The Centre will help women by providing seed funds for ventures, access to cutting edge industry experts and coaching from a diverse set of stakeholders.
New Delhi: Shobitam, a D2C ethnic wear global brand specialized in making Indian handlooms is collaborating with the BITS, Pilani to set up ‘Shobitam Centre for Women Entrepreneurship’ (SCWE)’, to strengthen startup ventures from women across the campuses.
This is the first of its kind initiative in India which strongly aims to close the gender gap in business, one woman leader at a time. The centre will create a strong foundation in BITS campuses for women to get inspired, supported, and mentored to become successful global entrepreneurs. It will also conduct events and programmes tailored specifically for women and to provide scholarships and seed funds for promising ventures, access to cutting edge industry experts and hands-on coaching impact from a diverse set of stakeholders.
Raghu Sethuraman, alumni of BITS Pilani and his spouse Aparna Thyagarajan, co-founder of Shobitam made a significant donation of Rs 1 crore to establish the centre. The funds will also be used to award the Lalitha and Hema scholarships each year for talented women leaders from the centre.
“It gives me great pleasure to be part of this unique initiative to create SCWE in collaboration with BITS. Entrepreneurship is a mindset where the centre will create an enabling environment for women’s entrepreneurship to succeed with gender equality, build the institutional capacity and develop the tools with support services for women entrepreneurs,” says Raghu Sethuraman, Chairman of Board, Shobitam, a BITS alumnus, class of 1992.
SCWE will be a legacy builder, one that will have a lasting impact on the future generations, he added further.
Prof. Souvik Bhattacharyya, Vice-Chancellor, BITS Pilani said, “We are committed to provide plenty of opportunities to all the students on the campus. We want women from all programs whether Engineering or Business or PhDs to build their ideas into viable start-ups.”
Emphasizing on the importance of women entrepreneurship initiatives, Aparna Thyagarajan, Co-founder, Shobitam said, “We have witnessed a steady rise of women entrepreneurship in the present times. This initiative will empower more women to make a difference in the business world.”
BITS, Pilani is an education institute offering programs in engineering, sciences, pharmacy and Management with 1,70,000 alumni across the globe.
