Empowered and Eager: 70% of Women Entrepreneurs Outside Big Cities Want to Supercharge Their Skills

A new survey conducted by Tide, summarized in the Bharat Women Aspiration Index (BWAI) 2025, presents a remarkable trend: 70% of women entrepreneurs in Tier II, III, and smaller towns in India are eager to improve their financial, marketing, and digital skills to grow their businesses. This group, led mostly by Gen Z and millennial women, is aggressively creating a new entrepreneurial terrain outside metro cities.

In spite of their willpower, these women encounter great obstacles. The report points out that 86% are still isolated from entrepreneurial networks, depriving them of important peer support and mentorship opportunities. Furthermore, more than half still need the intervention of a male family member to gain access to credit, highlighting enduring gender biases in financial systems. Over half of the respondents feel viewed as less creditworthy by financial institutions, and almost half perceive themselves as being underrepresented in public and media discourse.

Curiously, while 52% conduct business in technologically native spaces such as e-commerce and edtech, digital skill-building accounts for just 12% of entrepreneurs, leaving a lag behind industry need and self-assessment by entrepreneurs.

In turn, Tide has introduced programs such as the Udaan Chronicles to offer mentoring, networking, and financial literacy assistance, with a vision to empower 500,000 women-led enterprises by 2027. The BWAI 2025 is a clarion call to policymakers, financial institutions, and society at large to break barriers and create an inclusive ecosystem where women entrepreneurs can excel to their fullest potential.

Sources: Entrepreneur India, Business Today, Women Entrepreneurs Review