TN – RISE Women Start-up Council Inauguration report

Introduction
The Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project (TNRTP) Vaazhndhu Kaattuvom Project (VKP) organized a grand inaugural programme of the Tamil Nadu – Rural Incubator and Startup-Enabler (“TN-RISE”) Women Start-up Council. The ceremony was on July 2nd, 2024, at ITC Grand Chola, Guindy, Chennai. The launch event gathered key stakeholders from the government, industry leaders, investors, and aspiring women entrepreneurs, setting the stage for TN-RISE to drive growth and success for women-led rural enterprises. The details about TN-RISE and launch event are as follows.

About TN Rise
The Honorable Finance Minister has announced on the floor of the Assembly during the Budget Session on 20th March 2023 that “Women entrepreneurs continue to face difficulties in accessing adequate, timely credit and marketing of products. To address these challenges, the Government will establish an exclusive “Start-up Council” for women. This council will facilitate women entrepreneurs in all aspects of their business”. To fulfill this announcement, Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project (TNRTP) Proposes to establish “TN-RISE” Women Start-up Council under Innovation Promotion, to provide higher-order support services to aspiring and existing rural women entrepreneurs to expand their business horizons.

Vision:
As enterprises grow and mature, they need higher-order advisory services, mentorship, financial and appropriate legal advice. The women particularly rural women struggled a lot to identify and access these supports. To cater these higher order support services to the growing women enterprises and start-ups, Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project (TNRTP) @ Vazhndhu Kattuvom Project (VKP) proposes to set up a strong support system exclusively for women entrepreneurs of Tamil Nadu, called as “TN-RISE” Women Start-up Council at the State Level with the following vision:

To Enable the Rural Women Entrepreneur to have

Objectives:
The specific objectives under each vision are: –

1. i) Access to Government.

• Converging existing Government Schemes for increased access to funding for Women Entrepreneurs.
• Partnering with the Government Departments within the state to access their existing framework, facility and schemes for the promotion and development of women entrepreneurs.
• Being the Nodal facilitation agency in Government of Tamil Nadu to assist and support Women-owned, Women-led and Women-run enterprises in establishment, distribution of incentive & subsidy, business stage elevation and creating the guidelines for certifying a business as women owned.

1. ii) Access to Entrepreneurial and Corporate Community.

• Conducting business events in association with the various stake holders for the financial, technical, and marketing linkages.
• Bring together industry, corporates, academia and Government Organizations to create and foster the women enterprise eco-system in Tamil Nadu.
• Partnering with the established industry and also upcoming start-ups to cater to their needs of skilled work force.

iii) Access to Support Community.

• Nurture women entrepreneurs by providing futuristic physical infrastructure and access to the innovation system by partnering with leading incubation centers of the State and Union Government institutions.
• Creating a strong mentorship network and virtual mentoring programs to enable women entrepreneurs to have State Level, National Level and even Global business mentoring.
• Attracting Advisors and Investors across all specialized sectors.
• Partnering with Formal Financial Institutions (FFls), Venture Capitals (VCs) and Investor forums to identify and source potential women entrepreneurs for business funding.
• Establish a strong and vibrant panel of experts in various domains like business formalization, business finance, product design & development, branding, packaging, promotion, marketing, etc., to support women entrepreneurs for further scale-up.

1. iv) Access to be a part of Enterprises Eco-system of the State.

• Create new policies and strengthen the existing policies of the State Government to encourage entrepreneurship and sustenance among women entrepreneurs.

Council:
The “TN-RISE” Women Start-up Council is envisaged as a physical space, with conducive infrastructure and professional expertise, which will provide customized market linkages, financing, and operational advice. “TN-RISE” Women Start-up Council will build on existing platforms and bridge the gaps in the eco-system to provide high-end business incubation services to women-led rural enterprises. To work as a Special Purpose Vehicle under Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project (TNRTP) @ Vazhndhu Kattuvom Project (VKP), the “TN-RISE” Women Start-up Council will be registered under Sec-8 of the Companies Act, 2013 as a separate legal entity. The day-to-day management will be done by the CEO and the overall administration of the affairs of the Company is vested with the Board of Directors.

