Mumbai, June 22, 2026: Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. (KMBL) has announced the next edition of the Women Startup Program (WSP), implemented by NSRCEL and powered by Kotak BizLabs. The initiative aims to support women entrepreneurs through long-term mentorship, ecosystem access, and business development support, with a particular focus on founders from Tier-II and Tier-III cities.
The Women Startup Program is a CSR initiative of Kotak Mahindra Bank that seeks to address challenges faced by women entrepreneurs, including limited access to funding, mentorship, and professional networks. According to the bank, the programme has so far supported more than 600 aspiring and established women entrepreneurs.
The latest edition of the programme has been integrated into Kotak BizLabs, Kotak’s entrepreneurship and innovation platform, to provide structured support across different stages of the entrepreneurial journey. The programme covers four phases—Foundation, Pre-incubation, Incubation, and Scale-up—designed to help women founders explore business ideas, validate concepts, build ventures, and expand their enterprises.
India’s startup ecosystem has grown significantly in recent years, with over 223,000 recognised startups. However, women entrepreneurs, particularly those in non-metro regions, continue to face barriers such as limited credit access, fewer mentorship opportunities, and social constraints that can affect their entrepreneurial pursuits.
Himanshu Nivsarkar, Head – CSR & ESG, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd, said, “Capital is only part of the problem, and often not the first. For many women, the bigger challenge often is lack of peer ecosystem that supports them in longterm decisionmaking. The Women Startup Program under Kotak BizLabs is committed to building that self-reinforcing network, providing women founders with the capability, confidence, and continuity they need to ensure they don't fall out of the entrepreneurial pipeline.”
Rasika Prashant, Chief Executive Officer, NSRCEL, added, “The next wave of entrepreneurship in India will emerge from diverse geographies, sectors, and founder backgrounds. Women entrepreneurs, particularly in Tier-II and Tier-III cities, are solving critical challenges in their communities, but often lack access to the networks and support systems needed to scale. Through the Women Startup Program, we aim to bridge these gaps by providing structured, long-term support that combines mentorship, market access, peer learning, and ecosystem connections. With our continued partnership with Kotak Mahindra Bank, we are building pathways that enable more women founders to transform ambition into sustainable and scalable ventures.”
The programme is also expanding its outreach in non-metro regions and currently supports startups working in areas such as regenerative agriculture, community-led education, waste upcycling, and applied technology. In 2025, the programme supported 30 startups with funding worth ₹3 crore.
Kotak Mahindra Bank said the integration of the Women Startup Program into Kotak BizLabs is intended to strengthen support for entrepreneurs by creating a more comprehensive ecosystem for innovation, business growth, and capacity building.
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