Female entrepreneurs are invited to apply for the Women in Business Cohort 2 programme powered by iHub and Co-Creation Hub.
The CcHUB and iHub are implementing the 2nd edition of the Women in Business program as one that not only focuses on women-led technology businesses, but women-led businesses as a whole, and how these women can better leverage technology to scale their solutions in the African market. This program will focus on businesses in Nigeria and Kenya with the aim to:
1. Enhance the ways in which women-led businesses leverage technology to better serve their market
The Design team will support program participants in assessing and improving their product-market fit, as well as strengthening their value proposition. This will highlight opportunities for the embedding of technology in their processes.
2. Build the capacity of women-led businesses to secure capital
Training from the organisers’ internal team will support program participants toward being investor ready. Avenues will be created for the women to engage with investors through a showcase and a demo day at the end of the program. There is also the opportunity for the participants to get investment from CcHub/iHub’s investment vehicles.
3. Catalyse the expansion efforts of women-led businesses in the African market
From cohort 1, the organizers identified a need to support participants in their efforts to expand into other African markets. Cohort 2 will see the team take a more intentional approach in providing participants with knowledge and strategies around expansion, as well as relevant introductions through their networks.
4. Build the capacity of female entrepreneurs to attract, develop and retain quality talent
This has always been a big challenge for startups on the continent. This Cohort will be tackling this in this program by leveraging their People team’s expertise and creating linkages to quality talent- both through their graduate internship program as well as partnerships with organisations that train tech talent.
5. Create access to market opportunities
The women will have the opportunity to increase their market share through engagement with corporate executives and industry advisors in our extensive network. This will be done through multiple ways including a matchmaking process to give participants continuous support throughout the program. The team believes that access to industry-relevant expertise will provide key insights and introductions that will propel the participants and their businesses forward.
Benefits to female entrepreneurs
- A strategically differentiated business that speaks to the heart of customer needs.
- An ability to speak investor language and leverage sound financial understanding of your business to secure capital and partnerships.
- Support to expand your business across multiple geographical markets.
- Knowledge of how to attract, develop, and retain a strong team.
- Access to a robust network of investors, corporate executives, and software developers to help scale your business.
This program will bring together female entrepreneurs, software developers, investors, SMEs, corporates, and industry experts across multiple sectors.
Criteria
The criteria for participation for the program include:
- Women-led business interested in leveraging technology to scale their businesses
- Registered, with operations in Kenya or Nigeria
- Strong (well-rounded) founding team, working full-time on the business
- Businesses with proven traction in the market (e.g. customers, revenue)
- Scalable businesses that meet a real need.
Apply to be part of the program
If you fit the above criteria, please fill out an application on this link: https://bit.ly/ihub-wibform. If you have any questions during the process, please send an email startups@ihub.co.ke or ask a question on the application platform.
On July 31st, we will host a webinar to answer questions from applying entrepreneurs. Look out for more information on this on our website and social media.