Functions of “TN-RISE” Women Start-up Council:
“TN-RISE” Women Start-up Council will provide the following benefits to help women entrepreneurs who have established their businesses with the help of Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project to elevate them into higher level. This level of elevation will differ depending on the stage of the enterprise and the determination and capability of the entrepreneur. The “TN-RISE” Women Start-up Council will,

• Provide support to all aspiring and existing Women entrepreneurs at business Facilitation services related to the enterprise.
• Connect with service providers and partners in the eco-system who can help them grow.
• Develop Business models for scale-up.
• Help obtain market linkages for growth.
• Help in new product development.
• Understand the supply chain challenges and build systems &processes.
• Operationalization through Government Scheme.
• Funding & Credit Linkage.

About the Event:
Dignitaries on Dais:

• Udhayanidhi Stalin, Hon’ble Minister of youth welfare & Sports Development, Special Programme implementation & Poverty Alleviation Programme and rural independences
• Gagandeep Singh Bedi, I.A.S, Principal Secretary to Government (RD&PR)
• Divyadharshini IAS – CEO, TNRTP
• Shreya P Singh IAS – COO PM, TNRTP
• Samik Sundar Das, World Bank Team leader
• Arul Jothi Arasan – COO PI, TNRTP
• Uma Mageswari – CEO, TN-RISE

Participants: 56 women Entrepreneurs, 60 Stakeholders & Mentor Organizations and Media people.

As part of the traditional practice, the program began with the song Thamizh Thaai Vaazhthu. Following this, Ms. Shreya P. Singh, IAS, COO PM of TNRTP, gave the welcome address. She welcomed each dignitary on the dais, stakeholders from corporate, women entrepreneurs, project team members, and press people.

Following this, Ms. S. Divyadharshini, IAS, CEO of VKP, delivered her keynote address. She welcomed the dignitaries on behalf of TN women, as well as industry leaders, members of the consulate, women entrepreneurs, representatives of SHGs, and the project team, to support women entrepreneurs.

“Empower the Women, Empower the World,” she Stated that, based on this the TN government is taking measures for women’s development, such as promoting SHG activities, providing free bus passes for women, and implementing schemes like the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai. Additionally, to address the hardships and hurdles faced by women entrepreneurs across the state, the TN-RISE project was designed. She mentioned that TN is one of the few states with an exclusive startup council for women. TN was also among the few states to start SHGs in 1989, and after 35 years, now the TN Rise project. She said that women’s lifestyles have scaled up, increasing from minimum savings through SHG group members and livelihood promoters under SHG to now being promoted as entrepreneurs under the TN RISE project. She expressed extreme pride in these achievements.

She assured that TN RISE will guide women entrepreneurs to break barriers and overcome hurdles in their businesses effectively. She also thanked the honourable Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin for his continuous guidance and support for all initiatives aimed at women’s development and motivation towards their welfare. She expressed gratitude to Mr. Senthil Kumar, IAS, the outgoing secretary, for his guidance in establishing TN RISE, and to Mr. Gagandeep Singh Bedi, IAS, the new secretary, who will continue to guide them with his experience. She thanked the World Bank team and the project team for their support. She expressed her pleasure at seeing so many people come together for this important event. She concluded her speech by wishing everyone a successful and enjoyable event. The Guest was felicitated by the products which was made by women from TN Rise project.

Followed by Mr. Samik Sundar Das, from world bank team gave a special address to the gathering, he welcomed the guest and other dignitaries and congrats, all women entrepreneurs of Tamil Nadu.  He states that as per the word “Rise” the TN govt is implementing many schemes in the field. He expressed 50% of the population needs to be in the entrepreneurial ship and they must be a job created. Also, India is marching towards development TN leading state making India proud, TN also will make proud India among the Worldwide as first state to improve women entrepreneurship, women own enterprises who creating jobs for so many people, to work with dignity.  He states that female labour growth rate in India is low, TN Rise will create an ECO system and give a platform for the women entrepreneurs to participate in the economic process and big business leaders.  World Bank proud to be part of this process on conceptualising working with TN Govt, it will sustain for the long time for the Outcome. When Tamilnadu delivers the India will learn, worldwide also like other models it will be example for creating eco system for the women entrepreneurs, ownership creation as well as job creation in rural areas.  He also highlighted the factors, phenomenon of organisation connection to rural areas, lot of women entrepreneurs and enterprises skills are existing in the rural area and the linkage with govt programmes so TN-RISE will address those issues. He thanked the participants.

