New Delhi, December 22: In a bid to support rural women entrepreneurs in India, Google India on Monday said it has partnered with Sheroes to support 500 women entrepreneurs by connecting them with experts and enabling access to resources, guidance and mentorship. In 2019, Google had started a small pilot for an accelerator programme for 10 women entrepreneurs in rural India across its Internet Saathi network. The programme by the tech giant is centered on solving for basic business issues like customer acquisition, selling and marketing, digital presence, management and self-confidence.
Google has now joined hands with Sheroes to scale this to 500 rural women entrepreneurs. Under the initiative, the tech giant would connect them with experts, urban women entrepreneurs in the same or adjacent industries and enabling access to the right resources, guidance and mentorship over a six-month period. Kerala-Based Startup Inks Pact With UN Women’s Empowerment Principles to Train, Promote and Empower Women.
In a statement, Google India said within three months, there was a rise in confidence among the participants and the women went back and applied the learning to their businesses. It stated that 80 percent of them started working on their digital presence and one of the participants had a working website within months. In a separate statement, Google said it has launched new insight tools for the travel industry.
In 2015, the Internet Saathi programme was initiated in collaboration with Tata Trusts to bring basic digital literacy skills to women in Indian villages and have them become informal teachers for other women in their communities. Since then, the programme has touched over 30 million women across the country.