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According to a February 2020 study by Google and Bain & Company, women-owned enterprises make up 20 percent of all enterprises in the country — which roughly translates to about 13.5 to 15.7 million businesses run by women.

Despite these encouraging numbers and growth, several constraints continue to restrict women entrepreneurs from reaching their full potential, including getting mentorship, access to funds, and more. If these gaps are met, another statistic in the study says that women’s entrepreneurship, if accelerated, can lead to the creation of over 30 million women-owned enterprises and 150 million+ new jobs.

As Michele Obama put it, “No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens.” The time is ripe for the startup ecosystem and its various stakeholders to accelerate women’s entrepreneurship on ground.

YES Bank, one of India’s largest private banks, has joined hands with Sheroes to offer opportunities to women entrepreneurs with YES Essence Plus, an accelerator program for early-stage women entrepreneurs. This program has been launched under YES Essence, a holistic banking proposition for women across customer segments — homemakers, salaried professionals, entrepreneurs and senior citizens. YES Essence was unveiled on International Women’s Day on March 8.

This 10-week accelerator program is designed exclusively for women entrepreneurs in the early stages of their startup journey with access to mentors, sessions by industry experts, networking opportunities and more. Applications are now open! Click here to apply for the program

What’s in store

With applications already pouring in, 10 to 15 most promising early-stage startups led by women will be shortlisted for the accelerator program. The selected entrepreneurs will get access to weekly sessions by domain experts on key topics such as legal, fundraising, finance, marketing and more.

While these sessions are meant for the entrepreneurs to gain first hand knowledge, insights, and expertise into the daily workings of building a successful startup, YES Essence Plus is about more than just mindshare. Towards the end of the program, the selected entrepreneurs will be invited to pitch their ideas at a Demo Day with Yes Bank’s VC partners.

Why sign up?

As women entrepreneurs continue to navigate the challenging landscape of an entrepreneurial world that is peppered with restraints and biases, YES Essence Plus aims to provide women entrepreneurs with all the guidance and support they need in their startup journey.

As a part of the program, participants will get access to inspiring mentors whose insights and experience will be an invaluable addition to their startup roadmap. They will also get a chance to meet with a talented group of founders, investors and industry leaders and widen their network.

Apart from networking and mentorship, the accelerator program will also be a knowledge hub for founders with its weekly curated sessions, online events and expert chats.

Access to cutting-edge technology is a crucial element in cracking the entrepreneurial code, along with enablement. YES Essence Plus is offering both to its selected entrepreneurs with discounts on technology solutions and offerings like Cleartax – Assisted Tax Filing, Zoho, Google Cloud, and more.

What’s more? As a part of the program, entrepreneurs will also have access to lending and other specially curated banking solutions to take their startups to the next level.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to boost your startup’s growth journey! Register for the YES Essence Plus Women Entrepreneur Accelerator Program today! Applications close March 31, 2021.

Click here to know more

Bharat Innovation Fund, CIIE A and 3one4 Capital will serve as fund partners for the YES Essence Plus Women Entrepreneur Accelerator Program, along with The GAIN, Strategy Garage, WSquare and IvyCamp as ecosystem partners. TechJockey, as the technology partner, will provide discounts on 25+ business solutions.