaa PRO, Nykaa’s content & commerce platform for beauty professionals, in its continued efforts to grow the ecosystem of beauty professionals in India, has collaborated with celebrated make-up artist, Kajol R Paswwan to provide a 3-day training to 12 young women from low-income groups. The partnership is an extension of Nykaa PRO’s #GroWithPRO philosophy, which aims to empower individuals into creating livelihoods through a career in beauty and grooming.

Nykaa PRO partnered with Mumbai based youth-led organisations, Project Baala and Junoon to identify and reach out to these exceptionally bright and young women for the course. These non-profits work towards empowering the youth from low-income groups and aims to make them employment ready.

Nykaa PRO partners with Kajol R Paswwan as a part of its Ongoing Initiative #GroWithPRO

True to this year’s International Women’s Day theme, #EmbraceEquity- by leveling the playing field with equal education and opportunities for everyone, this program by Nykaa PRO was designed in partnership with Kajol R Paswwan to share her knowledge and experience of the professional beauty industry with beginners. The three-day training, focused on scope, career opportunities and challenges of the industry while also equipping the young women with hands-on and personalised training in basics of make-up and hairstyling techniques and prepared them for future opportunities.

To fuel their journey as a professional make-up artist/hairstylist, Nykaa PRO provided each student with a starter-kit of make-up and hair essentials worth INR 10,000, a PRO guide, and an exceptional opportunity to intern with Kajol R Paswwan.

Nykaa PRO was launched in 2018 as a membership-led content and commerce platform designed to cater to beauty professionals. The platform features a range of professional beauty products with a selection of exclusive offers and masterclasses for people working in the beauty industry. Through its omnichannel offering, Nykaa PRO offers its services across over 27,800 Indian pin codes.

About Nykaa:

Nykaa (FSN E-Commerce) was founded in 2012 by Indian entrepreneur Falguni Nayar with a vision of bringing inspiration and joy to people, everywhere, every single day. Derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Nayaka’, meaning one in the spotlight, Nykaa has emerged as one of India’s leading lifestyle-focused consumer technologies platforms. Since its launch, Nykaa expanded its product categories by introducing online platforms Nykaa Fashion, Nykaa Man, and Superstore. Delivering a comprehensive Omnichannel e-commerce experience, Nykaa offers over 4,500 brands and over 4.6 million product SKUs through its website and mobile applications.

The Nykaa Guarantee ensures that products available at Nykaa are 100% authentic and sourced directly from the brand or authorized retailers. Through engaging and educational content, digital marketing, social media influence, robust CRM strategies, and the Nykaa Network community platform, Nykaa has built a loyal community of millions of beauty and fashion enthusiasts. Over the years, Nykaa has received many accolades for disrupting the beauty market. At the 17th India Business Leader Award in 2022, Nykaa was awarded as the Disruptor of the Year and Kantar’s Brandz List features Nykaa as one of most valuable brands in India. www.nykaa.com

India's 1st All-Women's Team Gives Sustainability Lessons to the Entire Country

#SheLeadsthechange: An all-women’s team making extraordinary efforts to give entire India sustainability lessons

• India’s first all-women waste management team from Chennai, through their unwavering commitment and dedication, are consistently achieving 90%-96% source segregation in their Zone. This is a new benchmark for consistent source segregation performance in the country and a model worth replicating across India, given its impact potential at the intersection of gender equity and sustainability. #EmbraceEquity #SheLeadsthechange
• Watch and share their story https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7039113397807816704/

International Women’s Day is a time when women from various spheres are celebrated for their contributions. However, it's important to recognize the unsung heroes who often go unnoticed. Among them are the women conservancy and waste management workers who work tirelessly every day to keep our cities clean. This International Women’s Day, Re Sustainability Limited (ReSL) is raising the bar by celebrating and highlighting the story of an all-women conservancy team in the Manali zone of Chennai through a special campaign: #SheLeadsthechange.

This all-women conservancy and waste management team in Manali, Chennai is comprised of 400 women who serve as sanitation workers, waste collectors, supervisors, waste collection vehicle drivers, composting team members, and managers at various levels. This team serves 27,000 households in their Zone every day. While it's common to see women waste collectors, at times even in uniforms, it's rare to see an entire Municipal Zone, where women are in charge, across all levels and functions. What's even more impressive is that the Manali all-women team utilizes the most advanced technology to manage municipal solid waste. Thus, on any given day in Manali, one can witness women operating technically advanced vehicles and scientifically collecting segregated waste.

We are proud to have an entire team of women who are breaking barriers every day. Watch an inspiring story of how #SheLeadsTheChange by achieving 90%-96% source segregation, daily in Manali, Chennai.

Happy Women’s Day!https://t.co/G5WdzsC71qhttps://t.co/uEryTIHXYy

— Re Sustainability Limited (@WeAre_Re) March 8, 2023

Female Operators

By recognizing and celebrating the efforts of this all-women team, Re Sustainability Limited hopes to raise awareness about the crucial role that women play in keeping our cities clean and also inspire others to follow their lead.

Re Sustainability, through #SheLeadsthechange campaign, celebrates two key achievements of the Manali all-women team:

Within a year of their formation,

• This team has made Manali zone, one of the best-performing Municipal Zones in the country and the fastest to achieve a consistent 90% - 96% waste segregation at source.
• Furthermore, the team has also achieved substantial compliance to an ambitious "Zero Waste" goal, with only 1.5MT of inert waste being diverted to landfills from this Municipal Zone on any given day.

