Ficci Ladies Organisation (FLO),The Women Wing of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry(FICCI) and Syndicate Bank Entrepreneurship Research & Training centre (SBERTC), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur had jointly organised a women entrepreneurship development program for the members of the FLO wherein the focus was to address the issues faced by the participants in their business development.

The program was co-ordinated by Dr. Aarti Gupta (Chairperson, FICCI-FLO, Kanpur) and instructed by Dr. B. V. Phani, Mr. Rahul Reddy, Mr. ARKS Srinivasand Mr. Ramswarup Bhaskar over 6 sessions touching on the entire value chain of business from consumer segmentation to product design, financial strategies and regulations and compliances.

The immersive learning included every aspect of business development. As in the words of one the participant (Ms. Kavita Garg) “A structured process,tons of tips & strategies to improve our work and instructor’s thoughtful answers to our questions. Great exercise, help both ways- read and create or think out of box.I really enjoyed the journey we were led on to try different ways of thinking and approaching data visualization. I learnt a lot and am excited to implement these concepts to my work. Thank you Dr. Aarti and her team for collaborating with IIT Kanpur to conduct this Women Entrepreneur Development Program. I was lucky to be a part of this program”.

Dr. Abhay Karandikar Director, IITK quoted “The dream of startup India is inherently linked with enlightened & efficient Entrepreneurial Ecosystems nurturing and empowering women entrepreneurs. This Entrepreneurship Development Program (EDP), based on experiential learning approach, aimed at equipping the participating women entrepreneurs with globally proven tools and techniques in accelerating nascent entrepreneurial ventures of women into vibrant and highly successful entrepreneurial endeavours”.

Dr. B. V. Phani (Head, SBERTC, IITK) quoted “We are delighted to see such enthusiasm from the participants. SBERTC is committed to delivering the research back to entrepreneurs to enable and empower them to deal with the challenges they are facing during different stages of their growth”.

Dr. Aarti Gupta quoted “The role women play in our society has changed over the years, but we have a long way to go. We need more stronger, confident and empowered entrepreneurs who are not only getting financially independent themselves but creating job opportunities for others as well. Extremely thankful to IITK for this partnership in this journey as we rise by lifting others”.

The program was attended by leading entrepreneurs from Kanpur, Lucknow and Indore.