Tide, UK’s business financial platform, with operations and an imminent launch in India, today announced their target of supporting 500,000 female-led businesses, starting out by the end of 2027.
This move comes on the heels of Tide’s ‘Women in Business’ initiative in the UK and the company’s plan to work as an incubator for women business owners in India. Through this initiative, Tide aims to help women-led SMEs start and grow their businesses.
Challenges women entrepreneurs face
Today women run fewer than 13 percent of businesses in India. The primary reason for this low representation of women in business is access to finance. Nearly 20 percent of women entrepreneurs face rejection by lending institutions, more than twice the rate of 8 percent for men. Other key challenges that hold back women entrepreneurs include, absence of support networks and financial inclusion.
Women in Business Mentor panel for advice
To further power the company’s vision for women entrepreneurs, Tide has also created an internal Women in Business Mentor Panel under their 'Tide Women Entrepreneurs Mentorship Programme'. The internal panel will feature in-house experts in Leadership, Marketing, Capital Investment, Hiring and Payroll, Taxation, and Legal, among others to provide one-on-one advice and host regular masterclasses, webinars, and AMA sessions for women entrepreneurs.
The mentorship panel will also play an advisory role for women-led small businesses and support them with tracking progress and reporting issues, it said in a statement.
Select Tide employees who will be part of this mentor panel have been chosen based on the specific domain knowledge they possess. The business financial platform also plans to partner with external mentors, who have or are working in the MSME space, to play an advisory role in the programme.
Supporting women entrepreneurship
Gurjodhpal Singh, CEO, Tide (India), said, “Tide believes that there is a huge untapped potential for women entrepreneurs to contribute to the Indian economy. We want to support entrepreneurial women in their journey and believe we’re in a strong position to do exactly that. From the lessons learnt by working with small businesses every day in the UK, we understand the support and guidance needed to crack it as a small business owner. We believe this mentorship programme will not just prove instrumental in addressing their financial challenges but will also foster digital inclusion.”
