India's first women-led unicorn may come from WE-Hub, Hyd: KTR

Hyderabad: The first women-led unicorn in India may hopefully come from WE-Hub in Telangana, Minister for MA&UD, IT and Industries KT Rama Rao said while congratulating 47 startups graduated from State-run incubator in the city on Wednesday.

Stating that India is a young country having 50 per cent population of less than 27 years of age, he exhorted the women entrepreneurs to come up with innovative products and dabble all over the globe using pervasive technology.

"Leverage this unique opportunity and take full advantage of the existing ecosystem," the minister said assuring that Government of Telangana will be the first customer to the startups if their products are useful to the society at large. He also ensured immediate support to them in connecting to the industry. WE-Hub launched a series of three new programmes for students and tech based startups – Greater 50%, Girls in STEM and WE Alpha. Greater 50% is an initiative by FICCI Ladies Organization (FLO) to provide mentoring and business development support to women entrepreneurs.

The incubator collaborated with WiDS (Women in Data Science), Stanford University to run a cohort of 100 school students from 5 cities in India, including Hyderabad and Bangalore to create a funnel for women entrepreneurs in the fields of data science and allied domains under the Girls in STEM initiative.

WE-Hub along with five technical educational institutions across Telangana has devised an extensive programme - WE Alpha to support 50 students via entrepreneurial development programmes, mentor-support and exposure visits to create a funnel for girl students to take up entrepreneurship. Tech show was also conducted where 22 tech-based startups exhibited their products.