US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster at the launch of Nexus Startup Hub, an entrepreneurship incubator at the American Centre on Thursday, said that women face more problems in building their own companies as compared to their male counterparts.
Juster said, “Women entrepreneurs represent a tremendous, largely untapped pool of talent for economic growth and prosperity. However, they often face barriers to building businesses that their male counterparts simply do not encounter. To help address this problem, we are pleased to announce that the US Department of State has committed to expanding our Nexus offerings by providing special training, mentoring, and networking opportunities for female entrepreneurs throughout India. This program is designed to support and empower women with entrepreneurial interests who are currently studying at India’s leading universities.”
Director of Nexus Erik Azulay said, “In general, running a start-up is incredibly hard. If you add to that sexism, networking – most of the founders are men, most of the angels are men and the society pressures. Not only in India, but also in the US, women are asked why are you doing this, why are you not staying home and raising a family. Those pressures are significant obstacles for women being entrepreneurs”