#SheLeadsthechange campaign also brings to light the extraordinary everyday efforts put forth by this team to create public awareness about waste segregation and responsible waste disposal through its IEC programs. The Manali all-women team has developed a bespoke Information – Education – Communication (IEC) public education model, that they are delivering door to door to educate families on the importance of source segregation of waste. From awareness meetings in parks to street plays, various modes of community involvement and engagement have been employed in order to make their Zone a near “zero waste” region.

A local resident of Manali shares her views, “Waste segregation is now a part of our lifestyle. We cannot go back to the old days of non-segregation.”

The efforts of the all-women team in Manali demonstrate that women can initiate positive behavioral change in waste disposal habits. These changes often begin with small, incremental steps that gradually build momentum and create a culture of change. This self-sustaining effort by the Manali women's team is an inspiring example of how women can make a tremendous difference at the grassroot level towards the Swachh Bharat Mission and towards the "zero waste" city model of India.

The achievement of the Manali all-women's team is a valuable lesson in sustainability for the entire country. It is a remarkable example of how women can bring about meaningful change towards the mission of a cleaner and greener India. The success of the Manali model raises the question - is your city ready to adopt the all-women conservancy model and become a trailblazer for sustainability and gender equity?

Mr. Masood Mallick, CEO, Re Sustainability, summarizes, “As we celebrate International Women's Day, it is essential to acknowledge the vital role that women play in creating sustainable communities. The all-women team in Manali is setting an example by empowering their communities to take ownership of the waste generated and making a significant contribution to the sustainable development of Chennai. Their efforts are proof that women can be powerful agents of change in building sustainable communities. At Re Sustainability Limited, we remain committed to seeking support from women and strengthening our capacity to play an active role in shaping the zero-waste cities of India. We believe that women's leadership and participation are crucial for achieving our sustainability goals and building a greener, cleaner future for generations to come.”

Binance Renews Commitment to Support Women in Tech

With an increased focus on women-focused education, mentorship and scholarships, crypto exchange aims to level its industry’s gender gap 

Ahead of International Women’s Day, Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is renewing its commitment to increase the number of women active and employed in Web3. Through women-focused education and mentorship initiatives, Binance to date has invested more than $2 million to support women in more than 10 countries around the world and will increase those efforts in the year ahead.

Binance is committed to creating and funding Web3 education for women.

Binance Charity donated $2 million to fund over 36,000 dedicated Web3 scholarships for women in 2022, and will continue funding courses, programs and scholarships in 2023 with a focus on women and underrepresented communities. With women comprising only 37% of crypto owners¹, education is key to empowering more women to join the industry.

The 2022 scholarships to study blockchain and crypto-related courses at universities, schools and nonprofits were awarded to women in Germany, Nigeria, Kenya, Brazil, France, South Africa, Australia, and Ukraine. In honor of International Women’s Day, Binance Charity will also make an additional donation of $100,000 to Georgia’s Innovation & Technology Agency (GITA) to support web3 education and training for women. Binance Academy will provide educational content for GITA web3 courses.

Binance is committed to increasing female representation in the workforce.

Binance was co-founded in 2017 by He Yi, making the company one of the few female-founder crypto companies in the world. Less than 5% of crypto founders at top crypto companies are women². As of 2022, the number of female-founded cryptocurrency companies was approximately 292, out of more than 10,000 companies³.

In order to further address the gender gap, Binance has created its first formal internship and graduate programs, which offer more access to careers in crypto for diverse talent, including women. The company also offers guidance and career advice to women through female mentorship programs, talent workshops, educational courses and lectures to share industry experience and insights on how to break into a career in Web3.

"As one of the few female leaders in the industry, I believe that we have a mission, through Binance Charity and Binance Academy, to help more women understand web3 and blockchain technology -- our education and internship programs aim to empower young women with knowledge and skills ready for industry disruption," said He Yi, Binance co-founder and chief marketing officer. "We believe that anyone with ideas can change the world, regardless of gender. We hope these commitments will result in more women on the front line of innovation and bring change to our industry.”

¹ TripleA.io: Global Crypto Ownership

² CoinJournal.net: Women in crypto statistics 2022

³ BCG.com: Gender Diversity in Web3

About Binance

Binance is the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider with a financial product suite that includes the largest digital asset exchange by volume. Trusted by millions worldwide, the Binance platform is dedicated to increasing the freedom of money for users, and features an unmatched portfolio of crypto products and offerings, including: trading and finance, education, data and research, social good, investment and incubation, decentralization and infrastructure solutions, and more. For more information, visit: https://www.binance.com

Proptech Platform Strata Clocks 2X Rise in Women Investors Reaching 45% of Its Total Customer Base

Earlier anticipated to be a five-year programme, the aim was achieved in just one year since its launch

Committed to creating an inclusive investment atmosphere, Strata, India's leading proptech enabling fractional ownership in commercial real estate, marked a 2X growth in the number of women investors within a year of slashing the minimum investment ticket size for women. It now has 45% women investors of its total investor base.

Last year, during the occasion of International Women’s Day, Strata launched an initiative to encourage women take active role in their investment decisions. As a part of this initiative, Strata reduced its minimum investment ticket size by 40% from INR25 lakh to INR 15 lakh for women investing on its platform. The initiative was envisaged as a five-year programme, however, the aim of increasing women investor participation in fractional ownership of commercial real estate, has been achieved in less than a years’ time. While commemorating the investment spirit and financial empowerment of women, the initiative has also been instrumental in driving awareness among investors to explore new-age alternative investment avenues.

Strata's Co-founder & COO Priyanka Rathore said, "Promoting an inclusive investment environment has always been Strata's core principle, and we are thrilled to receive such a warm response from our women investors. We applaud the courage and effort for taking a step out of their comfort zone and taking charge of their financial health.


