Ten bucks, you don't know enough about Kolkata! Well, for one thing, it’s not just the cuisine and the rich culture that the city is famous for. West Bengal’s capital, in eastern and northeastern parts of India, is making a name for its financial streak. Kolkata is an entrepreneurial hub bustling with entrepreneurs. Most of us don’t realize how many startups there are.

The ‘City of Joy has been the birthplace of many successful ventures, some of which graced by women. Silicon india believes in telling stories of some of the best startups in Kolkata in a way that appreciates their efforts to solve jarring problems. Right now, there’s a battery of startups that are thriving in Kolkata, and many more are rapidly coming up, driven by fresh initiatives which are briskly aiding the city’s startup boom. Interestingly, the city has is currently home to incubators including IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, Ekta Technology Business Incubation Center, Kolkata Ventures Incubators among few others.

Additionally accelerators such as Neo leap Accelerator, Startup Bengal Acceleration centers and Amplify Sass Accelerator have also been playing a major supporting role in helping young entrepreneurs set up shop within the City of joy. Additionally there is a healthy presence of co-working spaces and even VC firms that have strengthened the Kolkata startup ecosystem.

Moreover, We Work India, in association with Strong Her Ventures, has launched “Arise”, a programmer to help create opportunities for women entrepreneurs. The programmer will engage with 5,000 startups, mentor 1000 entrepreneurs and invest in over 100 startups over the next five years, says a press release. Women entrepreneurs would get a range of benefits as part of the accelerator programmer including knowledge sessions, boot camps, engaged mentoring, curated networking events and access to follow on capital. Kolkata is poised to reap the best of these opportunities. Some of the most interesting startups are featured here in this edition.