To support women entrepreneurs, HDFC Bank on Monday announced the launch of mentoring programme ‘SmartUp Unnati’. Under this, senior women leaders from HDFC Bank with expertise spanning domains will mentor women entrepreneurs in helping them achieve their goals over the next one year.
This programme is available only to exist customers. ‘SmartUp Unnati’ will initially target more than 3,000 women entrepreneurs associated with the bank’s SmartUp programme.
“We firmly believe in providing equal opportunity and have facilitated women’s empowerment over the years,” said Smita Bhagat, country head, government & institutional business, e-commerce and start-up banking, HDFC Bank.
“In the start-up ecosystem, women entrepreneurs are often faced with challenges unique to them. We believe HDFC Bank’s SmartUp Unnati is the perfect platform for them to benefit from the experience of our women leaders. It will provide them access to mentorship, expand their vision, and enable them to scale up their businesses by widening their horizons,” she added.
HDFC Bank had launched an online mentoring platform for banking start-ups in 2018 under its SmartUp Program. Under this programme, the bank is working with various state governments, incubators and accelerators to promote entrepreneurship.
It recognises the challenge that entrepreneurs face be it accessing credit or formulating strategy in a dynamic business environment. Under SmartUp Unnati, senior women executive leaders’ will act as a sounding board for women entrepreneurs as they undertake to build diverse and innovative businesses.
“This is a programme by women for women,” Bhagat added.
