We-Hub, a city-based incubation centre that supports and promotes women entrepreneurship, has started the New Year on a positive note. For 2021 was a year of accomplishments, with six startups incubated raising roughly $5 million.
Fintech firm Macromoney, social enterprise Oorvi Sustainable Concepts, cloud kitchen startup Sortizy, and digital media tech startup Newsreach all collected $4 million in equity funding, according to WE-Hub CEO Deepthi Ravula. Grants and debt financing were provided to other startups.
Ms Ravula said incubation centres were constructed in Warangal and Peddapalli districts, as well as Ramagundam, in an effort to reach out to other parts of the state and address barriers that prevent women from starting their own businesses. There are plans in the works to reach out to more women entrepreneurs in rural areas including Mahbubabad, Sircilla, Khammam, and Nizamabad.
The year 2021 was marked by a smattering of collaborative activities. The governments of Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat collaborated with WE-Hub. There are more collaborations in the works.
Other WE Hub-incubated firms, such as Startoons Labs, a medical device company, received angel finance and an institutional investment from IKP Knowledge Park this year.
In 2021, the firm increased its employment from three to fifteen people and commenced mass manufacturing of 1,000 units of Pheezee, a device that tracks patients' rehabilitation while simultaneously assisting physiotherapists.
Others, such as Innogle, a WE-Hub-incubated firm that developed Kadalcompass, a gadget that can be fitted on fishing boats and vessels to help them locate fishing zones in real time, are now planning to put their idea into action. In the next few years, they hope to have measurable results.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India, named its 5G-enabled equipment as one of the greatest 5G use cases.
