India, 3rd March 2021: WE HUB, India’s first and only state-led incubator by the Government of Telangana to foster and promote women entrepreneurship to start-up, scale-up and accelerate with global market access, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Meesho, an Indian-origin social commerce platform. This year-long partnership aims to aid women entrepreneurs from Telangana to achieve financial independence by providing market exposure.
The MoU was inked between Deepthi Ravula, CEO of WE HUB, and Vidit Aatrey, Founder and CEO of Meesho in the presence of Smt. Satyavathi Rathod, Hon’ble Women and Children Welfare Minister, Government of Telangana.
WE HUB and Meesho will work together to provide robust market access to women-led businesses in the state, helping small businesses to grow and thrive in the post-pandemic environment. The entrepreneurs will register as suppliers on the Meesho platform which enables them to sell their wide range of products on a national e-commerce platform.
WE HUB startups and other startups from the Telangana startup ecosystem will be able to leverage this partnership and expand their markets in India. They will benefit in the form of seamless onboarding, free cataloguing, and market access on a national platform which will create avenues to increase business and trade opportunities.
Ms. Satyavathi Rathod, Minister for Women and Child Development, Government of Telangana said, “There is no tool more effective for women than their economic development. I am truly heartened to see WE HUB and Meesho coming together to help the women of Telangana realise their economic, social, and financial goals. This will be a pathbreaking partnership for the state of Telangana that will enable women to use the power of technology for creating their own identity and will in turn help us take a big step forward towards diversity and financial inclusion.’’
Deepthi Ravula, CEO, WE HUB, said, “Small women led businesses have always been left behind due to the digital divide that exists. Through our new partnership with Meesho, small businesses in Telangana will learn about taking the next step in expanding their markets and converting their customer base and sales in entirely new ways.’’
Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Principal Secretary (ITE &C), Government of Telangana said, “It is great to see unicorns like Meesho join hands with WE HUB, Government of Telangana in enabling small business entrepreneurs. We believe this partnership would benefit many women entrepreneurs across the socio-economic strata of Telangana by making best use of these platforms, WE HUB is bringing into in Telangana.’’
Shweta Rajpal Kohli, Head, Public Policy, Sequoia India & Southeast Asia said, “It is great to see WE HUB and Meesho come together to achieve the common goal of scaling women micro-entrepreneurship. This also sets the stage for a deeper engagement between startups and government-led institutions to drive objectives like financial inclusion and women empowerment using technology and innovation.”
Vidit Aatrey, Founder and CEO of Meesho said, “We are ecstatic to partner with WE HUB and the Telangana government and extend our support to women entrepreneurs. We are hopeful of creating a vibrant, diverse, and inclusive ecosystem for women-led micro businesses in the state. This initiative reflects our commitment and concerted efforts to further the cause of women entrepreneurship and their financial independence in the country.”
WE HUB through this partnership also aims to promote homepreneurs by providing digital and financial literacy training to the women registered as homepreneurs on the Meesho platform. This effort will enable them to achieve financial independence.
WE HUB and MEESHO to work together in ensuring National Market Access to Women Entrepreneurs and Women Led Businesses in the State of Telangana. These Women Entrepreneurs to be registered as Suppliers on MEESHO platform which enables them to sell their wide range of products on a National e-commerce platform. WE Hub and MEESHO to work towards achieving Financial independency for Homepreneurs. This is to be achieved by providing Digital and Financial Literacy trainings to the women registered as Homepreneurs on MEESHO platform. The vision is to enable more homepreneurs to achieve the status of Financial Autonomy by registering as Homepreneurs on MEESHO platform.
About WE HUB:
WE HUB is the first-of-its-kind and only state-run platform for women entrepreneurs by the Government of Telangana. WE HUB supports women entrepreneurs with innovative ideas, solutions and entities focusing on emerging areas in technology and allied sectors. WE HUB also supports under-explored/unexplored sectors, such as FMCG, retail, e-commerce, including the service sector. The mandate and goal of WE HUB are to eliminate financial and societal barriers for women and help them succeed in their enterprises. WE HUB aims to create a supportive community for aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs where they can interact with VCs for funding, connect with corporates for scaling up their business, get advice from mentors to fine-tune ideas and benefit from technical mentoring.
About Meesho:
Founded by IIT-Delhi graduates Barnwal in December 2015, Meesho is India’s leading social commerce platform that empowers individuals to start an online business without capital. Meesho has enabled more than 8 million entrepreneurs across India to sell on WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram by providing them products, logistics and payment tools. Seventy percent of these entrepreneurs are homemakers, career women on breaks and students. Through this extensive trust network of social entrepreneurs, Meesho has created a disruptive supply channel for 50,000+ manufacturers/suppliers across the country.
