FMCG major, Britannia Industries will continue to concentrate on creating an ecosystem to support women’s entrepreneurship and expects 2 million entries for its fourth season of the Britannia Marie Gold My Startup Contest.
“In the past three seasons, we have seen a total of 3.8 million entries for this contest. In fact, 60 percent of the entries come from non-metro cities,” said Amit Doshi, CMO, Britannia Industries Limited
In the last three seasons, the company has cumulatively invested ₹3 crore in 30 startups, of which 18 ideas have become real businesses, which accounts for a 60 per cent success rate, according to the CMO.
“This season, we’ve partnered with Google for its women’s program — through this collaboration, we will be able to provide business literacy content and programmes to every participant who enroll in this program. Additionally, once they’ve taken this course, they can also avail a certificate as an outcome of their engagement,” he explained. They had previously collaborated with the National Skill Development Corporation.
Asked if the company plans toacquire any of the funded startups, Doshi said, “our intent is not to be an incubator, but a forum where women can express themselves, and then the deserving ones will find that initial acceleration that they need.” Each of the 10 winners receives ₹10 lakh in funding from Britannia.
In the wake of rising inflation, many FMCG players have hiked the prices of several of their products. Furthermore, Doshi stated that price increases should be balanced and prudent. “The situation on inflation has been tough for organizations, and we’ve had to do our own balancing act. However, there are some price points where we cannot increase prices, such as the ₹10 rupee packs, and so on.”