has concluded its first Tech FoundHER Challenge, awarding $100,000 in equity-free grants to four women-led startups, as part of its effort to address the persistent funding gap in India’s startup ecosystem.
Despite increasing entrepreneurial activity, women-led ventures continue to receive less than 3% of total venture capital funding in the country, the VC firm stated.
The challenge attracted 120 applications from startups across 22 cities and 14 sectors, including artificial intelligence, healthcare, climate technology, fintech, and agritech. After an initial technical screening conducted by Vaia, a platform focused on evaluating startup readiness, seven finalists were selected to present to a jury of industry experts.
“We launched this challenge to spotlight and support women building game-changing solutions in tech. The quality of innovation we’ve seen is inspiring—and this is just the beginning,” said Prajna Khanna, VP and Global Head of Sustainability at Prosus.
Lightbulb, an Emotion AI platform that combines visual and conversational AI to analyse digital user engagement, emerged as the top winner and received a $50,000 grant. RxMen, a digital health platform targeting men’s sexual wellness, secured second place with a $30,000 grant. Climate tech ventures Varaha, which enables smallholder farmers to generate carbon credits, and Digital Paani, an IoT-driven wastewater management platform, jointly received $20,000.
The judging panel included Apurva Dixit from Blume Ventures, Ronak Sandil from Amazon, Archana Jahagirdar of Rukam Capital, and senior Prosus executives including CEO Martin Tshopp, CFO Priyanka Chopra, India Head of Investments Ashutosh Sharma, and VP of Sustainability Prajna Khanna. The event was also attended by former Union Minister Smriti Irani as a guest of honour.
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“It’s about merit, not gender—these founders earned their place. Prosus has created a powerful platform to spotlight women-led innovation, and it’s clear we need more of this,” said Archana Jahagirdar, Founder and Managing Partner, Rukam Capital.
The initiative not only showcased the quality and potential of women-led innovation but also brought attention to the structural challenges that hinder equitable access to capital.
Beyond the financial support, all seven finalists will continue to receive mentorship, access to Encubay’s accelerator network, and support from the Prosus portfolio ecosystem, aiming to provide sustained backing for their ventures.
Edited by Kanishk Singh