Comprising half of the economy's population, we must focus on and create an equal podium for women investors. As a women entrepreneur, I am responsible for making efforts in this direction. Strata is committed to further curating innovative products and investment opportunities to create a more engaging and nurturing investment ecosystem for women."

Strata, as one of the leading players in this segment, is actively working to create full awareness about the first-hand participation of women in building and nurturing their financial health. Strata have constantly been raising investment awareness through different mediums to foster the sentiment of boosting India's alternative investment spectrum.

About Strata Property Management

Strata is a tech-enabled real estate investment platform that allows investors to own and sell fractions of pre-leased, Grade-A commercial properties like office spaces, warehouses, industrial assets, etc. With more than 900+ Cr in AUM, over 50,000 members, and 3000 investors, it is India's leading platform for fractional ownership in commercial real estate. It is funded by marquee investors, Kotak Investment Advisors, Gruhas Proptech, Elevation Capital, Mayfield India, and others.

Sourcing Commercial Real Estate and offering it on an easy-to-use online platform, Strata aims to democratize CRE, making it accessible for a much larger investor base, as well as bringing transparency and simplicity to CRE investments with its data-driven asset selection and single window platform to invest in assets across the nation.

https://strataprop.com/

1M1B in Partnership Meta Platform Inc Launches Digital Nagrik Campaign to Create Awareness About Women’s Digital Safety

1M1B creates various online dialogues and panels for empowered female influencers and teachers from across India on International Women’s Day

Over 60% of the pledges were taken by females during this social media campaign- Digital Nagrik

1M1B (One Million for One Billion), has launched the Digital Nagrik Campaign, supported by Meta Platform Inc, to create awareness about women’s safety online, aligning the Digital Nagrik campaign with this year’s International Women's Day. The theme of International Women's Day is "DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality". 1M1B is hosting various online dialogues and panel with women influencers and teachers on March 7 and 8 with an aim to advance equality in the digital sphere and empower women online.

Launched on Safer Internet Day, the Digital Nagrik Campaign has witnessed huge support from women and girls from across India. Women and girls have taken more than 60% of the 15,000 pledges taken digitally so far. Digital Nagrik is a social media campaign and a pledge that aims to foster a culture of digital safety and create a safer and more inclusive internet space. This campaign aligns with the central government’s objective to ensure an open, safe, trusted and accountable internet for its citizens.

On International Women's Day, a panel will be hosted on Twitter space that will be focus on discussions around fostering a culture of digital safety and promoting a secure and inclusive online environment. Influencers will highlight the digital gap between genders, the importance of digital education, and the urgency to combat online harassment of women and girls.

The Digital Nagrik Campaign is led by CBSE teachers and academic advisors and managed by 1M1B, India’s largest organization that is developing and mobilizing India’s future-ready technology workforce. Digital Nagrik will develop a community of responsible digital citizens who are aware of their digital rights and obligations. 1M1B has already engaged over 4 lakh teachers and 11 lakh students on digital citizenship, well-being, and cyber safety, and plans to engage over 1 million people through the Digital Nagrik pledge this year.

Digital Nagrik – Time to create a safer cyberspace for Women and girls

According to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau, the number of cybercrime incidents in 2021 has increased by 18.4% since 2019, but the number of cases involving women has increased at a much steeper 28.4% rate. Data showed that 10,730 incidents, or 20.2% of the 52,974 incidents reported in 2021, were reported as crimes against women. Cyberbullying, cyberstalking, defamation, morphing, and the creation of false profiles are the most common cyber-crimes committed against women. Among the top 3 cities to receive complaints around these crimes were New Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai, with school and college students forming 60% of these complaints.

The Digital Nagrik campaign will raise awareness about the prevalence of online harassment against women and provide tips and resources to empower women and girls to combat it.

Manav Subodh- Founder of 1M1B said that “In a world that depends more and more on technology, criminal activity related to electronic and internet platforms tends to rise, with women becoming the easiest victims. To punish such criminals with severe measures, the law must go above and beyond. There are advantages and disadvantages to technology, which can be used for good or bad. Increased cybercrime awareness and knowledge, privacy protection, and legal support are necessary to combat cybercrime against women. At an astounding 85%, women and girls are more likely than men to experience online abuse. The Digital Nagrik campaign aims to increase awareness of the prevalence of harassment of women online and equip women and girls with the tools they need to stop it. The Digital Nagrik campaign is part of the Digital Citizenship curriculum created by teachers and introduced by 1M1B in CBSE schools supported by Meta. It’s important to teach about online safety at an early age, right in the high schools so that today’s youth are made aware. We can see that 60% of pledges are signed by females, which shows the need for awareness and education dialogues on this issue.”

The Digital Nagrik pledge has been available for signing at www.iamdigitalnagrik.com since February 7, 2023.

About 1M1B Foundation: 

Established in 2014, 1M1B (One Million For One Billion) is a United Nations accredited organization focussed on social innovations and creating a future ready tech workforce.

1M1B engages and enables youth to become future-ready problem solvers creating real-world impact. By undergoing 1M1B programs that are based on a unique 4.3.2.1 activation framework, youth acquire critical skill sets, and mind-sets toolsets to access the jobs of tomorrow. Areas of focus include digital technologies (AI, AR, VR), digital creativity, digital citizenship and 4th industrial revolution skills like problem-solving, flexibility, empathy, dealing with failures and collaboration.

1M1B programmes are available in over 3,000 schools across India, with over 334,000 youth and 125,000 teachers trained to date. Over 250 villages are served by 1M1B. 150 Indian youth presented their work at the United Nations in New York, and 1M1B helped to create over 150 young entrepreneurs.

1M1B exists to activate 1 million youth who will impact 1 billion people, creating a world with balanced prosperity.

