Women need stronger equity participation to ensure gender equality in entrepreneurship, speakers said at a two-day event that selected nine start-ups for funding aimed at boosting core female participation in various businesses.

The December 15-16 Women Startup Summit 3.0 , organised by Kerala Startup Mission announced a grant of ₹5 lakh each to Beena P.S. (OmicsGenLifeSciences), Sonia Mohandas (Waterchips Techno Solutions), Mariyam Vidhu Vijayan (Crink), Sunitha Faizal (Celebees Technologies), Nimisha J Vadakkan (Acemoney), Nisary Mahesh (Hubwords), Ashwathy Venugopal (Avasarshala), Jeesh Venmarath (C-DISC Technologies) and Silpa P.A. (Nanograph).

The hybrid meet was inaugurated by Additional Skill Acquisition Programme CMD Usha Titus. Women, she said, should not wait for concessions; instead, they must propose quality entrepreneurial projects that can provide immense service to customers.

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Subsequent speakers, overall, noted that the present digital age heralds increased opportunities for women entrepreneurs. A Women Entrepreneurs Networking Meet was addressed, among others, by Sheela Kochouseph of V-Star Creations and Deputy Commissioner of Police Aishwarya Dongre.

The summit, with ‘Rise to Equal — Post-Pandemic Era’ as the title, chiefly held an innovation challenge section. Addressed by around 40 experts, including Srimathi Shivashankar (HCL Technologies) and former Dutch hockey player-coach Sjoerd Marijne, from within the country and abroad, the meet featured seven-panel discussions on domains such as entrepreneurship, economy and technology.

Giving participants occasions to share their experiences, Women Startup Summit 3.0 gave them a venue to air their aspirations and success stories. KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the State.

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