New Delhi, Oct28: Government programmes across Bihar, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are working with Leap 300 to help over 5 lakh women entrepreneurs build thriving businesses through its AI-powered entrepreneurship model. These initiatives leverage existing government networks to provide rural women with business planning, personalised AI guidance and on-ground support, with the potential to reach millions more.
Leap 300’s technology platform reimagines how rural entrepreneurship programmes are delivered. Women are onboarded on the Leap 300 beneficiary app, where they develop and submit AI-assisted business plans, learn business skills through voice-based learning management system, and manage daily finances through simple digital accounting tools. Its AI advisor, Vyapar Mitra, provides both proactive, personalised recommendations and on-demand business guidance in local languages. Beyond entrepreneurs, Leap 300 is pioneering AI-powered training for thousands of government field workers, enabling consistent, high-quality support at a scale previously difficult to achieve. Together, these tools power a structured 300-day journey from business selection to sustained income growth.
“India has already built one of the world’s largest networks for reaching rural women. The next breakthrough is making personalised business expertise available to every woman through that network. With AI, a first-time entrepreneur can identify what her village needs, make better business decisions and receive guidance whenever she needs it. Our vision is to help governments build millions of successful rural women entrepreneurs.” – Vinod Raghuwanshi, Co-Founder, Leap 300
Early results demonstrate the model’s potential
Bihar — Moving beyond traditional businesses: In JEEViKA’s Satat Jeevikoparjan Yojana, approximately 60% of businesses in the broader programme in the same blocks were livestock-based, compared with less than 1% in Leap 300’s pilot. Women are instead establishing diverse retail, food and skilled-service businesses. As of September 2026, 87% of relevant trained participants had used AI Vyapar Mitra and 95% were regularly recording business accounts digitally. Separately, JEEViKA’s MMRY/JHUUM collaboration has a wider roadmap covering 3 lakh households.
Punjab — Making credit more effective: Under the credit-linked PEHEL programme, monthly loan throughput increased from 4 to 25 per block (6.25X), while business launch time fell from approximately three months to 12 days. The share of first-time entrepreneurs rose from 15% to 45%, with participants operating 51 business types. Women with at least three months of business history recorded approximately 1.5X their baseline income, alongside 100% reported loan repayment to date. Punjab’s longer-term ambition is to support 1.5 lakh women entrepreneurs.
Uttar Pradesh — Taking the model to scale: Under the state’s Zero Poverty Programme, Leap 300’s collaboration with the Planning Department targets 1 lakh households over three years, including 50,000 in the first year, with potential for wider adoption across approximately 12.36 lakh identified Zero Poverty households.
Haryana — Expanding the credit-linked approach: A planned collaboration with the Haryana State Rural Livelihoods Mission targets 1,200 women entrepreneurs over three years, combining access to credit with business planning, AI-powered guidance and trained field support.
Leap 300’s broader programme has previously reported 90% graduation and approximately 3-4X% average income growth. These state partnerships represent an opportunity to bring personalised business expertise to rural women at a scale previously difficult to achieve.