Pratech Brands Set to Invest in Inaari to promote women’s Health & Wellness

Inaari founder Rashmi Putcha with Sachin Parikh

In a first-of-its-kind partnership, digital-first retailer Pratech Brands has invested in ‘Inaari’, a brand focused on women's health.

An estimated one in five (20%) Indian women suffer from Hormonal Imbalance, if not monitored timely, the condition can have serious health impacts.

Inaari focuses on helping women understand their hormonal cycle and encourages them to live in alignment with it. Lack of understanding of the hormonal cycle is the root cause of this. Through ‘Inaari’, Pratech aims at addressing the issues that are commonly faced by women but not talked about.

To address this, Inaari launched a unique ‘Cycle Realign Kit’- a supplement that offers women micronutrients targeted to help them improve their menstrual cycle. Containing four formulations, this kit is a convenient solution for menstruating women to prevent hormonal imbalance.

Speaking about the investment, Sachin Parikh, CEO Pratech Brands said, “Women are the key decision makers in terms of healthy practices and lifestyle choices. Innovation and start-up activities in the area of women’s health are increasing at a rapid pace, creating a huge market potential. We choose ‘Inaari’ because we believed in its concept & vision. I think it’s high time we offer solutions customized for women, which empower them to live in harmony with their natural hormonal rhythm. We want to expand Inaari so that more women can be a part of this bold movement and benefit from what we have to offer.”

Speaking about her vision behind Inaari, Rashmi Putcha, the founder of the brand and a health coach herself, said, “Men and women have different bodies & different hormone cycles. Yet, women continue to eat, sleep and exercise like men. Men have a 24-hour hormone cycle whereas hormonal patterns in women go through an average 28-day cycle. Inaari was founded to help women understand their hormone cycle & help women get healthier and happier. We are very excited with the investment from Pratech – we can now not only increase our reach but also launch a series of products that are targeted to solve hormonal disorders.”

Inaari is also launching a range of products for women of all age groups – primarily focused on solving hormonal issues such as PCOS, Menstrual Disorders, Infertility, Endometriosis etc. The brand is also looking at targeting nascent categories such as Menopause and sexual wellness.

Pratech is a brainchild of former Nykaa CFO Sachin Parikh and former Amazon and Unilever executives Neehar Modi and Anvi Shah. Funded by Sequoia’s ‘Surge’ Pratech has two prime verticals — ‘HOME’ and ‘Health. Its home vertical is adorned by a D2C appliance brand 'Tesora', which offers luxurious home and kitchen appliances at an economical rate; While in the Health vertical, it has recently launched a multi-retailer e-commerce platform 'HyugaLife', it is a one-stop e-commerce destination for health and wellness in India, combining authentic products curated by renowned experts in health and wellness with educational content on well-being and nutrition.

SocialBoat - A Fitness App for Women, Raises Funds from Plan B Capital, Abhijit Kane, and Angels

SocialBoat, a women's health app, has announced raising an angel round of US$ 200K from Plan B Capital. Other angel investors who have committed to the venture include Abhijit Kane (Co-founder, Postman), Videt Jaiswal (Co-founder, Airblack), Bhuvan Gupta (Co-founder, OfBusiness) and Prateek Sharma (Managing Partner, AheadVC), Neeraj Gupta (Angel Investor) among others. The funds will help SocialBoat scale its technology platform, strengthen its tech team, invest in brand building, and partner with health coaches at scale.

SocialBoat was founded in December 2021 by Swapnil Vats and Rahul Jain to provide affordable and personalized fitness & health programs to over 100M women in India. Presently over 60% of women in India are diagnosed with PCOS after ignoring personal health for years. Nearly 80-85% of them develop obesity and are at high risk of developing infertility, diabetes and cancer.

Most healthcare providers and fitness companies have shied away from women’s health and primarily focus on a male centric body or aesthetic fitness goals like weight loss, abs etc. SocialBoat bridges this gap by creating 360 degree fitness programs that cater to women specific goals like - managing PCOS, postpartum care and mobility and general healthy living.

These programs are designed by gynecologists, fitness coaches and nutrition experts and are presented to the user in the form of an engaging game. In the game, SocialBoat’s AI gives short tasks like 10 min HIIT workout, eat a green salad or go for a 4km walk to the users. As they finish the tasks, they get points and can use them to unlock next levels and win exciting prizes.

Additionally, there is a championship where users can participate in teams with their friends. The game structure has made healthy living ‘addictive’, with users spending more than 50 minutes a day on the app and 80% of them achieving their goal.

SocialBoat acquires users by enabling existing fitness communities like - running clubs & cycling groups to create teams in the SocialBoat game. The team acts as a micro pod, where users get a sense of community as they achieve their fitness goals. Some popular teams on the app are created by influencers like Aarja Bedi (Women Strength COach), Greesha Dhingra (Fertility Yoga Trainer), Coach Ravinder (NCR’s largest running group) and organizations like AVIVA India, AIESEC and Punjab Engineering College.

Presently, there are over 5000+ users, 850+ communities and 500+ success stories on the app. The app is 5/5 rated on Apple App Store and Play Store and was recently ranked #2 on ProductHunt.

“We believe that adding the fun game lens to fitness has made the subject a lot more approachable. It also gives the user a sense of winning. This psychological trigger can make healthy living as addictive as a video game” said Rahul Jain, Co-Founder SocialBoat.

“We have recorded an organic growth of 145% MoM led by influencers who invited their followers to their teams. In 2023, we aim to scale to tier II cities and explore fitness content in vernacular languages.” said Swapnil Vats, Co-Founder, SocialBoat.

