Hyderabad: The city may have established itself as an emerging technology startup ecosystems in the country, but gender disparity continues to be a matter of concern in the field.

Data available with the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) indicates that there has been only a 1% rise in the number of women-led startups across the country between 2015 and 2016. This is despite the incentives offered to women, the latest being the central electronics and IT department’s announcement to offer mentorship and capital to women entrepreneurs, say industry experts.

“In spite of the additional incentives, the number of women entrepreneurs in the city’s startup ecosystem is not growing at a desired pace. While the situation is no different in other cities, Bangalore is doing fairly better with a higher number of women-led startups in comparison with the rest of the country,” said Srikanth Srinivasan, NASSCOM’s regional Director for Telangana and AP.

Vijay Bawra, in-charge of NASSCOM’s 10K startup initiative, said that out of the 40 startups that have enrolled in the programme in city, only six or seven have women in key roles.

The lull in women tech entrepreneurs, however, is expected to change. “At T-Hub, we are launching the Smart Women Angels Network ( SWAN) in collaboration with Anthill Ventures on March 7. SWAN will create a network of women angel investors across India, who will then collaborate with their counterparts from across the world to interact with and invest in startups,” said Srinivas Kollipara, founder and COO of T-Hub, the state-government backed tech incubator.

 Source: Times of India