Bharat Inclusion Initiative

The Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Program, managed by IIMA Ventures (formerly CIIE.CO) and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is a specialized acceleration initiative.

Rather than working as a general diversity initiative, the program specifically funds and scales technology and AI-driven startups engineered to improve the growth, predictability, and resilience of incomes for low-income women across India.

The program focuses on moving women away from subsistence-level survival into higher-value market participation. It achieves this by helping tech startups unlock new female customer segments, design scalable business models, and execute pilot partnerships with large-scale delivery systems.

Key Program Benefits:

• Bespoke Capital Injections: Financial support providing USD $50,000 (roughly ₹41+ Lakhs) or more in tranched funding for every supported startup.

• Targeted Last-Mile Pilots: Structured market access via direct deployment partnerships with large-scale delivery networks and development sector organizations working directly with low-income women.

• Massive Structural Credits: Up to USD $250,000 in free cloud computing infrastructure credits across Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

• Payment Architecture Support: Specialized, integration-level assistance and backing from major fintech gatekeepers, including Razorpay and PhonePe.

• Fundraising Handholding: Continued 1-on-1 operational support stretching from initially restructuring your investor pitch decks all the way to complete deal closure and ongoing check-ins for a year.

The selection panel evaluates companies based on structural impact, financial scalability, and technological innovation.

1. Technology-Enabled Focus

• Startups must leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, or modern digital technology platforms to deliver their core economic solution.

• Preferred Stages: Highly suitable for startups at the Prototype, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), or Early Traction phases.

2. Target Demographics & Beneficiaries

The underlying business model must directly benefit and increase the livelihood outcomes of underserved women across rural and urban India. Targeted industries include:

• Agriculture & Allied Sectors: Bundled livelihood models (e.g., providing technical training, micro-credit, inputs, and crop buy-back tools to female farmers).

• The Informal & Gig Economy: Technical tools optimized for women working within urban services, domestic care work, sanitation, ride-hailing, home cooking, logistics, or micro-entrepreneurship.

• Financial Products: Financial services intentionally tailored for women, including customized credit, insurance, and localized savings setups.