I'm excited to support Socialboat in their journey to revolutionize the home workout landscape in India. This is a space where there's a lot to be done, and the team has done their groundwork well." said Abhijit Kane, Co Founder PostMan.

About SocialBoat

SocialBoat (SB) is an online game that adds the competitiveness of sports to your daily workouts. It is designed to solve fitness motivation for 150M users who pay for a gym membership and drop off within a month. To play the game, users make teams with their friends and do daily fitness challenges on the app. Teams earn points as they finish the tasks and progress on the leaderboard. Top teams every week earn exclusive badges and cash rewards. The game adds instant gratification to working out, similar to what makes video games fun and addictive. We also enable fitness communities to use SB as a platform to launch their virtual gyms, where they can create gamified workout programs for their members.

To know more, visit socialboat.live

Rashida Adenwala, the 1st Woman to Take Over As President of TiE Hyderabad for the Year 2023

TiE Hyderabad, the global entrepreneurial network, announced Rashida Adenwala as new President, the first woman to occupy the chair for the year 2023.

Rashida Adenwala

The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), founded in 1992 in Silicon Valley is a nonprofit organization devoted to entrepreneurs in all industries, at all stages, from incubation, throughout the entrepreneurial life cycle. With a global reach and a local focus, the heart of TiE efforts lies in its five foundational programs, – Mentoring, Networking, Education, Funding, and Incubation.

TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) is a go-to network of over 15,000 global entrepreneurs across 63 cities in 14 countries, and Hyderabad is one of the most vibrant and renowned chapters worldwide.

The new president, Rashida Adenwala has taken over reins today from Suresh Raju. Rashida Adenwala is the Founder Partner of R & A Associates, an integrated Corporate Secretarial & Legal Services Firm, offering a full range of corporate law services.

The new board comprises Rashida Adenwala, Founder Partner, R&A Associates as President, Srini Chandupatla, Co-Founder, Manjeera Digital Systems as Vice President, Suresh Raju, Founder & Partner Jupiter Alternative Investments Fund as Immediate Past President TiE Hyderabad, The other board members for 2023 include Venkateswara Rao Annapragada, Investor & Business Mentor. Dr. Balaji Bhyravbhatla Managing Director, HyLasCo Bio-Technology (India) Pvt. Ltd. Ravi Chennupati Chairman and Managing Director Ezone Security Solutions, Sharlin Thayil Co-Founder & CEO, Business Director View360 Technologies, Carnegie Technologies, Raj Samala, Founder & CEO, Revalsys Technologies, Raveendra Nalluri, Partner, Orpine, Inc, Dr. Nandita Sethi, Founder & MD, The Entrepreneur Zone (TEZ), (A Unit of Zen SkillProc Pvt Ltd), Bhanu Prakash Varla, Partner & Director, Graylogic Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Jayesh Sanghvi, Office Managing Partner, Hyderabad, Ernst & Young LLP, and Abhijit Banerjee, Managing Partner, Upwisery Capital Advisors LLP - Zauba Corp

Welcoming Rashida Adenwala as the new President of TiE Hyderabad, Suresh Raju, Founder and Partner of Jupiter Alternative Investments Fund said, “TiE Hyderabad recently hosted the TiE Global Summit which has witnessed many firsts to its credit, astounding success with global delegate participation crossing 3000+ registrations from 48 cities, 200+ speakers covering 69 Sessions, 9 Masterclasses, 32 Round tables, 3 Conclaves (SME Conclave, TiE Japan Conclave, TiE Africa Conclave), Expo stalls for 105 Companies, TiE Nurture Lounge enabling 1000s of Mentor-Mentee conversations, launch of TGS 100 as a new platform to identify top start-ups, Incubators Showcase, TiE Global Women Finals and University Pitchfest of over 40 teams from across the world -- all of this was spread across two and a half days.. The Chapter looks forward to Rashida’s contribution to further TiE’s mission in fostering entrepreneurship.”

Setting the agenda for TiE Hyderabad in 2023, Rashida Adenwala said, “The new leadership will continue the momentum with a focus on impact-based initiatives, cross-chapter collaboration and building corporate partnerships.” Commenting on how TiE Hyderabad plans to impact startups during her tenure as President, she said, “TiE will continue to nurture the startups through structured mentoring programs, help startup entrepreneurs connect with domestic as well global investors by collaborating with various investment platforms, provide market access through the TiE’s global network as well as focus on fostering entrepreneurship in the tier 2 cities of Telangana.”

About TiE Global & TiE Hyderabad

Each year, TiE Hyderabad impacts over 1,100 start-ups and 7500+ students, conducts around 100 events and activities to encourage and nurture next generation entrepreneurs. Some of the well-known programs include TiE Nurture Accelerator, TiE Grad, TiE Young Entrepreneurs, Open Mic, Mentor Advisor, Investor Connect, Knowledge Series, Leadership Series, MemberMixer, & My Story, among others.

TiE Hyderabad steers over 100+ programs for chartered members, associate members, and other ecosystem partners and provides startups and its members access to about 3,000 successful entrepreneurs and professionals across the globe. Around 160 +charter members are Hyderabad-based and volunteer for mentoring, education, and providing access to customers and investors through the global network.

Only 2 out of 100 Women Invest for Their Retirement: Priti Rathi, Harvard Alumni, MD and Promoter, Anand Rathi Group and Founder of LXME, India's 1st Financial Platform for Women

Women retire with one-tenth of the money man retires: Priti Rathi

Priti Rathi said women retire in poverty

Financial Fitness --Bootcamp for women held. Addressing 100 plus FLO members on Saturday night in Hotel Radisson Blu in Banjara Hills in Hyderabad, Ms Priti Rathi, Founder & MD of LXME, India's 1st financial platform for women said we believe every woman should aim for financial freedom and have therefore built an ecosystem for them to be financially fearless and ready to take charge of their money

FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), Hyderabad Chairperson, as part of its national initiative, organised a Bootcamp on Financial Fitness. It was one of the series of sessions of Shubhraa Maheshwari, Chairperson of FLO Hyderabad and other FLO Chapters across India on the subject.

