herSTART Initiative

October 5, 2022

herSTART was recently launched by President of India, Draupadi Murmu.

Key facts

herSTART is an initiative implemented by the Gujarat University Startup and Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC).
It is supported by the state government of Gujarat, the Central Government and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) recognized it as key driving initiative of the Gujarat Startup Ecosystem in the States Startup Rankings Framework Report of 2022.
The purpose of herSTART is to aid women-led startups to scale up.
It will connect women-led startups with private and government platforms.
The newly launched platform will also help women entrepreneurs’ innovative ideas to take off.
It provides free online resources and training modules to aspiring women entrepreneurs in addition to a digital community and digital publication showcasing their success stories.
It includes the herSTART Incubator (a startup incubator focusing specifically on women entrepreneurs and innovators) as well as herSTART Accelerator (a round-the-year accelerator programme for high-impact women-led startups).
The purpose of this initiative is to boost women-led innovation and startup ecosystem in the country.
As part of herSTART, online and offline modes of engagements have been organized for over 15,000 women entrepreneurs.
More than 2,000 women-led startups have been provided with capacity-building initiatives, with about 2,500 women entrepreneurs taking part in this initiative.
Around 200 mature-stage women-led startups have been accelerated under the herSTART platform and more than 150 startups are being scaled.
These initiatives have significantly eased women entrepreneurs’ journey towards success.
Currently, there are 450 startup project operational in Gujarat University. Of these, 125 are led by women.
During the launch event, President Murmu felicitated 10 women-led startups and entrepreneurs supported by the Gujarat University and herSTART.
She also laid foundation stone and launched 11 education development projects worth Rs.164 crore.