Saturday, February 4, 2023
Smart Investor
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Corporate
  • Energy
  • News
  • Policy and Politics
  • Technology
  • World
  • Smart Giver
  • Home
  • Corporate
  • Energy
  • News
  • Policy and Politics
  • Technology
  • World
  • Smart Giver
No Result
View All Result
Smart Investor
No Result
View All Result
Home Corporate

Standard Chartered Women in Tech Incubator awards 5 businesses with Sh 1M funding

The funding recipients were picked after a rigorous judging process

by Reporter
May 24, 2021
in Corporate
3 min read
25 1
StanChart CEO

StanChart CEO

27
SHARES
83
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The Standard Chartered Bank in partnership with @iBizAfrica-Strathmore University has today awarded 5 participating businesses KES 1,000,000 each in the culmination of the 4th cohort of the Standard Chartered Bank Women in Tech incubation program.

The winning firms include:

 

·         Ecila Films which produces films of authentic African stories

·         Ufasiri Halisi SLI Innovations Limited which focuses on revolutionizing assistive technology for the deaf and hard of hearing

·         The Viwanda Africa Group which improves flight safety through a cloud-based AI platform for aircraft maintenance and spare parts planning

·         Runnovate which helps business owners save time and reduce the cost of running their businesses by working with a team of virtual assistants.

·         Mandevu Beardcare which is a men’s grooming company offering a beard care product line.

The funding recipients were picked after a rigorous judging process undertaken by accomplished professionals from Dry Associates Limited, Viktoria Ventures, Standard Chartered Bank and @iBizAfrica- Strathmore University who judged the businesses on scalability, technology adoption, entrepreneurial and leadership excellence.

The 4th cohort of the Women in Tech program was launched virtually on 15th October 2020, attracting 111 applicants, among whom 10 were chosen to participate in the incubation program.

Over the last few months these companies have successfully undergone training, coaching and mentorship offered by the @iBizAfrica- Strathmore University network of key industry experts, faculty, business leaders, experienced mentors, and professionals.

Similar Stories You May Like

Bluebird Aviation: We are ready to ease flight disruptions with charter flights

Fly 748 takes up stranded KQ passengers, records influx in bookings

Fly 748 projects end year flight bookings boom

The incubator theme for the year was Accelerating the digital economy through women owned businesses, and was geared toward businesses that were tech-enabled or those that leveraged on emerging technologies such as IoT, Robotics, Augmented & Virtual Reality, Cloud Computing, Drone Technology and Biometrics among others. The businesses also had to have been in operation for at least 3 months with less than 5 years of operations.

Commenting on this, Kariuki Ngari, CEO & MD, Standard Chartered Bank Kenya & East Africa said, ‘’Sub Africa has a substantial number of women entrepreneurs, yet female led tech startups only account for a very few of these. This is despite research showing that technology firms led by women experience a 35% higher return on investment. Having this in consideration and through engagement with the past participants of the program, we understand that there is a need for enabling ecosystems for women entrepreneurs especially in the technology space which carries enormous potential for growth across many industries.’’

‘’Our partnership with Strathmore University’s @iBizAfrica, aims to bridge this gap by offering entrepreneurial training, incubation and financial support which are all instrumental in building sustainable businesses. Amid the pandemic, the 10 businesses chosen to participate in the 4th cohort remained stable with some recording an increase in turnover since joining the incubation program. Their success reflects the enormous potential and opportunities that lie in women led tech startups and calls for further investment in programs that support entrepreneurial and leadership excellence. We are proud of all the applicants and participants of this year’s Women in Tech program and look forward to seeing their businesses thrive even as we continue running the program for further impact. ‘’ he added.

Adding to this, Dr. Joseph Sevilla, Director @iBizAfrica and @iLabAfrica Research and Innovation Centre, Strathmore University said, “@iBizAfrica Centre is proud to have worked with the 10 businesses participating in the 4th cohort of the WIT Program. During this incubation period, we’ve seen these impressive women led businesses increase the number of staff, carry out product enhancements, receive funding and obtain new clients. These milestones are very encouraging and a testament of the success of the program and we look forward to facilitating the growth and scalability of even more enterprises across the continent.’’

Some of the past participants of the program have recorded a massive increase in revenue since incubation and secured further independent seed funding.

Women in Tech program is part of the Bank’s community engagement strategy, Futuremakers by Standard Chartered, that aims at tackling the issue of inequality and promoting greater economic inclusion for young people in various communities and economies, with a focus on girls and women. The program is in partnership with @iBizAfrica – Strathmore University Incubation Centre.

Each year the program trains more than 10 small and medium businesses leveraging on technology by offering mentorship, advisory, coaching, networking opportunities, access to seed capital and investor forums that help mould their businesses to international standards.

30 start-ups have participated to date, and 15 have been awarded one million each in seed funding. 41 businesses have so far gone through the incubation process with the first four cohorts attracting 1,150 applications.

Share11Tweet7SendShare2ShareSend
Previous Post

Kenya begins to train unemployed youth cloud computing skills

Next Post

Low vaccination rates in Kenya could drag early adoption of COVID-19 Vaccine Passports

Related Posts

Bluebird Aviation: We are ready to ease flight disruptions with charter flights

November 7, 2022

Airlines collaborate to bolster safety post pandemic

October 21, 2022

Positive prospects for Kenya’s airline sector, after smooth transition of power

September 12, 2022

First-time travellers boosting airline industry recovery

September 12, 2022
Next Post

Low vaccination rates in Kenya could drag early adoption of COVID-19 Vaccine Passports

748 Air Services starts direct flights to Mombasa, Diani

ADVERTISEMENT

GET UPDATED ON TWITTER

MOST READ STORIES

First-time travellers boosting airline industry recovery

September 12, 2022

Fly 748 Managing Director takes on professional athletes in a Triathlon challenge

May 30, 2022

MYWO: Elect women leaders to address poverty and social vices in North Eastern region.

May 27, 2022

TikTok, CAF celebrates football talents with a fun Africa Day Challenge

May 26, 2022

FIND A STORY

No Result
View All Result

TOP STORIES

Fly 748 takes up stranded KQ passengers, records influx in bookings

November 7, 2022
Fly 748 Stand at Sarit Center

Fly 748 projects end year flight bookings boom

October 28, 2022

Nairobi West Hospital Eyes Medical Evacuations with new Helipad

September 5, 2022

CORPORATE

Bluebird Aviation: We are ready to ease flight disruptions with charter flights

November 7, 2022

Airlines collaborate to bolster safety post pandemic

October 21, 2022

Positive prospects for Kenya’s airline sector, after smooth transition of power

September 12, 2022

WORLD

From Left: Chinedu Okeke named MD, Universal Music Nigeria, Elouise Kelly appointed COO, Universal Music South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa and Sipho Dlamini promoted to CEO, Universal Music South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa

Universal Music Group announces Strategic Leadership Appointments within Africa

January 7, 2021

Kenya Rugby welcomes high performance consultant, Peter Harding

December 10, 2020

EABC: Harmonize and Reduce Charges at Rusumo One-Stop Border Post to Facilitate intra-EAC trade

December 3, 2020

© 2021 Smart Investor | Site by Michael

  • Get in Touch
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Corporate
  • Energy
  • News
  • Policy and Politics
  • Technology
  • World
  • Smart Giver

© 2021 Smart Investor | Site by Michael

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.