Managing Director & Promoter, Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers Ltd Priti Rathi addressing her participants said women need not be good at Mathematics and Academics to manage their finances. Women should be in control of their finances. Women retire with one-tenth of the money men retire. Women retire in poverty. Women live longer than men. Women don't talk about money actively.

Women must start talking about their money. She told her participants to start money conversations at home. Normally this subject is brushed under the carpet. Financial literacy is a life skill. The money habit has to be spoken about at home. Don't leave your financial security or goal to some family member. Women need to take care of at least two financial goals such as ---Emergency Fund and Retirement Fund.

Speaking further she added that financial literacy is the most important life skill, but unfortunately, no educational institution teaches it. There is no systematic learning.

Priti Rathi whose business presentation at Harvard Business School has become India's first financial planning app catering specifically to women that helps them invest independently aims to create, through LXME, a new wave of financially fearless women. Believing that women are inherently good investors but have been left out of the investment conversation for far too long, Priti Rathi Gupta wants to end women's reliance on their husbands, brothers or fathers to invest their money.

She told them to bear four pillars of financial management such as 01. Earn 02. Spend 03. Save and 04.Invest

Do not save what is left after spending, but, spend what is left after saving. She gave a golden rule for budgeting. 50% of your earnings must go toward your needs, 20% towards your financial future and 30% towards your wants.

Referring to the findings of Women & Money Power-2022, a study on where women stand on Money Matter, she said 49% of women either do not have their money at all or are not aware of the investments in their name. Only 2 out of 100 women invest for their retirement. Only 9% of women invest independently through self-learning. 58% of women have no insurance in their name. 73% were saving less than 20%of their income.

Earlier welcoming the gathering of FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), Hyderabad Chairperson Shubhraa Maheshwari said women still run their kitchens and run their businesses. They still take care of their families. They are multi-taskers. But, somehow leave their financial management to somebody. This must change. They must take control of their earnings and investments.

DXC Technology and NASSCOM Foundation Inaugurate Digital Training Center for Women Engineering Students in Pune

Representational Image

Digital training centers will be launched across seven other women engineering colleges across India; the first center was launched in Hyderabad

Centres will contribute to the government's Digital India mission by building the technical capabilities of students

Encouraging women's participation in digital learning in India is key, hence all the exclusive collaboration with women engineering colleges

DXC Technology, in association with NASSCOM Foundation, jointly inaugurated their second Digital Training Centre at the Cummins College of Engineering for Women, Pune, to enhance technical capabilities and digital learning amongst students. After the successful launch of the first Digital Training center in Hyderabad last month, eight other similar centers in colleges across the country are being planned to aid digital training in emerging technologies.

Cummins College's digital training center was formally inaugurated in the presence of Kartik Iyer, Director of Operations - GDN, DXC Technology, Santosh Rao Manager skilling programs, NASSCOM Foundation, and Dr. Madhuri Khambete, Principal Cummins College. The inaugural session was also attended by other dignitaries from TMIe2E and faculties and students at the college.

Under this initiative, similar digital centers will also be inaugurated subsequently in the following seven institutions:

• Gayatri Vidya Parishad College of Engineering for Women, Vishakhapatnam
• Bhoj Reddy Engineering College for Women, Hyderabad
• Ravindra College of Engineering for Women, Kurnool
• Godutai Engineering College for Women, Kalabutagi
• Mody Universities, Jaipur
• Banasthali Vidyapeeth Engineering College, Jaipur
• Mahendra Engineering College for Women, Salem

As a part of the Technology Skilling Initiatives Program executed by TMIe2E, state-of-the-art tech-enabled centers have been established for engineering students to hone their technical skills and educate, engage, and elevate them to be future-ready in the evolving digital environment. Students can also acquire industry-relevant abilities by combining developing technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, etc., with management education. The centers can also be utilized for various events, including IdeaThons and Hackathons.

Lokendra Sethi, Head of HR – DXC Technology, India, said, "While enabling the accessibility of the right knowledge and life skills is at the core of our CSR vision, there is also the larger goal of nation building by empowering the youth; and especially the women of India to become self-reliant. With this collaboration with NASSCOM Foundation, we are reaching out to women engineering students across the country to provide them with the necessary digital skills and competencies to make them future-ready. Digital learning is the right next step in the overall advancement of our youth and therefore the key to a stronger India."

Nidhi Bhasin, CEO of NASSCOM Foundation, said, "While most of India's population comprises the youth, it faces the challenge of future-proofing the potential of its talent and leveraging the demographic dividend. The existing skill gap has challenged the progress of youth as well as the supply of talent for businesses. To bridge this gap, prioritizing digital learning through establishing digital centers will cater to the much-needed skills amongst students, especially women, for the ever-growing futuristic technological industry. We are honored to partner with DXC Technology to collaborate on an initiative that fosters young minds and encourages them to embrace rapid technological advancements to deliver to national and global needs."

Reports suggest that the market for digital transformation solutions will grow globally by 15.6% by 2030. With the increased adoption of digitization through the COVID-19 crisis, the pace of technology adoption has increased manifold across industries. Therefore, digital and technology expertise will form the bulk of employable skills in demand in the future. To empower the youth in educational institutions, especially women, with cutting-edge future skills and modern techno-digital solutions such as AI, ML is bound to go a long way in strengthening and shaping their future.

