In India, women founders aren’t waiting for permission anymore. They’re building products, storefronts, and startups from Instagram feeds, WhatsApp chats, and late-night spreadsheets. Yet, when it comes to scaling those ideas into sustainable digital businesses, access is still the barrier.
What most don’t realize is that India already has one of the world’s most comprehensive networks of government schemes for women entrepreneurs. And now, with new tech infrastructure: UPI, ONDC, e-commerce platforms, and affordable digital tools, the playing field is finally starting to level.
At Codeft, we work with women-led startups and D2C founders in Hyderabad who are ready to move from “managing DMs” to managing digital businesses. This guide brings together the five most powerful playbooks that can help women in tech and digital business use what already exists and take the next step toward scale.
Udyam & WEP|| Access Gateways to the Entrepreneurial Network
Before you think of funding, start with registration.
Every woman-led business should register on Udyam, India’s official MSME identification platform. Udyam registration unlocks access to government subsidies, tender eligibility, easier credit, and participation in programs like CGTMSE (for collateral-free loans).
Once registered, the next step is joining the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) by NITI Aayog. WEP acts as a mentor and ecosystem bridge connecting founders with policy updates, accelerators, and market linkages.
According to NITI Aayog data, over 200,000 women entrepreneurs are already part of WEP. This platform goes beyond policy literacy and gives access to credible networks and success stories that demystify what’s working on the ground.
PMEGP, MUDRA, and Stand-Up India||Funding the First Step
Money is often the difference between a concept and a company. These three government schemes are structured to help women cross that line:
PMEGP (Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme)
Under the PMEGP scheme, women entrepreneurs can access subsidy-linked term loans to start small manufacturing, service, or trading businesses. The subsidy is higher for women: 25% (urban) and 35% (rural). In FY 2022–23 alone, PMEGP supported over 39,000 women-led units (PIB, 2023).
MUDRA Loan for Women
The MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) supports micro-businesses with collateral-free loans of up to ₹10 lakh. Recently, the cap under the Tarun Plus category was raised to ₹20 lakh, and over 68% of MUDRA beneficiaries are women.
Stand-Up India Scheme
The Stand-Up India scheme provides loans from ₹10 lakh to ₹1 crore for at least one woman or SC/ST borrower per bank branch to start a greenfield enterprise. The scheme also includes handholding support for business planning, mentorship, and training.
For first-time founders, these are not “grant schemes”, they are financing playbooks designed to help you access credit at a lower cost, without the collateral hurdle.
UPI, ONDC, and Digital Platforms || The Tech Backbone for Women in Business
Funding and policy are only half the story. What truly accelerates women entrepreneurs today is digital infrastructure.
UPI and Digital Payments
India’s UPI network has democratised access to digital transactions. For women-led small businesses, it eliminates payment friction, allows instant settlement, and enables trust at scale.
ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce)
ONDC is a game-changer open network that allows local businesses, including women founders, to list their products on multiple marketplaces without depending on a single e-commerce giant. According to ONDC data, the network has already onboarded over 400 women entrepreneurs in its initial phase (ET Government, 2024).
E-commerce Platforms as Equalisers
Platforms like Shopify, Zoho Commerce, and private initiatives such as Codeft’s in-house build frameworks now make it possible for a founder to launch her store for often less than INR 30,000. The cost of entry has never been lower, and the modular tech stack means you can start lean and scale as your sales grow.
This is exactly where India’s digital infrastructure meets private tech innovation. Together, we are redefining how accessibility and scale look for women founders in India.
How Private Initiatives Like Codeft Extend the Impact of Government Playbooks
We’ve seen a growing segment of women D2C founders in Hyderabad who have built strong Instagram-led businesses, like homegrown apparel brands, bakers, and skincare entrepreneurs, but are trapped by the DM economy. They handle orders manually, juggle logistics on chat, and lose hours to repetitive admin.
So we launched a women-led eCommerce enablement campaign, selecting a small group of founders and helping them migrate from Instagram to full-fledged eCommerce stores, at a subsidized price of ₹9,999/month for 3 months.
This is an initiative to give women founders digital autonomy. Our goal is to bridge what government schemes start → registration, funding, mentorship. With what startups like ours can finish → digital execution and tech enablement.
The Real Playbook is Action
While government-backed schemes build the scaffolding for women entrepreneurship in India, the last-mile challenge often lies in execution. Moving from access to actual adoption. That’s where private players step in.
At Codeft, we saw a gap between intent and enablement: hundreds of women-led D2C founders in Hyderabad running successful businesses on Instagram or WhatsApp, yet losing hours every day to manual sales, shipping, and customer management. To bridge that gap, we launched an eCommerce enablement campaign helping select women founders transition from social selling to full-scale online stores at a subsidized cost of ₹9,999 per month for three months. This initiative is about demonstrating how product thinking, tech integration, and automation can extend the mission of national programs like WEP and MUDRA. By digitizing small businesses, we help women founders turn financial access into operational autonomy, and that’s where real empowerment begins.
Founder’s Take:
“Government programs open doors, but someone has to help founders walk through them. Our goal is to build capability. Access and action must go hand in hand.”
— Rahul V,
Founder & CEO Codeft Digital
