Navya Naveli Nanda hard at work, to help women at work

Big B’s granddaughter Navya Naveli launches EntrepreNaari that offers free resources, guidance, networking opportunities to help female entrepreneurs

Her grandparents Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, and uncle Abhishek Bachchan may continue to light up the screen, but Navya Naveli Nanda has little inclination in joining movies. Only a year since she graduated from Fordham University, Shweta Bachchan’s daughter co-founded Aara Health, a wellness company that focuses on women. Now, the proud entrepreneur has launched EntrepreNaari, a programme that helps women get their business off the ground. The initiative, which sees Nanda collaborate with Madhura Dasgupta Sinha of the NGO, Aspire For Her, offers free resources, guidance and networking opportunities to women entrepreneurs, thus helping them turn their idea into a full-fledged business. 

DasGupta Sinha, who met Nanda through a common friend, says that the idea was born from the fact that the pandemic had severely impacted the female workforce in India. “Three months ago, we launched a report on how COVID-19 dealt a crushing blow to the female workforce. Navya and I realised that women entrepreneurs were the hardest-hit segment,” says Sinha.   

The duo quickly put their heads together to create the enterprise, designed for women, by women. “Our model is based on certain pillars that include mentorship [programmes], learning opportunities and business resources, career previews, and peer communities where you can connect and learn from each other.” Besides joining hands with corporations that may fund a start-up, should they see promise in it, the team has also brought in 25 companies that will play a role in setting up the innovative businesses. “We have roped in website developers, legal advisors and company secretaries to help set up companies for our entrepreneurs. Since our launch, we have seen huge interest from the ecosystem, including a production house that makes reality shows, a bank and YouTube providers.”

DasGupta Sinha lauds Nanda for throwing her weight behind the endeavour. “It’s brilliant that Navya uses her voice for women empowerment. She works harder than many of us and is deeply involved in the project. She helped us in strategising and putting resources together.”

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