About DXC Technology:

DXC Technology (NYSE: DXC) helps global companies run their mission-critical systems and operations while modernizing IT, optimizing data architectures, and ensuring security and scalability across public, private, and hybrid clouds. The world's largest companies and public sector organizations trust DXC to deploy services to drive new levels of performance, competitiveness, and customer experience across their IT estates. Learn more about how we deliver excellence for our customers and colleagues at DXC .com.

About NASSCOM Foundation:

Established in 2001, NASSCOM Foundation has been witness to the transformative power of technology for the last 20 years. Part of the NASSCOM ecosystem, we are the only neutral, not-for-profit outfit representing the Indian tech Industry. We remain rooted in our core philosophy of TechForGood, where our efforts are focussed on unlocking the power of technology by creating access and opportunity for those who need it the most. We work on helping people and institutions transform the way they tackle social and economic challenges through technology. We have three key areas of intervention, Digital Literacy, Skilling and Employability, and Women Entrepreneurship.

Millennial Indian Women Rely on Digital Channels for Their Health and Fitness Needs; Look for Lasting Solutions That Work: by Savage

Fast embracing holistic, personalised curated programs and plans to better handle their individual health issues

More than 100,000 searches happen just for UTI & PCOS

Of all the hormonal changes which millennial women experience, menstruation continues to be their foremost area of concern

India’s millennial women, especially working professionals between the age group of 23-38 years have increasingly come to rely on digital channels for their health and fitness needs and are looking for lasting solutions that work, according to the consumer and market report compiled by savage (www.savage.club). savage is India’s leading women’s healthtech company building the future of wellness for millennial women. The consumer mapping has revealed some very interesting insights which are intrinsically linked to the rise of India’s Femtech sector.

Understanding the consumer base…the urban millennial women

Millennial Indian women rely on digital channels for their health and fitness needs_ look for lasting solutions that work reveals market report by savage

The consumer report analysed responses shared by millennial women across leading cities and towns, the majority of whom are working professionals (73%) followed by students (17%) and homemakers (5%) amongst others. While 58% of the respondents fell in the 25-30 years age group, 23% were between 15-25 years of age. 17% of the participants are pregnant or in a related phase while 32% of the interviewed millennial women are experiencing PCOS or PCOD.

Do Indian millennial women know enough? A Peek into their menstrual health..

Of all the hormonal changes which millennial women experience, menstruation continues to be their foremost area of concern.

When women were asked to list down ways in which they track their monthly menstruation cycle, half of them (50%) acknowledged that they do use a menstrual tracking app- a testimony of them already taking ownership of their hormonal health to some extent.

Elaborating on the state of their menstrual cycle, every respondent had experienced at least 1-2 periods of hormonal imbalance in her lifetime while 23% of them had experienced irregular and fluctuating menstruations.

Majority of them are aware of the changes which they experience around their menstruation time. 56% claimed that their diet and exercise routine changes around their periods. Mood swings (75%) stood out as the topmost PMS symptom, followed by food cravings (54%) and low energy (48%).

Are India’s digital savvy millennial women seeking external support to address their hormonal health issues?

45% of the women cited having never visited a gynaecologist to seek guidance in matters related to their personal health while a meagre 12% said that they would only do so when something is seriously off.

Ways in which women are addressing their common menstruation concerns…

An alarming 87% respondents do not take any prescribed medicines to combat their specific menstruation issues while 13% mentioned the intake of period regulating pills and off-the-counter medications.

Where does a fitness routine fit in the schedule of India’s digital savvy millennial women and what are the key barriers coming in their way?

Majority of the millennial women (35%) workout 3-4 times a week, 23% workout 5-7 times weekly with 20% rarely doing so. Lack of motivation (34%) and lack of time (30%) are the top two barriers coming in the way of maintaining a healthy and holistic lifestyle.

Millennial Indian women are seeking expert recommendations in addition to doctors and medical fraternity. 54% of them look upon social media for solutions. Interestingly, 52% of them are guided by micro influencers.

Ekta Tibrewal, Co-founder, savage says, “A large part of the healthcare ecosystem is designed without keeping our unique physiology and biology at its core. The ebb and flow of hormones like Oestrogen, Progesterone, and Testosterone shape women's bodies, metabolism, sleep, energy levels, productivity, moods & so much more. Despite that, only 4% of healthcare R&D funding is targeted towards women's health and factoring their hormone cycles in studies & trials. Amidst this backdrop, we have India’s digital savvy millennial women who are no longer looking for short term gains or hacks to shed weight. Every month, more than 100,000 searches happen just for UTI & PCOS. This user segment like never before is taking ownership of their health and fitness; and is embracing digital channels to evaluate holistic solutions that work.

Ekta further adds, “Femtech players are empowering women, especially millennial Indian women to take charge of their own health. We are already witnessing a strong tide of change with not just Femtech ventures but also healthcare companies speedily acknowledging the need to better serve women for their specific health needs along with bringing in gender specificity for diagnostics, drugs, devices and solutions for women. Urban millennial Indian women are fast embracing holistic, personalised curated programs and plans- which are allowing them to better handle their individual health issues.”

Commenting on urban Indian millennial women fueling the growth of India’s Femtech sector, Akshay Rajwade, Co-founder, savage says, “Femtech as a flourishing industry is expected to reach USD 71,000 million by 2026. We believe that our country’s Femtech sector is redefining this space like never before. The year 2021 saw the highest number of funding deals in the last seven years, 40 in total amounting $98 million. Altogether, the Femtech market is poised to grow at a healthy rate of 17% from 2020 to 2026. We expect innovative technologies to further target menstruation issues, pelvic health, fertility and birth control, sexual wellness, chronic conditions and general healthcare”.