Mr. Gagandeep Singh Bedi, IAS, Principal Secretary to Government (RD&PR) welcome the dignitaries and other stake holders. He states that on behalf of TN govt to develop the women, so many steps were taken, he mentioned the VKP project which was start by Kalaignar. While attending national level meting RDP project and VKP project was apricated by other state govts, in continue development the TN govt introduced the TN rise women startup council, He states the Ambedkar quotes “Measures the progress of a community with the degree of progress women have achieved”.

He indicated, the Honorable chief minister has announced on the floor of the Assembly during the Budget Session on 20th March 2023 that “Women entrepreneurs continue to face difficulties in accessing adequate, timely credit and marketing of products. To address these challenges, the Government will establish an exclusive “Start-up Council” for women. This council will facilitate women entrepreneurs in all aspects of their business”.

He also states the vision of TN RISE:  To Enable the Rural Women Entrepreneur to have

• Access to Government.
• Access to Entrepreneurial and Corporate Community.
• Access to Support community
• Access to be a part of entrepreneurial eco-system of the State.

With that he congratulated the TN Rise initiative and concluded his speech.

TN RISE – Logo and Website Launch:

A major part of the event TN Rise Logo and official website was launched   by the Honourable Ministers Mr. Udhayanidhi Stalin, Youth Welfare and Sports Development & Poverty Alleviation Programme and Rural Indebtedness, Govt. of Tamil Nadu. Followed by the release video was displayed about the TN-RISE project.

Honourable Minister Mr. Udhayanidhi Stalin, addressed the gathering by welcomed the dignitaries    and stake holders. He said, very proud to inaugurate “Based on the announcement of our honourable Chief Minister in Tamilnadu Legislative Assembly, Tamil Nadu Women Development Corporation is launching this TN RISE special platform with the Financial assistance of World Bank. He said the focus of this initiative is to bring more women entrepreneurs from the rural areas of Tamil Nadu,”

He emphasized that the TN-RISE initiative aligns with the progressive principles of the Dravidian movement, which continues to guide the current state government’s efforts. “This reflects the progressive tradition of our Dravidian movement, which is represented in the current government of Tamil Nadu. We refer to it as the Dravidian Model government,”

He highlighted that women are “enslaved in two domains:  in economical and the cultural.” He said that while organizations like the World Bank work to empower women in the economical, the Dravidian movement strives to free women from cultural constraints. He expressed pride in our state govt collaboration with the World Bank to advance women’s empowerment in the economically as well.  He said “Women entrepreneurs face numerous challenges in advancing their business ideas, as well as in accessing finance, credit, and marketing opportunities. TN-RISE will aim to eliminate these obstacles by offering customized market linkages, financing, and operational advice. Also, it will provide high-end business incubation services to women-led rural enterprises,”

TN-RISE has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with multinational companies such as Flipkart and HP to offer guidance and training to emerging women entrepreneurs. He said, “I am proud to say that TN-RISE had signed MoUs with various multinational companies to provide guidance and training for our budding women entrepreneurs,” and “I would like to invite industries, entrepreneurs to join hands with our government for the noble cause of making more women entrepreneurs from our State of Tamil Nadu,” he added. The launch of TN-RISE marks a significant step in supporting and elevating women-led startups.

Exchange of MoUs

1. MOU was exchange between Multinational companies, from Flipkart India private limited Dhiraj Kapur, Vice President – Government Relations, exchanged the MoU, this provides access to e- commers’ platform through Flip kart.
2. Appa Durai, Country Manager Graphics Solutions Industrial Business at HP, exchanged MoU with TN Rise, they will address the printing and Package challenges faced by women entrepreneurs through HP.
3. Sivarajah Ramanathan, Director and CEO, Startup TN, Chennai. Exchanged MoU to provide access to the incubation centres and convergence other schemes for women entrepreneurs
4. Request letter for associate with the TN Rise as shared from FICCI FLO. By Chairperson Divya Abhishek, it is women entrepreneurs’ association, through them business related training, counselling, support will be given.
5. From SICCI, V.M.  Siva Shankaran, Senior Vice President, shared request letter, through this finance related counselling support will be given from them in worldwide.

Stall visit:

Honorable Minister Mr. Udhayanidhi Stalin, visited each products Stall i.e. Food Processing, Manufacturing, Personal Care & Wellness, Handlooms/Textiles and Handicraft. He interacted with women entrepreneurs about their products, challenges and the support required to expand their business. He also encouraged them for their well quality products for the remarkable brands.

