IIMB’s NSRCEL and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Launch New Initiative To Help Women Entrepreneurs Raise Capital in India

• Innovative three-part educational initiative provides women entrepreneurs in India with an enhanced understanding of business finance and prepares them to raise capital

BENGALURU, INDIA, August 7, 2023 – NSRCEL―the incubation arm of IIM Bangalore (IIMB) and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women today launched “Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Finance for Growth,” a new initiative in India designed to equip women entrepreneurs with an enhanced understanding of business finance and provide mentoring and networking opportunities to accelerate their fundraising journey.  

This financial education initiative draws on findings from a study of over 2,400 Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women graduates across India. A majority of these women entrepreneurs highlighted the need for a deeper understanding of the available funding options and how best to access external capital to drive business growth. The study found that 40 percent of entrepreneurs used bank overdraft, 38 percent took business loans, and 33 percent sought capital from friends or family to address their business financing requirements.

Charlotte Keenan, global head of Goldmans Sachs 10,000 Women, said: “Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women graduates have positively impacted India’s economy by quadrupling their business revenue, doubling their workforce, and collectively creating 12,000 new jobs. Our new initiative aims to help these women make an even bigger impact, by providing the tools and resources needed to access capital - the biggest barrier they face to growing their businesses further.”

Talking about this unique initiative for women, Anand Sri Ganesh, COO, NSRCEL shared, “We are extremely happy to join hands with the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Finance for Growth initiative and bring it to NSRCEL. This underlines our commitment to supporting women entrepreneurs across the country by providing them with relevant education and mentorship to grow and scale their ventures. We hope our women alumni make the most of this opportunity to spot and nurture new opportunities in business, build and grow successful ventures and transform themselves.”

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Finance for Growth comprises three modules. Participants first take a basic finance module currently open for Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women graduates in India. Upon successful completion of the first module, a second advanced finance module will be made available for a select group of high potential women entrepreneurs. The final module will include bespoke mentoring from IIMB faculty members, finance industry experts, bankers, venture capitalists and angel investors, to provide practical learnings and advice tailored to the specific needs of each entrepreneur.

The first cohort of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Finance for Growth commenced on August 7, 2023. Know more about the initiative here.

About NSRCEL:
With programs specifically catering to entrepreneurs with profit ventures and social ventures, also student and women entrepreneurs, NSRCEL offers its support to various players of the startup ecosystem. NSRCEL brings together startups, industry mentors, eminent academicians from its parent institution Indian Institute of Management Bangalore and researchers who thrive on continuous interaction of theory and practice. NSRCEL is also the first incubator with a program tailored for social entrepreneurs and their unique challenges. For more info, visit www.nsrcel.org

About Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs is a leading global financial institution that delivers a broad range of financial services to a large and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world. In India, Goldman Sachs operates from offices in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.

About Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women in India
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women is an ongoing initiative to foster economic growth by providing women entrepreneurs around the world with a business and management education, mentoring and networking, and access to capital. The creation of 10,000 Women was informed by Goldman Sachs research showing that investing in education for women could close a range of gender gaps. Goldman Sachs research also shows that closing the credit gap for women-owned SMEs in emerging markets could push annual incomes by an average of 12 percent higher by 2030. In India, the three-month-long in-person classroom program has been delivered in partnerships with two institutions – the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, and the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. In 2014, the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility (WEOF), a global partnership between Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women and the International Finance Corporation, was launched to expand credit access to women entrepreneurs. The first-of-its-kind facility has reached over 164,000 women entrepreneurs globally and has provided over US$4.5 billion in loans via financial institutions across 55 countries. In India, over 38,000 women entrepreneurs have received more than 45,900 loans worth approximately US$720 million through the WEOF as of December 2021. In 2018, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women was made available online worldwide through Coursera, further democratizing access to a business education in more corners of the world. The program curriculum is available in both English and Hindi languages. Since launch in 2008, the program has reached more than 2,00,000 women entrepreneurs in over 150 countries and invested more than US$2.8 billion till date. 

Media Contact
Shivaprasanna Hebbar
Shivaprasanna.Hebbar@gs.com