Funding Women's Businesses Is Our Best Bet For Indian Economic Boom

The participation of women in the economy is not just an ideal but a necessity for wealth creation and social progress. Data and experts consistently highlight the correlation between women's economic empowerment and overall societal progress. When women are integrated into the workforce and have access to financial resources, economies thrive and incomes increase. Their participation isn't just about equality; it's a strategic imperative for maximising a nation's economic potential.

Across my two start-ups, I have closely worked with semi-urban and rural women as consumers and as business operators. My first venture, Greenway Grameen designs and manufactures clean-burning cookstoves that replace traditional wood chulhas across the global south. Greenway today is India’s largest clean stoves manufacturer which further enables millions of tonnes of reduction in carbon emissions and saves time and drudgery every year.

Are Women Better At Managing Finances? Since Always

It is through our work that we witnessed how often and how well women start and operate businesses to increase their household income. These businesses add genuine value to users and communities that run smartly and are transformed in scale and profitability with small loans.

I started my entrepreneurial journey right out of college and ran my first venture for nearly 12 years completing the entire cycle of raising venture capital, scaling and eventually providing our investors with a successful exit.

For both ventures, the foundational idea has been to build businesses with clear, solid value propositions. With IndiaP2P, we are unlocking credit for India’s best asset class i.e. women and small business owners while enabling passive income for India’s retail investors.

Women, by nature, often demonstrate a remarkable sense of prudence when it comes to borrowing and managing finances. Research indicates that women tend to be more diligent borrowers compared to their male counterparts. Data from credit bureaus highlights that women tend to have higher credit scores than men. They display a higher repayment rate and are more likely to invest their earnings back into their families and communities. This innate financial responsibility makes them not just reliable borrowers but also astute decision-makers regarding resource allocation.

The Root Cause Behind My Venture

Seeing this first-hand alongside the growth and commercial success of the women borrower-focused microfinance industry, the idea of IndiaP2P came about. We realised that women and small business owners are India’s best asset class i.e. investing in them can potentially generate high and purposeful returns which are derived from real economic value addition.  

We enable retail investors to invest directly in women and small business owners by offering loans up to INR 1 lakh and earning monthly interest income.  

Borrowers on the other hand can access customized credit faster.  The platform further helps investors diversify their investments across multiple borrowers to reduce risk. However, it must be noted that such investments do come with the risk of non-repayment by borrowers.

Our field network physically meets with borrowers as part of our credit diligence and we aim to provide additional business support to our borrowers in the future. Over the last fiscal, close to 95% of IndiaP2P’s facilitated portfolio went towards women borrowers across the country.

Data shows that close to 80 million women in India operate small but thriving businesses, many of whom have successful credit histories. On the other hand, financial institutions lose hundreds of billions in revenue globally by simply not serving women at the same level as men.

With our organisation, we are already demonstrating how a digital platform can create win-win outcomes for investors and business operators. With a focus on women, not only have we generated superior returns but also led to measurable progress across multiple sustainable development goals. Borrowers have increased their incomes, created new jobs and continue to serve their users and communities in new and innovative ways.  

Authored by Neha Juneja, CEO, IndiaP2P.com