On December 3, 2020, Sequoia India stated its partnership with the government think-tank Niti Aayog on a year – long partnership for promotion of women entrepreneurship in India.

Sequoia Spark, as part of the partnership which is Sequoia India’s programme for women entrepreneurs in India and Southeast Asia will collaborate with Niti Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP).

With the help of this partnership, Sequoia India will be mentoring a selected cohort of aspiring women founders for help them equip with domain knowledge and skills for setting up, and scaling their businesses.

First cohort will consist of 25 women entrepreneurs.

Anna Roy, Senior Advisor, Niti Aayog, said, "WEP and Sequoia India's Spark programme are collaborating to level the playing field, helping women founders on their enterprise building journeys by launching a new capacity-building programme to impart sound financial knowledge and develop fundraising skills. The programme is designed to look at challenges from their lens and aims to materially help them accelerate the growth of their business."

Sequoia India’s earlier survey this year with women founders in India and Southeast Asia, stated 66 percent of the founders surveyed said they wanted mentorship access and sessions with investors and business leaders.

Keeping this in mind, Sequoia India will be offering monthly office hours, curated around specific sectors, and problem statements for 25 women entrepreneurs who will be joining this cohort.

Hosting webinars, which will be open to the larger WEP community, around key aspects of the company such as fundraising, building, a go-to-market motion, product finding, and talent finding, in the early stages and leverage the power of storytelling for creating strong brands.

These sessions will be tailored for addressing the needs and challenges that are unique for female founders.

Shweta Rajpal Kohli, Head -- Public Policy, Sequoia Capital India LLP, said, "While India's startup ecosystem is a large and vibrant one, it is far from being a diverse one. There are huge gaps and lack of opportunities faced by women entrepreneurs -- especially when it comes to accessibility to network, mentorship, and fundraising. We share a common vision and goal with NITI Aayog's WEP -- to close this gap and work towards more diversity in the startup ecosystem."