Visa announces grants for women-owned businesses in India

Women-owned enterprises in India have grown from 14 per cent to 20 per cent in the past decade and employ between 22 to 27 million people.

Mumbai: Visa on Monday announced the recipients of its grant programme in India to boost women entrepreneurship globally and empower budding businesswomen.

As part of Visa’s first global grant programme in partnership with IFundWomen, Bunko Junko, My Chapter One and MoWo Social Initiatives each received a Rs 7,00,000 grant from Visa and resources from Instamojo to grow their businesses digitally, in a continued effort to offer better services to their communities.

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“Access to funding, educational resources and a digital presence are fundamental building blocks that will help small businesses get back to not only surviving, but thriving,” Kevin Phalen, global head of business solutions, Visa, said in a statement.

“We are proud to provide businesses around the globe with the capital and educational resources they need to achieve their goals,” Phalen added.

Women-owned enterprises in India have grown from 14 per cent to 20 per cent in the past decade and employ between 22 to 27 million people.

Highlighting this growth, Visa received applications from hundreds of businesses across the country in sectors including apparel and fashion, healthcare and wellness, food and beverages and art and events.

The company evaluated 16 semi-finalists by a jury panel comprising senior leaders across Visa, FICCI FLO (FICCI Ladies’ Organization) and Instamojo.

The final winners were selected based on the count of jury votes.

In addition to the grants, Instamojo, the digitization partner, is providing the winners with tools and resources to help build their digital presence.