EDII and Accenture empower over 13,470 women micro-entrepreneurs through WeAct

Ahmedabad, February 29, 2024: Women Entrepreneurs Access Connect Transform (WeAct), a pioneering initiative by the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) Ahmedabad, with support from Accenture, has reached a significant milestone by providing comprehensive training and support to 13,470 women micro-entrepreneurs across 17 states and 2 union territories in India.

Through its vision to ‘Empower Rural Women Entrepreneurs’, WeAct has provided structured hand-holding support to 5,625 women micro-entrepreneurs in the Food & Agriculture industry, 5,921 in the Handloom & Handicrafts sector, and 1,924 in household supplies enabling them to make their businesses profitable and sustainable.

WeAct covers various aspects including market access, product development, and access to finance. Additionally, the initiative also facilitates statutory compliance processes, and technological adoption to enhance the competitiveness of women-led businesses.

WeAct also supports its members in adopting technology effectively. This enables entrepreneurs to leverage technology to streamline their operations and compete more effectively in the market.

Under WeAct, a wide range of business development services are offered to its members. This includes support in various crucial areas such as business planning, marketing, and management. This further helps women entrepreneurs enhance their business efficiency, increase profitability, and achieve sustainable growth.

“We are thrilled to have trained and supported hundreds of women micro-entrepreneurs through our WeAct initiative. This milestone reflects our dedication to empowering women entrepreneurs, and driving positive change in local economies”, said Dr. Sunil Shukla, Director General, EDII.

“Fostering inclusive economic growth in rural communities is our goal. By providing tailored training and support, we aim to create a conducive environment for women to thrive as successful entrepreneurs, catalysing sustainable development”, said Dr. Raman Gujral, Director, Department of Projects (Corporate), EDII.

Mr. Samuel Moses Amarnath, Head of WeAct, has initiated transformative programmes to empower rural women entrepreneurs. The new approach extends to new product development aligning with market standards, elevating packaging standards, and embracing technological advancements such as online marketing, social media marketing, and digital payments, innovative strategies have been implemented to unlock new potential clients and establish corporate relations. This resulted in conducting 100 exhibitions within various corporate premises and grassroots-level exhibitions conducted in 10 states and 29 districts pan India.

Key highlights of the initiative:

•  Completion of over 3500 statutory compliance processes
•  Onboarding of more than 2700 members onto e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart
• Provision of product development services to over 2800 members
•  Participation of over 4000 members in energizer workshops and exposure visits
•  Involvement of over 1000 members in exhibitions, resulting in revenue generation of ₹79 lakhs
•  Facilitation of financial assistance totalling ₹45 lakhs
•  Measuring enterprise revenue growth impact of ₹2.5 Crores after WeAct’s intervention