Enterprise Support Systems

SEWA acknowledges that there is an inherent power asymmetry on lines of class, geography and gender, which can be seen in wealth inequality between men and women, the disparity in their ability to access resources and opportunities and their ability to control resources and their usage. The idea behind our focus on collective social enterprises (CSEs) is that we want women to have a sense of agency through this collective model of ownership, that resources are not appropriated by the dominant group alone and that through these enterprises the women by themselves, are able to facilitate multi dimensional interventions within their communities. Given the substantial number of collective social enterprises established by SEWA across states in India, a SEWA accelerator was envisioned to support such entrepreneurial endeavors run by women from the bottom of the pyramid population, across their different stages of growth. To bring such an accelerator into existence it was imperative to study the existing ecosystem, especially in India. This study goes in depth of what key elements go into creating an efficient and sustainable social enterprise support system by studying other accelerators/incubators in India with a focus on social impact. This also helped us take a stock of the support and services provided by SEWA to its enterprises thus far and the additional support needed by these enterprises.