Women execs show the way to form 'Navy Seals of female entrepreneurs'

BENGALURU: SonderConnect, a not-for-profit trust for women entrepreneurs, has launched a mentorship programme for Indian women entrepreneurs, in partnership with Silicon Valley-based accelerator Blackbox, and IBM. Called Ignite, the four-month long programme will see 14 women-led startups being mentored by thought leaders and investors from around the world.At the end of the programme, two founders would be selected to attend Blackbox's twoweek residential programme for international startups, called Blackbox Connect.
“India today stands at 29 out of 31 in the women's entrepreneur index worldwide - we are only ahead of Bangladesh and Pakistan. There is something wrong here. We are such a strong tech country and we need to do something about having more female foun ders,“ said Lathika Pai, managing partner at Tekinroads Consulting, who founded SonderConnect along with former president of Time Inc India Sejal Shah Gulati, former Goldman Sachs MD Vaishali Kasture, and senior director of HR at Visa, Anju Shenoy, to create a “Navy Seals of female entrepreneurs.“
The 14 startups, selected from 65 applicants pan-India, underwent a three-day residential programme in Bengaluru where the startups were paired with mentors based on the key areas of concern identified for each business. Among the selected startups are Medimojo, a health tracker app, GoPaisa, cashback and discount site, Mandistore, an online handicrafts store, and Huzzpa, an online interior design store.
Sandy Carter, GM of IBM's developer ecosystem, said firms led by women entrepreneurs around the world are 15% more profitable than those led by male entrepreneurs, but they are 40% less likely to get funding. Blackbox founder Fadi Bishara said it is clear that Bengaluru is important for the software business and the spirit of entrepreneurship is prominent with a host of mature companies.
“In India, a programme like that is needed. Generally, in a startup world, it is challenging, in India, it is ten times more challenging. There is massive bias against women in business. There is so much that needs to be done," said Eric Savage, chief executive of Unitus Capital and one of the mentors in the programme. Other mentors include Archana Hingorani, CEO at IL&FS investment, Abhijit Bose, CEO at Ezetap, and Arindam Banerrji, former MD at Deutsche Bank and partner at Ernst & Young.
Sejal Gulati said that the selected startups have the talent but lack outside help.“Despite what people say , it is harder for women entrepreneurs. These women have so much passion and talent, but no one is helping them. We need to help them get bigger.“