The “Women Innovators in WASH” is an incubation program aiming to support women entrepreneurs in Africa and Latin America with an innovative business project in the water, sanitation and hygiene sectors.
The Women Innovators in WASH Incubation Program’s overall goal is to sustainably improve access to safe and affordable Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) products and services for communities living in Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Tanzania, South Africa as well as Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia.
The program will support 50 women-led startups in the target countries with high-growth potential businesses in any of the WASH sectors and position them to scale their impact and reach more underserved communities by the end of the program.
WASH is an acronym that stands for “water, sanitation, and hygiene”. Together, we want to support you to develop and scale your innovative solutions to any of the following WASH challenges:
- (SAFE) WATER
- SANITATION
- HYGIENE
Eligibility Requirements
- You are or identify as a woman and your business is women-led (or at least 50% of the founding team is female).
- You are based in and your venture impacts Africa (Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Tanzania, South Africa) or Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia).
- You have an early-stage innovation-based business (you have a business concept developed or an MVP recently launched) and your business is either a for-profit or a social enterprise.
- You can dedicate at least 6-8 hours per week during the duration of the program (4 months) to work on the platform and have online meetings with your mentor.
- You have access to a computer or tablet and a reliable and stable internet connection, as all the program will be online.
- You speak fluent English (keep in mind the whole program and all activities related will be in this language).
Benefits
- As a selected entrepreneur, you will benefit from a 4-month incubation and business mentoring program to further develop the viability of your venture, take part in sessions led by experts in the WASH sector, and pitch your business in front of a high-level jury for a chance to win a seed grant for your business.
- Throughout the program, you will create your own executive summary business plan to present to potential investors or new co-founders while receiving the necessary support from a personalized mentor, and having the certainty that you are building a business validated by your potential clients.
METHODOLOGY AND STRUCTURE
You will follow our step-by-step methodology, working directly on your business and making the most important decisions. You will also be able to visualize your financial projections, growth, and impact plan for the next years.
FIND YOUR MENTOR
You’ll be partnered with a professional to personally guide you in weekly mentoring sessions so that your project grows in the right direction.
SEED FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Pitch your business in front of a top-level jury and win a seed capital prize, granted to the finalists of our final Demo Day event ($15K in total divided for the top 4 entrepreneurs: $5K each for the first two and $2.5K each for the other two).
EXPERIENCE ACTIVE LEARNING
The platform offers a learn-by-doing approach inspired by MIT’s Disciplined Entrepreneurship and you’ll get to generate a business plan in PDF.
ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
Collaborate from anywhere at any time through our online platform; no barriers, limits, or excuses; just an internet connection.
GLOBAL NETWORK
Become a part of a supportive community of founders from 89 countries that share resources and harness challenges together. So far, 3000+ entrepreneurs from 126 countries have gone through the programs!
Application Deadline: October, 23rd 2022
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