New Delhi, November 2, 2022: CISCO India has partnered with one of the world's largest social enterprise incubators Villgro to launch an initiative to support India's women-led social enterprises in climate action. One of its kind in design, the program - TVARAN - aims at expanding the market presence of women-led start-ups innovating in renewable energy, water and waste management and climate-smart agriculture.
According to the Cisco officials , the grant for the programme comes from Cisco India’s ‘India Cash Grant’ program which uses innovation to identify new ways to solve challenges and partners with civil society agencies and key stakeholders to collaborate effectively.
The 6-month long programme is designed to finance and implement the go-to-market strategies of women entrepreneurs. Through the acceleration program, Villgro and CISCO will deploy support mechanisms in the form of financial support of INR 1 crore (up to INR 20 Lakhs per start-up), as well as support the capacity building, business planning, mentorship and peer learning, focussed towards the implementation of go-to-market strategies.
TVARAN is a market access program by Villgro and an initiative by Cisco Corporate Social Responsibility. The program intends to support the growth and expansion of Women-led social enterprises in Climate Action. Applicants will be invited to share their Go-To-Market plans, basis which 5 women entrepreneurs will be selected for market connects, pilot/trial facilitation, technical assistance and mentorship jointly by Villgro and Cisco Corporate Social Responsibility. The 6-month acceleration phase will begin in February 2023 and will accelerate the market presence of innovations in renewable energy, water & waste management, and climate-smart agriculture, amongst others.
“Powering an inclusive future for all is CISCO’s purpose. Through our partnership with Villgro, we are announcing our commitment to supporting women entrepreneurs driving climate resilience through their business. We are excited at this unique opportunity and look forward to staying closely engaged with the startups,” Harish Krishnan, Managing Director & Chief Policy Officer, CISCO India said.
The focus areas of the accelerator programme, according to the officials, include Renewable energy, Livelihoods & Job creation, Sustainable Mobility: Rural & Urban, Water and waste management, and Climate Smart Agriculture.
The application for the programme – TVARAN, is already open and the process will close on 20 Nov, '22, as per the official details about the programme. Start-ups in the climate action sector that are founded/co-founded by women with at least 50% shareholding, playing an active decision making role are eligible to apply. Application details are available on the link here: https://villgro.org/current-programs/#cause-1
According to the World Economic Forum, women are more affected by climate change than men, and yet greentech is currently a male-dominated field. Moreover, it is well documented that the participation of women in climate response actions leads to better outcomes overall. However, one of the largely unaddressed challenges for women entrepreneurs remains access to markets. TVARAN aims to overcome this problem, through a focused market-entry and market expansion program to help five of the country’s upcoming women-led climate solutions.
Speaking on the occasion, Jenaan Lilani Bhargava, Chief Operating Officer, Villgro Innovations Foundation said that Villgro's work with women entrepreneurs is aimed at enabling women to have easy market access. “That is where we believe ecosystem support is yet inadequate, and where Villgro can add the most value. TVARAN has been born out of this belief, with the objective of increasing the market presence of women-led solutions to climate change. We are grateful to have found a committed partner in CISCO towards this mission.”
