She is the kind of leader who leads with both heart and resolve, proving that true power lies in lifting others as you rise. A quiet force of determination, Sita Pallacholla blends strength with empathy. As the CEO of WE HUB — India’s first and only state-led incubator for women entrepreneurs — she doesn’t just break barriers, but builds pathways for others to follow. In an insightful conversation with CE, she reveals what WE HUB is doing for urban, rural, and tribal women, apart from giving much-needed entrepreneurship tips.
Excerpts
What inspired you to champion the cause of women entrepreneurs?
My journey began in the trenches of entrepreneurship, where I learned the challenges of building from scratch and saw how unforgiving the system can be, especially for women.
In 2011, after moving to Singapore, I connected with women leaders globally. Despite different geographies, the same roadblocks emerged — women were navigating a landscape not designed for them.
In 2014, I launched The Angel Summit, a network bringing together women from various sectors. These conversations led to real outcomes: gender-forward policies, women-led incubators, and inclusive economic pathways.
Today, I work at the intersection of technology, gender, and inclusive economics, building scalable systems to support women-led businesses, especially in emerging markets. At WE Hub, my mission is to ensure women not only enter the room but shape it.
Can you highlight a few ongoing programmes catering to women in urban, rural, and tribal areas?
At WE HUB, we don’t believe a one-size-fits-all approach works when you’re building for the next generation of women entrepreneurs and leaders.
In the urban vertical, our work spans across education, early-stage entrepreneurship, and scale-up journeys. Three core programmes anchor this vertical:
WE Enable: Focused on young women in colleges, this programme is about planting the seed early — building entrepreneurial thinking, industry exposure, and leadership skills to create career-ready women who don’t just seek jobs, but create them.
WE Engage: This is our flagship entrepreneurship programme, structured to meet women where they are in their startup journey.
WE Elevate: This programme caters to growth-stage founders and MSMEs — providing targeted interventions, access to markets, mentors, and institutional investors. It’s designed to support entrepreneurs ready to move from survival to scale.
Our Social Impact & Entrepreneurship (SIE) vertical recognises that women in Tier-2, Tier-3, and tribal regions have different starting points. Here, we design programmes supporting women-led businesses across the entire entrepreneurial life cycle, from ideation to scale-up:
WE Reach: A three-month pre-incubation programme providing skills in business management, financial, and digital literacy, concluding with Udyam registration support.
Project Inclusion: A six-month incubation programme offering expert sessions, branding, financial linkages, and business registration support for MSMEs.
WE Leads: A 10-month acceleration programme for growth-stage women-led MSMEs, focusing on revenue growth, market diversification, and national and international expansion.
WE HUB is also setting up district-level Women Centres of Excellence (WCEs). The proposed districts are: Warangal, Hanumakonda, Peddapalli, and Nalgonda. These centres will serve as local hubs for empowering women by offering skill development training, entrepreneurial capacity building, and manufacturing support across various sectors.
What are some of the most pressing challenges women in rural and tribal communities face when trying to start a business?
Limited access to capital is a major issue, with many lacking collateral, credit history, or awareness of financial schemes, forcing reliance on informal lenders. Financial exclusion is compounded by low financial literacy and fear of debt.
The digital divide also poses a barrier, as poor connectivity and low digital literacy prevent access to online markets, payments, and skilling programmes. In tribal areas, linguistic and educational limitations make it harder to engage with training materials or government documentation.
Social norms restrict women’s mobility and decision-making power, limiting their ability to attend training, travel for market access, or manage businesses independently.
WE HUB addresses these challenges with locally tailored interventions like vernacular training, digital literacy, micro-enterprise incubation, and mentorship for low-literacy, first-generation women entrepreneurs. In partnership with TRICOR, it also helps tribal women build businesses based on indigenous knowledge. By connecting women to markets, financial services, and government schemes, WE HUB provides the skills and ecosystem needed for success.
Do you believe the entrepreneurial ecosystem still has a long way to go in terms of how it treats women entrepreneurs?
Funding numbers show improvement, yet women-led teams still receive only a small portion. Why? Men still dominate the rooms where cheques are signed, leading to pattern-matching that favours familiar founders and leaves women with smaller cheques or longer diligence cycles.
The good news: women-focused funds are writing larger tickets, and policy changes like SIDBI’s women-specific FoF allocations are pushing investors to pay attention. WE HUB tackles the issue by coaching founders and hosting demo days for women. Our mandate at WE HUB is to close that gap until ‘female founder’ is simply ‘founder’.
Many women continue to be held back by deep-rooted societal norms, family responsibilities, and economic pressures. How does WE HUB work to reach these women and create awareness about its initiatives and opportunities?
If a woman can’t get to WE HUB, WE HUB has to get to her.
First, we meet her where she is. Our SIE team runs district-level bootcamps with local partners like SERP and the District Industries Centre, offering action plans instead of brochures.
Second, we use trusted channels. Student workshops in urban and rural areas, WhatsApp groups, and bite-sized reels allow for them to see real founders raise capital.
Third, we design programmes around real-life constraints. Our programmes offer tailored support for different stages — like cash-flow basics for rural cohorts and separate tracks for urban mothers and SaaS founders.
Fourth, we encourage inclusive dialogue, inviting male family members and local leaders to demo days. When they see the progress, the mindset shifts.
Finally, our Hyderabad hub has walk-in hours for women to get mentor matches or just a sounding board without red tape.
Three pieces of advice for women starting their professional or entrepreneurial journeys.
Don’t hesitate to ask: for help, advice, or access. Most people are willing to support, so just ask.
Understand your financials: like cash flow, burn rate, and funding. Financial literacy is power, and resources are widely available.
Network with purpose: Choose meaningful connections that align with your goals. Time is limited, so invest in ecosystems that inspire, inform, and accelerate growth.