Investment banking firm Goldman Sachs on Wednesday, April 5, said its 10,000 Women initiative has created approximately 12,000 new jobs and added Rs 2,800 crore in revenue to the Indian economy, within 18 months of the participants graduating from the programme.

The study found that the 10,000 Women participants have doubled their existing workforce, quadrupled their revenue, and increased their productivity by five times on average, within 18 months of graduation.

Most surveyed graduates said they expect to increase hiring and grow revenues, however, more than half have concerns about access to financing opportunities and to international markets.

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The report, 'Breaking Barriers: Unlocking the Potential of Women Entrepreneurs,' was developed based on a study by the Indian School of Business of more than 2,400 women entrepreneurs who participated in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women initiative across India.

The 10,000 Women study analysed how women entrepreneurs are implementing what they learned from the programme and how they seek to benefit from India’s emerging growth themes.

These include digital technology adoption to drive innovation and efficiency; championing ‘Make in India’ by exporting to international markets and tapping into a globally competitive talent pool for growth.

For example, more than half of the course participants implemented automation in their businesses after graduation, including the use of cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics.

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From the group, 81 percent adopted digital marketing strategies, 34 percent expanded to international markets and 74 percent initiated formal employee training programmes.

Additionally, 38 percent of graduates raised funding for their businesses through mentors who were introduced through the course. Sonjoy Chatterjee, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs in India, said here women entrepreneurs are still significantly underrepresented in the economy and face significant hurdles to access capital, which means there is more work to be done to unlock the true potential of Indian business and realise the vision to be a $5-trillion economy.

In 2014, the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility (WEOF), a global partnership between Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women and the International Finance Corporation, was launched to expand credit access to women entrepreneurs.

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The first-of-its-kind facility has reached over 164,000 women entrepreneurs globally and has provided over $4.5 billion in loans via financial institutions across 55 countries. In India, over 38,000 women entrepreneurs have received more than 45,900 loans worth approximately $720 million through the WEOF as of December 2021.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)