Source ForPressRelease.com

In partnership with the U.S. Embassy New Delhi and its four Consulates in Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Kolkata, TiE Global launched two programs, AIRSWEEE Scale-Up Fellows and AIRSWEEE Global Fellows at the “Women Entrepreneurs Conclave 2.0 – Engaged and Empowered,” being held on October 22-23 at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. These are follow-on programs to TiE’s marquee women’s entrepreneurship program, the “All India Roadshow on Women’s Economic Empowerment through Entrepreneurship (AIRSWEEE) 2.0.”



AIRSWEEE has directly empowered 575 women entrepreneurs in over 125 Tier-II and Tier-III cities in 16 states of India. Led by 18 U.S. businesswomen and entrepreneurs along with 13 of their Indian counterparts, the program provided a platform to share U.S. business best practices with aspiring Indian women entrepreneurs to empower them economically by setting up sustainable businesses.



Speaking about the importance of supporting women entrepreneurs, MaryKay Carlson, Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy, said in her keynote address at the Conclave, “Economies where women have greater equality are those that thrive. To get there requires a strong, visible push to level the playing field.”



David Kennedy, Minister Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, announced an additional award to TiE Inc. to promote its efforts even further. “We are delighted to announce that the U.S. Mission has awarded additional funding to TiE Inc. to promote and scale up women-owned businesses that can be global successes,” he said.



Commenting on the launch of the two new programs, Seema Chaturvedi, Chairperson of Project AIRSWEEE and Managing Partner, Accelerator Group LLC and former TiE Global Board member said, “It is a widely known that start-up strategies are very different from scale-up strategies. We are grateful to the U.S. State Department for providing us with the funding support to grow the ecosystem by providing the mentoring support needed to succeed beyond the start-up phase, so that our member can potentially become global leaders.”



The event also hosted an “elevator pitch” session for 25 AIRSWEEE 2.0 mentees. The 60-second pitch was judged by Erik Azulay, director of the NEXUS business incubator at the American Center in New Delhi.



Funded by the U.S. State Department, AIRSWEEE Scale-Up Fellows program will provide mentorship to 30 young, innovative women from across India to scale up their enterprises through hands-on industry mentorship. The Top 3 Scale-Up Fellows will be sponsored for a visit to the U.S. as AIRSWEEE Global Fellows and will be mentored by a host U.S. organization that will provide them a window to global best practices.



The conclave was attended by policy makers, entrepreneurs, U.S. experts, investors, entrepreneurship facilitators, university students, and the media. 



Commenting on the impact of AIRSWEEE, Vijay Menon, Executive Director of TiE Global noted, “AIRSWEEE has engaged members of TiE globally and drawn into sharp focus the significant multiplier effect that can be created by investing in women.”