Gizmore and Snapdeal Partner To Launch Slate, Made In India Women-centric Smartwatch

Gizmore Slate will retail exclusively on Snapdeal for Rs 2,699

Gizmore, one of India’s leading Smart Accessories, Fitness Gear, and Home Audio brands, today announced the launch of Slate at an introductory price of Rs 2,699. Gizmore Slate is the first women-centric smartwatch from the brand.

Gizmore Slate is an amalgamation of style & functionality and truly embodies the brand’s philosophy of ‘New Age Fitness’. Targeting the women users, Gizmore Slate boasts of a completely unique design that makes it truly stand out. The smartwatch has a rectangular dial with 1.57 inch IPS Curved Display with a 500-nits peak brightness. It also supports Always-on-Display (AoD) feature. Encased in a sleek metal frame, Gizmore Slate comes with a premium silicone strap to enhance the look and feel. The smartwatch has been launched in pink, grey and black colours and will retail exclusively on Snapdeal for an unbeatable price of Rs 2,299. This sale price will be for the first 1,000 consumers on Snapdeal, after which it will be available for Rs. 2,699.

Gizmore-Slate (Black)

Gizmore-Slate (Pink)

Designed for women on the go, Gizmore Slate comes packed with an array of wellness features to track daily activities. The smartwatch has a heart rate monitor, blood oxygen monitor, sleep tracker, hydration alert, meditative breathing and menstrual cycle tracker. It has multiple sports modes, including Running, Yoga, Swimming, Basketball, Cycling, Trekking, Aerobics, etc. The smartwatch comes infused with modern-day features such as body temperature, Bluetooth calling and Alexa voice assistant. Gizmore Slate offers unmatched personalization as it supports more than 100 watch faces and a powerful battery, which can deliver up to seven days of nonstop performance on a single charge.

“Smartwatches have become an integral part of our lives and have moved beyond the functionality of a simple watch. At Gizmore, we are continuously working towards offering superior quality products packed with features at a price that suits all. We found a gap in the market, that there are not many smartwatches that cater to women, some of them are too large, too sporty or too techy-looking. Slate is a fashion-forward smartwatch that is designed keeping women in mind and will serve their need for an all-in-one smartwatch that helps them reach their fitness & wellness goals”, says Sanjay Kumar Kalirona, CEO and Co-Founder Gizmore.

“There is a rise in demand for a budget smartwatch equipped with wellness and connectivity features with battery longevity. For our value-focused customers, we are happy that Gizmore chose Snapdeal as its preferred platform to reach them in Tier 2 & 3 towns.” said Saurabh Bansal, Chief Merchandising Officer, Snapdeal Limited.

Gizmore had recently launched its Made in India GIZFIT 910 Pro. The unisex smartwatch has been well-accepted in the market. The home-grown brand has also roped in ace-cricketer Dinesh Karthik to drive a stronger connection with the youth. Gizmore is also a part of the "Swasth Bharat - FIT INDIA" mission, and through this partnership, it aims to play a more significant role in making India fit.

About Gizmore

Gizmore is a premium affordable smart accessories brand that offers premium products with innovative features and quality excellence and is in sync with the aspirations and demands of the consumer of new India. It is a one-stop shop for consumers looking for mobile accessories, home audio, and wearables. The company has completely redefined the home audio space by offering products that are cutting-edge, eye-catching and value for money. From tech enthusiasts to music aficionados, Gizmore has something to offer for everyone. Gizmore has set up a countrywide network of over 15,000 dealers across 225+ and is also available in 500+ modern retail outlets.

For more information, please visit https://gizmore.in/

Latha Chembrakalam Wins the Top 10 Women Tech Leaders India Awards 2022

Latha was shortlisted among many renowned names from the industry by the jury of prestigious industry veterans

The award celebrates her resilience and determination in the field of Technology

Latha Chembrakalam, Head - Technical Center India, Continental Automotive India, was facilitated with the Top 10 Women Tech Leaders India Award. In a virtual event hosted by REVA Academy for Corporate Excellence, REVA University and Terralogic Inc., the award was presented in recognition of her work in the field of technology and for her role in promoting social causes.

Speaking on the award win, Latha said-

I am honored to receive this award and would like to thank REVA University for acknowledging my work in the field of technology. I am grateful to all the jury members for recommending my name.

Latha has nearly three decades of experience and has held many leadership roles in her career, while being instrumental in creating powerful technology teams that create value and differentiation for businesses. She has been the driving source of inspiration for hundreds of Indian women, who take up leadership roles in the field of technology, as well as encouraging individuals with her resilience and determination.

Continental develops pioneering technologies and services for sustainable and connected mobility of people and their goods. Founded in 1871, the technology company offers safe, efficient, intelligent and affordable solutions for vehicles, machines, traffic and transportation. In 2021, Continental generated preliminary sales of €33.8 billion and currently employs more than 190,000 people in 58 countries and markets. On October 8, 2021, the company celebrated its 150th anniversary.

Continental India: The company has been present in India for close to 50 years through technology partnerships (Continental Tires since 1974) and joint ventures for its various businesses. Today, the tier 1 automotive supplier, tire manufacturer, and industrial partner operate across India – with about 8,000 employees across 13 locations, including seven plants that cater to the Indian market and a Technical Center that supports Continental's global R&D activities.

REVA Academy for Corporate Excellence (RACE) is an initiative of REVA University, which offers a range of specialized, techno-functional programs custom-designed to suit the needs of working professionals to enhance their careers. These programs bring in the latest tools, techniques, and skill sets, which are in sync with the futuristic demands of the industry and ranked among the top executive programs in India.