Applications are currently open for the Seedstars Enhancing Women Entrepreneurship for Africa Program. This program targets women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (WSME), and aims to provide them with the coaching, mentorship and access to funding that they need to scale and thrive. It also aims to develop the enablers of these businesses—such as incubators, accelerators, and innovation hubs –so that they will be better able to help women-led ventures to succeed.
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As Seedstars notes, there is currently a gap in the quality of assistance that enablers provide to WSMEs. And businesses led and run by women aren’t receiving as much by way of financial support and opportunities for growth as those managed by men. The Enhancing Women Entrepreneurship for Africa Program is Seedstars’ contribution to closing this gap.
Benefits
This initiative will deliver the following benefits to WSMEs and enablers that are selected by the program’s organizers:
- Provide an environment that is conducive to the growth and development of women-led businesses and their enablers
- Build the capacity of enablers supporting WSMEs, so that they are able to serve such businesses better and meet their developmental needs
- Open up access to expert-driven mentorship and coaching for women-led businesses
- Make WSMEs ready for investments from a variety of sources
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Eligibility
These are the criteria that women-led businesses and their enablers must meet in order to be considered by the program’s organizers:
Enablers
- Must be helping WSMEs to achieve viability and sustainability
- Should be offering innovative approaches to closing the funding gap for women-led businesses
- Must be helping WSMEs with access to mentorship, digital visibility, and capacity-building opportunities
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WSMEs
- Must have at least one woman on its founding team
- Should be a startup or enterprise between the seed stage and growth stage
- Must have a digital component in their offering (SAAS product, mobile app, online shop, etc.)
Applications will remain open until December 31, 2022. Applicants will be screened in January 2023, and participants will be selected shortly after. The program will take place between February and May 2023.
If you would like to apply for the Seedstars Enhancing Women Entrepreneurship for Africa Program, click here.
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