JOIN US Having taken upon itself to reach out the digitally deprived MSME community in India through its initiative ‘Boost you Business’, Facebook has now reached Bengaluru.
The city on Friday witnessed the first such programme specifically dedicated to women entrepreneurs. Ritesh Mehta, Head of Economic Growth Initiatives for Facebook India, said, “When women entrepreneurs succeed, economies do better. With women entrepreneurs, it is ensured that the money goes to the right place.”
Taking the initiative to Jaipur next, Facebook plans to expand into states that offer strong MSME cultures and are interested in promoting them. Facebook, in collaboration with the state, successfully completed its first such programme in Uttar Pradesh, where it deployed a team of 12 people to reach out to entrepreneurs as well as artisans and craftsmen.
It plans to further expand the reach of this programme to different states by leveraging the support of respective state authorities. “To do it in association with the state authorities gives us the benefit of support from the skill development department, the industrial association and the database of artisans. Thereby, we can add value to the state as well as the user,” he said.
With focus on helping SMBs gain visibility, Facebook through this initiative is proposing itself as a technology platform that has the capability to launch and accelerate businesses. “Over 2 million SMBs already have their pages on Facebook. We want to build a community, which can inspire young and aspiring entrepreneurs to grow and scale,” he said.