PIEDS - Womenpreneur for Bharat 1.0

About The Program

WFB 1.0 is a program for women entrepreneur building solutions for / from a Tier 2/3/4 city, where the selected startups shall receive funding, mentoring, scale up assistance and further investment support. This is a joint initiative of Aditya Birla Capital Foundation and Pilani Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Society (PIEDS), BITS Pilani. The selected startups, based on their startup stages will be offered the Seed Fund of up to Rs. 10 Lacs from this program. The seed funding terms will be as per PIEDS guidelines.

Key Program Benefits

Feedback from Mentors

Funding Support up to Rs. 10 Lacs

Access to BITS Pilani Facilities and Network

Incubation Benefits including 1-1 Mentoring, Technology Credits, and Further Investment Support

Program Eligibility

A Startup is eligible to apply for this program if it

is a valid startup as per the DPIIT Startup Definition and it has a DPIIT certification.
is a for-profit or a non-profit private limited company as per Companies Act.
has at least 1 woman in the co-founding team, all women led startup would be preferred.
is solving for problems in the Tier 2 / 3 and rural India.
is at least at idea stage and has a Proof-of-Concept or a prototype.
has not received more than 20 Lacs in grants or seed funding and the revenue of the startup doesn’t exceed Rs. 1 Cr / year.

Focus Sectors

Startup is aligned to one or more of the following Sector and SDGs.

Food, Beverages, Nutrition

Agriculture

Women Welfare and Safety

Healthcare

Education

Retail and Digital Commerce

Fintech / TechFin / Micro Lending across BFSI

Public Sector

Apply for the Program Now!

Last Date to Apply: Dec. 31, 2023

Preliminary Shortlisting: Before Jan 10, 2023

Mentoring to 100 Startups: Jan 15, 2024 - Feb 15, 2024

Shortlisting of Cohort for Seed Funds: Feb 29, 2024

Felicitation of Selected Startups: Before March 15, 2024

For more details, please write to us at tbi@pieds-bitspilani.org

About ABC Foundation: In tandem with the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development, the ABC Foundation is involved in actively driving strategic community engagement endeavours across four key focus areas: healthcare, education, sustainable livelihoods & women’s empowerment, and sports. These efforts are closely aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and have positively impacted over 2.56 lakh lives till date.

About PIEDS, BITS Pilani: Pilani Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Society (PIEDS) is the Technology Business Incubator of BITS Pilani. Set up by a grant from Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, PIEDS supports idea and early stage innovation in technology across sectors.