Six women who had started building businesses without the advantage of inherited capital, family business networks or established market access received a new opportunity to take their enterprises forward as Kutchina Foundation launched Krittika Samriddhi, a one-year business entrepreneurship support and training programme for first-generation women entrepreneurs, in Kolkata on 3rd October.
Krittika Samriddhi brought together six first-generation women entrepreneurs, each receiving ₹2 lakh in grant support, along with business and skill training, mentorship and market linkages. The initiative was driven by Mr. Namit Bajoria, Managing Director of Kutchina Home Makers Private Limited, Chairperson of Kutchina Foundation and Past President of MCCI, who highlighted the need to give women building their first businesses the right support, guidance and access to opportunities that could help them turn their ideas into sustainable enterprises.
At the heart of Krittika Samriddhi was Mr. Namit Bajoria, Managing Director of Kutchina Home Makers Private Limited and Chairperson of Kutchina Foundation, whose own journey as a first-generation industrialist shaped the vision behind the programme. Having built his business without an inherited industrial legacy, Mr. Bajoria understood first-hand that ambition alone was not enough to build a sustainable enterprise.
Access to capital, business knowledge, mentorship, professional networks and the right market opportunities could make a crucial difference, particularly in the early stages. Krittika Samriddhi grew from this understanding, with Mr. Bajoria seeking to use the experience and ecosystem he had built over the years to create a stronger starting point for six women who were now taking their own first steps as entrepreneurs.
The six entrepreneurs were selected through a structured jury process that looked beyond their financial or social challenges and focused on the businesses they had already started building. Their ideas, commitment, business potential, and the challenges they faced, and their willingness to learn and grow through training and mentorship were all taken into consideration. What connected these six women was not the kind of business they ran or where they came from, but the fact that they were building their ventures without an established family business or professional network to rely on. They were learning along the way—how to manage finances, reach customers, build networks and understand the market—while bringing very different experiences and perspectives to the larger story of women’s entrepreneurship.
The cohort also brought together two particularly distinctive journeys. Debangshi Chowdhury Biswas, a transgender woman from Uttarpara, was building an ornaments and jewellery business, while Priyanka Saha, a cisgender woman from Khardah married to a transgender man, was building a nail art and makeup enterprise. Both were selected for the entrepreneurial potential they had already demonstrated, their commitment to building sustainable businesses and the difference that timely financial support, business training and market access could make to their growth. Their journeys also brought important perspectives on gender diversity and inclusion, making their stories an integral part of the fellowship’s larger vision of creating opportunities for women from different backgrounds to build independent livelihoods.
The other four fellows brought equally diverse entrepreneurial journeys. Tanushree Guha Roy and Piya Mitra were building sari businesses in South Kolkata and Barasat, while Dwayita Biswas was growing a confectionery venture and Arjuma Bibi was developing a beauty and cosmetics business in Barasat. They were selected for the viability and growth potential of their businesses, their commitment to turning their ventures into sustainable enterprises, and the scope for training, mentorship and financial support to make a meaningful difference to their growth. Each had already taken the initiative to build a business from the ground up, and the Fellowship was designed to give them the tools, capital and market access needed to take the next step.
Speaking about the vision behind Krittika Samriddhi, Mr. Namit Bajoria, Managing Director of Kutchina Home Makers Private Limited, Chairperson of Kutchina Foundation and Past President of MCCI, said, “When you are building something for the first time, having the willingness to work is important, but having the right support at the right time can make a tremendous difference. I have seen through my own journey that building a business takes more than an idea—it takes access to knowledge, people, markets and the confidence to keep moving forward. Krittika Samriddhi was created to give these six women that support and help them take the businesses they have already started to the next level.”
Krittika Samriddhi was built on the belief that lack of access should never be mistaken for lack of potential. The six women had already taken the hardest step—they had started—and the Fellowship was designed to help them turn those beginnings into sustainable businesses. Each fellow received ₹2 lakh over one year, released in four tranches of ₹50,000, along with business-management and skill training, mentorship and market linkages. The programme extended Kutchina Foundation’s decade-long Krittika Fellowship, which had supported 25 women social changemakers across India, bringing that experience into the entrepreneurial space to help first-generation women build stronger, more sustainable businesses of their own.
Krittika Samriddhi represented a larger commitment to recognising women not merely as beneficiaries of economic growth, but as entrepreneurs who could shape it. The six fellows came from different communities, sectors and life experiences, yet shared the determination to build businesses of their own. With ₹12 lakh in combined grant support, along with training, mentorship and market access, the programme sought to give these first-generation entrepreneurs the resources and guidance needed to turn their businesses into sustainable livelihoods. The initiative put a simple idea into action: when women with ambition are given access to capital, knowledge and the right networks, they can build not just a livelihood, but an enterprise with the potential to grow.
