“Every day thousands of waste pickers segregate broken glass, sanitary napkins, and needles, all with their bare hands. I wanted to stop being part of the problem,” she said.
Mansoor started the company in 2015 in Bangalore, which today sells various products made of zero waste such as soaps, shampoos, dental kits, etc. The company was also one of the 20 companies out of 600 selected for the second cohort of Google for Startups Accelerator: Women Founders program.
“As a small team, we have learned so much, ranging from business operations, mindsets, equanimity, embracing the process, and accepting the stress. Now, as we move to the next orbit, a critical aspect is understanding and leveraging technology. Sustainability and allied concepts are at the crux of what we do, while technology has not always been our key cornerstone. A huge eureka moment for us was discovering the potential that AI has to propel our growth forward,” Mansoor said, talking about her experience.
Started in 2018, the Google for Startups Accelerator program supports startups solving India-specific challenges. The program provides three months of mentorship to startups, along with support from Google and industry experts. These experts are in various fields such as UX, product strategy, Android, cloud, AI-ML capabilities, marketing, etc.,
In this cohort, as per Paul Ravindranath G, Program Manager, Developer Relations & Head of Google Accelerator at Google India, there has been a lot of variety from a business model perspective. There is also a good representation of B2B and B2C companies. “Healthcare, edtech, fintech, climate-tech are the prominent verticals. Interestingly, the second cohort saw a lot of startups that are leveraging AI to solve crucial challenges, from organ transplantations to software testing. From Aarogya AI, which makes use of intelligent genomics for offering precision medicine in infectious diseases to Bare Necessities which is striving towards a waste-free world, the range of startups in the current cohort is exceptionally diverse,” he said. Paul explained that with 28,000 active digital startups, India is a leading hub of innovation for the world, however, just 18% of these enterprises have female founders or co-founders. Quoting a report, he said that relevant stereotypes and prejudices in the country continue to be a significant obstacle for women who want to launch their businesses.
“These socio-cultural hurdles impede the growth of female founders despite comparable performance metrics of startups founded by men and women. Research shows that women founders face a lot of challenges concerning fundraising and the situation is even more grim in the case of solo women founders. Timely access to mentors and capital, networking opportunities, hiring, and building teams are among the primary obstacles that make entrepreneurship a less viable career option for women,” he said.
He added it is concerning to note the abysmal global venture capital funding level for women-led startups, currently at just 2 percent.
Google’s three-month program has been designed for female founders, offering the participants a range of educational and networking opportunities, as well as mentorship, to tackle challenges concerning hiring and capital.
Paul said that the ultimate goal of this initiative is to make technology universally relevant and helpful. “Hence, the program supports startups across maturity levels that are not only utilizing cutting-edge technology but are meaningfully helping India, and potentially the world, adapt and move forward,” he said.
He emphasised that this program is part of a larger initiative by Google to boost the representation of women in various digitally trained workforce sections in India, including entrepreneurship, professionals looking to advance their careers, and recent graduates looking to get a head start.
