Flipkart, NITI Aayog collaborate to enhance Women Entrepreneurship Platform

Walmart-owned Flipkart on Monday said it has partnered with Niti Aayog to launch the revamped Women Entrepreneurship Platform.

The Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) is a first of its kind, unified access portal which brings together women from different parts of India to realize their entrepreneurial aspirations, a statement said.

The revamped version will also include an additional feature to offer mentorship to the women mentees with specific knowledge concerning a problem area through a dedicated online mechanism facilitated under FICCI-FLO's Empowering the Greater 50 per cent mission, it added.

Women entrepreneurs face unique obstacles, from a lack of networking opportunities and mentors to the challenge of balancing work and family. When women come together or form communities, they are better equipped to tackle challenges that come their way, and shared experiences from mentors and professionals can further help them to take their passion and entrepreneurial ambition to new heights.

The vision of the two partners is to make 'Community' a very interactive, rewarding and intuitive question and answer platform leveraging WEP resources, so that entrepreneurs can utilise it for fruitful discussions and for sharing knowledge, ultimately benefiting the women entrepreneurs ecosystem in India, the statement said.

'Community' on the WEP platform aims to connect women entrepreneurs seeking clarifications on aspects of setting up new businesses with those who have experience in setting up businesses and hence can contribute by solving queries. These include queries like registering businesses, GST, funding, effects of the pandemic, progressing already established businesses.

"It is my hope that WEP will become a digital place for entrepreneurs to not only seek information and support, but also help each other out. Serving as a forum for people's voices to be heard - helping inform policies and programs to better suit the needs and requirements of people," Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said.

Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of Flipkart Group, said technology and innovation is at the core of the company's work.

"As a homegrown company, our constant and intense engagement with local Indian businesses, MSMEs and start-ups has enabled us to better understand their challenges and needs," he said adding that the WEP plays a critical role in uplifting and empowering women-led businesses in their growth ambition.