On the occasion of International Women's Day, the Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society, in partnership with Procter & Gamble (P&G) and the HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center, launches the second edition of WomenEntrepreneurs4Good. After the success of the first edition, our coalition joins forces once again and doubles the scale of the programme, designed to encourage women’s entrepreneurship and accelerate the transition to a green economy.
One year after the first edition, the pressure to build a new green global economy has only grown. The green economic transition is not achievable without the equal representation of women. This calls for greater support to women-led sustainable businesses, which are some of the most innovative, socially oriented and play a fundamental role in creating gender-responsive solutions to fight climate change.
“Today, being a woman entrepreneur still means facing greater challenges compared to men, including gender biases and lack of professional networks and funding. This translates in very low rates of women's early entrepreneurship, especially in Europe. We have launched WomenEntrepreneurs4Good to address one by one all of these challenges: to support, connect and scale up women-led sustainable businesses." Audrey Tcherkoff, Managing Director, Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society
The initiative is a unique accelerator programme dedicated to women entrepreneurs with early-stage green projects. The 7-month online programme provides them with coaching, resources and capabilities, visibility, and access to an ecosystem of stakeholders to scale up their sustainable business. “The program helped me to evolve in confidence, allowed me to meet the right experts in each field, and increased my visibility leading to new enquiries about my business. Today we are on the verge of becoming a supplier for a large company in Germany.” said Priya Selvaraj, one of the laureates of the first edition.
“For the second consecutive year HEC Paris has joined the Women’s Forum to help in the transition of the economy thanks to female entrepreneurship. The rich HEC Paris ecosystem, made up of alumni experts, mentors, professors, students and staff is put at the disposal of companies in order to accelerate their projects.” Inge Kerkloh-Devif, Senior Executive Director, Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center HEC Paris
In 2022, WomenEntrepreneurs4Good will double the number of projects supported (from 9 to 18!) and expand its geographical scope beyond France, Germany and Italy, to welcome applications from countries across all Europe.
“Women entrepreneurship in green business is essential if we desire to rebuild in and inclusive and sustainable way”, Jamila Belabidi, Senior Director - Global Women Economic Empowerment, Procter & Gamble
THE PROGRAMME
- 100 women entrepreneurs will receive coaching for market opportunity and customer research in an intense three-days Startup Sprint.
- 30 semi-finalists (18 more than last year!) will be offered the opportunity to pitch their project in front of an esteemed Grand Jury from the international entrepreneurship ecosystem.
- 18 finalists will attend a 3-month online incubator program, receiving business coaching, technical support, connections and networking opportunities.
- The WomenEntrepreneurs4Good will be invited to showcase their projects at the Women’s Forum Global Meeting 2022!
If you identify as a woman and you are launching your own green business, apply here!
Applications open today, until April the 30th.