An initiative of the US state department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs will provide guidance to budding women entrepreneurs of Jharkhand and Bihar, in partnership with other organisations.

The Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE), which is part of the White House-led Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, aims to empower 50 million women worldwide by 2025 to fulfil their economic potential.

“This is the first time that the US Consulate General, Calcutta, in partnership with Startup India, Aroh Foundation and Nexus Start-up Hub at the American Centre, New Delhi, is announcing applications for the AWE in Bihar and Jharkhand. The AWE will support a selected cohort of 90 prospective women entrepreneurs and early-stage business owners from Bihar and Jharkhand by providing US-style online education with guided facilitation from the US state department alumni, local businesswomen and other partners,” said Richa Sethi from Women in Business, implementing partner of the AWE, who was in Jamshedpur on Wednesday.

The selected participants will join an AWE network that will support access to peer-to-peer mentorship, business partners and scaling opportunities with businesses in the region and in the US.

“We have completed roadshows in Jamshedpur and will be hosting one in Dhanbad and Ranchi this week. Simultaneously, there are roadshows being held in Patna, Nalanda and Begusarai in Bihar. So far we have attracted over 700 women entrepreneurs during the roadshows. State-level organisations such as Startup Bihar and Startup Jharkhand are supporting the AWE initiatives to nurture women entrepreneurs and help them set up innovative ventures in their respective states,” she said.

The programme is running an Idea Challenge and aspiring women entrepreneurs can apply through a web link (https://lnkd.in/eakH-4Y) to win AWS (Amazon Web Services) credits worth $1,000. In the second phase, women entrepreneurs will need to undergo an online Dreambuilder programme from the University of Arizona. In the third phase high-potential women entrepreneurs will proceed to Calcutta for a boot camp and pitching session.

At least six women entrepreneurs will receive AWS credits worth $5,000 and support at one of the state incubators.

“The US Consulate General, Calcutta, is committed to strengthening the entrepreneurship ecosystem in east India, with a particular emphasis on empowering women. Our AWE program has already proven to be a success in the Northeast, and we are happy that we can now bring this program to Bihar and Jharkhand. I invite women entrepreneurs and early-stage business owners to apply for this unique US department of state opportunity,” said acting consul general Monica Shie in a communiqué.