The government has infused over Rs 3,100 crore into women-led startups over the past six years, through its three schemes including the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS), Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), and Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS) to boost female entrepreneurship across the country, according to an update shared by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, also mentioned that while the country is home to over 200,000 government-recognised startups, nearly 48 per cent of these startups have at least one woman director or partner. In a social media post on Friday, he added that the count of government-recognised startups stood at over 44,000 in 2025 alone, marking the highest year since the inception of the Startup India initiative in 2016.

In a push to women-led companies, under the first scheme, the alternate investment funds (AIFs) supported under FFS have invested approximately Rs 2,838.9 crore in 154 women-led startups from calendar years 2020 to 2025 (as of October).

The fund is operationalised by the Small Industries Development Bank of India, which provides capital to Securities and Exchange Board of India-registered AIFs, which in turn invest in startups.

A state-wise breakdown shows that only in calendar year 2025, women-led companies in Maharashtra (Rs 277.05 crore) received the highest investment, followed by Karnataka (Rs 264.99 crore) and Goa (Rs 119.99 crore).

In total, more than Rs 25,320 crore worth of capital has been invested in over 1,350 startups under the FFS scheme, Goyal said.

Under SISFS, where the government provides financial assistance to seed-stage startups through incubators, funds worth Rs 284.79 crore have been approved to date for 1,635 women-led startups.

According to data shared by the government, Rs 5.878 crore has been dedicated to startups in Maharashtra state in 2025 only.

The scheme was implemented from April 2021.

Another scheme, CGSS, was implemented in April 2023 to enable collateral-free loans to startups.

As of October 2025, loans amounting to nearly Rs 33.17 crore have been guaranteed to women-led startup borrowers.

Notably, CGSS is operationalised by the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited.