We focus on developing gender-friendly outreach, selection and training that can be integrated in accelerator programs.
ANDE
One to Watch
USAID
Visa Foundation
Business model innovation
Gender and diversity
Finance
Food and agriculture
Renewable energy and efficiency
Water, sanitation and hygiene
Myanmar
2020 to 2021
Investors require entrepreneurs to provide them with a crystal clear overview of their current operations and future business plans. Most women-led SGBs lack the basis within their business to produce these documents. In practice, OTW and Bopinc experience that less women-led businesses than male-led businesses apply for acceleration programs and they tend to start at a lower level of professionalism when applying. Women need more support preparing for pitching, especially for delivery, putting their growth plans on paper, learning about accounting and financing options, etc. This is not surprising as both practice and literature show that women-led businesses generally face more challenges than their male counterparts.
There is a need for gender-smart adjustments and add ons to current accelerator models to make sure women benefit as much from the offered support services as their male counterparts. By inserting the WE Ignite Booster, we aim to have more women-led SGBs enter the process and pass the expert gap analysis stage of the model. Therefore, we believe supporting women-led businesses to arrive well prepared at the gap analysis, will lead to a high certainty of accessing growth capital.
We will adjust and incorporate the gender-smart assessment tool developed by Bopinc in the OTW selection process. The assessment tool looks holistically at economically empowering women through identifying constraints and assessing needs in decision making, leadership, critical consciousness, resources, collective action and bodily integrity.
All 5 Ms (Money, Management, Markets, Motherhood and Meso/Macro environment) are covered through a gender lens in this tool. The outcomes of the assessment tool will be used to provide the needed (customised) support in the other steps of the pipeline model. The learnings and WE Ignite toolkit will be disseminated among the ANDE network and beyond, so other accelerator programs can implement the WE Ignite Booster.
Collect insights on key requirements to increase participation of women entrepreneurs
Outreach tools, selection criteria and support for entrepreneurs defined and materials created
Pilot tools within entrepreneur support services within One to Watch
Integrate gender specific tools in accelerators globally