TN – Rise Workspace opening:

Followed by the program Honorable Minister Mr. Udhayanidhi Stalin inaugurated the exclusive Workspace for TN Rise along with the Dignitaries. This Workspace is located on the 1st Floor, TANSI Corporation Limited HQ, Thiru-vi- ka Industrial Estate, Guindy Chennai. This space also can be utilized by the Women entrepreneurs for their business development purpose, it has designed in such a way.

Panel Discussion:
As a part of the Programme TNRTP organized a panel discussion on “Challenges Faced by the Women Entrepreneurs in the Present Enterprises Eco-system”.  The discussion was moderated by Ms. Usha Palliath, Director, Incubations, WEHUB Foundation, Hyderabad, the panelist from various sectors (list given below) set the tone of discussion in the given topics. The session was highly interactive, and the panelist shared their own experience relate their given topics.

Topics	Panelist Name
Societal Challenges	Ms. Divya Swapna Raj, Chairperson & Founder, Women league Federation, Chennai
Financial Challenges	Ms. Hema Annamalai, Co-Founder, Green Coller Agri Tech Solutions, Coimbatore.
Gender Based Challenges	Dr, Regeena J Murli, Chairman, JPR Group of Educational Institutions, Chennai.
Operational challenges	Mr. Sivarajah Ramanathan, Director and CEO, Startup TN, Chennai.
Psychological Challenges	Dr, Menaga Mahendran Director, Bio-Neem Tech, Chennai

 

Usha Palliath, took over as the moderator and explained in brief the topic of the discussion she introduced the panelists, and the discussion began.

Societal Challenges:  Ms. Divya Swapna Raj, Chairperson & Founder, Women league Federation, Chennai spoke on the Societal Challenges. She briefs that for the women is starts from home, if   women want to start a business or job means first, they need consideration from their family group also need to convince the members. Followed by networking with others like bankers, govt department, stake holders it’s a big challenge for the women which need to break.

Based on her shared points moderator asked Mr. Sivarajah Ramanathan, Director and CEO, Startup TN, Chennai to share how to overcome the network challenges?

He shared “In TN startup mission innovation, No. of startup operating the states 8700+ out of it 49 % are all women” so they are in developing phases. He said, Networking is important for business development.  In terms of business, making the stakeholders comfortable is one of the key qualities for successful entrepreneurs. Building professional characterization with the opposite gender, convincing skills which are all needed to improve to address the networking challenges.

Ms. Hema Annamalai, Co-Founder, Green Coller Agri Tech Solutions, Coimbatore, said there is no gender bias in entrepreneurship, women need clear in their ideas. She co-related with her business experience and motivate the participants to think about innovating new ideas in business” also as women entrepreneurs need not to worry about the society.

Psychological Challenges: Dr, Menaga Mahendran, Director, Bio-Neem Tech, Chennai, said guilty feeling is the important psychological Challenges for the women, it was accrued through the improper work balance life.  She also said the psychological challenges need to be changed from the family circle which will make women to develop her own. Women are good in team building which needs to apply in business, where she related with her experience.  In conclusion, guilty feelings. need to overcome from the family and the business

Dr. Regeena Murli, Chairman, JPR Group of Educational Institutions, Chennai, shared about Gender Based Challenges, choosing the right person for organization is very important and the team we are creating to work is important which can solve the many problems in business. She states that it all starts from the home, well guidance it will create a successful person and as a women need to be bold, need to be very confidents in our business.

Ms. Hema Annamalai discussed the financial challenges she briefs about; the business must be very well understood by the entrepreneurs. Financial discipline is very important, a product must be of good quality, viability, sustainability are important for the business.  In the initial stage the need to drive business in own cash, next level need get support from govt and other stakeholders.  Same time need to analysis the stages in business, she also advised to have good financing manager for the business

About Operational challenges Mr. Sivarajah Ramanathan, shared how we need to scale up our approaches to see things in different perspective, he shared his own life experience about, how he transformed to see the women. He said operation problem can be solve easily but it will take time. Having good mentor will also help to overcome the operational challenges.

Finally, the moderator concluded the discussion by mentioning the points for the successful women entrepreneurs is needed to have financial discipline, change in psychological approaches   and innovation in business, and build attitude towards quality. The panelist was felicitated by the TN Rise Women entrepreneurs created project.

Conclusion

At the end of the session Ms. Uma Mageswari, CEO -TN Rise, delivered the vote of thanks, she thanked all stake holders for their active part and the project team for their effective preparation for the inaugural event. Programme was ended by singing National Anthem.