A rural village incubator for women entrepreneurs

RISERural Incubation & Startup Enablement

Empowering women in underserved villages to transform local ideas into sustainable businesses — through entrepreneurship education, mentorship, funding, and market access.

Partner With Us Explore the Program

Our Mission

Empower women in underserved villages to become entrepreneurs — providing education, mentorship, funding, and market access so they can transform local ideas into sustainable businesses and achieve economic independence.

RISE is a rural village incubator built around a 3-phase program of training, mentorship, seed grants and investor access. We've turned Indian epics into 24 Hindi business lessons, trained 800+ founders, and incubated 75+ women-led ventures to date.

Meet the Founder

Yukti Dahiya

Founder, RISE

I am Yukti Dahiya, a student leader, researcher, and social entrepreneur driven by a mission to bridge educational and opportunity gaps. I founded Project Pathways to empower underserved students with mobile career counseling, mentorship, and scholarships, ensuring they have the guidance needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world. My work in social impact and economics has been recognized by institutions like Harvard and Oxford Global—milestones that fuel my deep commitment to creating scalable, inclusive, and equitable pathways to success for every student.

The RISE Program

Three phases, one journey — from idea to income

Phase 1

Discover

Entrepreneurship Education

A 24-part Hindi business curriculum drawn from Indian epics — turning familiar stories into lessons on opportunity identification, design thinking, business model development, financial literacy, digital marketing, AI tools for small businesses, government entrepreneurship schemes, communication, leadership, and investor pitching. Delivered through workshops in villages, schools, and community centers, it helps participants identify local problems and transform them into business opportunities.

Phase 2

Build

8-Week RISE Launchpad

Selected women founders join an incubation program with weekly one-on-one mentorship, customer discovery, market research, prototype development, financial planning, legal registration guidance, branding support, sales strategy, and pitch coaching. Each founder leaves with a validated business model ready for launch.

Phase 3

Grow

Beyond Incubation

Support continues through seed microgrants, investor introductions, Demo Day, packaging and branding support, website development, digital payment setup, e-commerce onboarding, retail partnerships, and quarterly business reviews.

Key Programs

What powers the incubator

Epics to Enterprise

Indian epics reimagined as 24 Hindi business lessons — making entrepreneurship familiar, accessible, and rooted in culture. This signature curriculum has trained 800+ founders to think like business builders in their own language.

Mentor Network

A network of 100+ startup founders, investors, chartered accountants, lawyers, designers, engineers, and marketing professionals providing one-on-one mentoring, office hours, and monthly masterclasses.

Seed Grant Program

Women founders pitch their ventures before a selection committee. Winning startups receive prototype and launch grants with milestone tracking and continued mentorship.

Demo Day

An annual investor showcase where incubated startups pitch to angel investors, CSR leaders, universities, startup incubators, banks, and corporate partners for funding and strategic partnerships.

Market Access Initiative

Support for building brands, designing packaging, launching websites, setting up digital payments, selling through e-commerce platforms, participating in exhibitions, and connecting with wholesale buyers and retailers.

Village Women's Innovation Challenge

Villages submit pressing community challenges. Women entrepreneurs develop innovative solutions, and winning ideas receive incubation, funding, and implementation support.

800+

Founders trained

75+

Women-led ventures incubated

Hindi business lessons from Indian epics

₹52 lakh

Grants and capital unlocked

Months of incubation

Student volunteers

Local mentors trained

Founder Stories

The businesses women are building

Founders from the RISE program, at work in their own ventures.

A founder in her tailoring shop, finished garments hanging behind her — Tailoring and garment shop

A founder at her vegetable stall with produce laid out for sale — Fresh produce vending

A founder sewing at a machine in her home workshop — Home-based tailoring

A founder working at an industrial sewing machine on patterned fabric — Stitching unit

A founder behind the counter of her fabric shop, stock shelved behind her — Fabric retail

Our Work

On the ground, in the community

Photos from 1 of 10 regions — Sonipat region

RISE team member in conversation with a woman entrepreneur and community member at her workplace — Customer discovery in the field — understanding a founder's business first-hand

RISE team member taking notes during a field visit to a home-based business — Field visit and intake session at a home-based enterprise

Community members gathered at a RISE outreach session — Community briefing during Cohort 3 outreach, Sonipat region

RISE team member showing digital tools to women founders and their families — Introducing digital tools at a family-run ironing business

RISE registration desk at a village outreach session — Registration desk at a village outreach session

One-on-one registration session beside the RISE Cohort 3 banner — One-on-one onboarding into the RISE Launchpad

A founder reviewing her registration details with a RISE team member — Walking a founder through her registration, Cohort 3 — Sonipat region

Partnerships

We don't work alone

RISE collaborates with panchayats, self-help groups (SHGs), NGOs, schools, universities, startup incubators, CSR foundations, and government agencies to expand entrepreneurship opportunities for rural women.

10 Panchayats
3 NGOs
2 Universities
2 Startup Incubators
UNICEF-supported startup

Long-Term Vision

A self-sustaining ecosystem where women in rural villages transform local ideas into scalable businesses, generate employment, increase household incomes, and strengthen their communities through entrepreneurship.

Get Involved

Three ways to stand with rural women founders

Become a Mentor

Join 20 experienced working entrepreneurs offering one-on-one mentoring, office hours, and masterclasses to women founders in the program.

Mentor with RISE

Partner With Us

Panchayats, SHGs, NGOs, schools, universities, incubators, CSR foundations, and government agencies — help us expand opportunity for rural women.

Start a partnership

Support a Founder

Back seed grants, Demo Day, and market access so women founders can prototype, launch, and grow their ventures.

Support RISE

Contact

Write to us

Whether you'd like to mentor, partner, or support a founder — we'd love to hear from you.

Email: loading…