On Thursday, November 10, 2022, at 18:00 SGT, three talented female founders from SheDisrupts programs in Indonesia, Vietnam and Philippines and early stage impact investors from the region will share their experiences, practical tips and advice on how to succeed in raising funds and investing using GLI lens.
➜ Registration link: https://bit.ly/sd-gli-panel

Panelists founders: 

• Dea Amira, CEO of Rentique, SheDisrupts Indonesia 2021 alumni
• Annie Vu, CEO & Co-Founder of Tubudd, SheDisrupts Vietnam 2021 alumni
• Jessica de Mesa, CEO & Co-Founder of Kindred, WE Rise x SheDisrupts Philippines 2022 alumni

Panelists investors:

• Tom Schmittzehe, Founder & Managing Partner, Moonshot Ventures
• Abdul Paravengal, Managing Director, Pulse 63

Moderators: 

• Guillaume Catella, Co-founder and Co-executive Director of Creatella Impact
• Karen Vardanyan, Co-founder and Co-executive Director of Creatella Impact

Attendance:

• Open to public, anyone interested in early stage GLI investments
• SheDisrupts programs participants

Gender Lens Investing

Every new dollar flowing into women led businesses is a contribution towards more inclusive growth, gender equal and just society. There is increasing evidence that gender equality will lead to better financial and social outcomes of investments.

Investing with a gender lens entails gender analysis of investment activities, factoring gender lens in identifying investment opportunities, assessing risks and returns, structuring deals and making investment decisions. The panelists will discuss practical hints and tips on how to succeed in GLI fundraising and investing, how to use intentionally and strategically gender lens during fundraising and capital allocation. 

SheDisrupts

SheDisrupts programs (SD) upskill promising women founders of early-stage startups and enhance their access to capital. SD focuses on social impact startups in emerging markets which use disruptive tech solutions and market forces for systemic social change and direct contribution to the SDGs. SD offers to the business founders mentorship and pre-acceleration training using a high-impact curriculum on business, tech, impact and women competencies. The founders learn how to enhance their business and impact models and how to expand their fundraising opportunities and become investment ready.

SD has been developed by Creatella Impact and the Indonesian Women Empowerment Fund (IWEF), an initiative by Moonshot Ventures and YCAB and was first implemented in Indonesia in 2021. Creatella Impact implemented the SD program jointly with WISE in Vietnam and jointly with Villgro Philippines in the Philippines in 2022. SD sponsors are Investing in Women (an Initiative of the Australian Government), Sasakawa Peace Foundation, UNDP, UN Women, GSRD Foundation, Global Affairs Canada, Citi.

Creatella Impact

For early stage social enterprises in emerging markets, committed to providing entrepreneurial innovative solutions for the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals by generating measurable social and environmental impact, Creatella Impact provides venture building, technology execution, mentorship, advisory support, other acceleration programmes, impact investment following gender lens investing approach, financial capital and deal syndication. Creatella Impact leverages the capacities of Creatella Venture Builder. 

Rentique

Rentique is Indonesia’s #1 fashion rental and resale platform based on mobile app, with more than 250k users and 3000+ collections. Rentique is on a mission to revolutionize fashion and empower women to feel confident about themselves by wearing beautiful clothes that are affordable and sustainable.

TUBUDD

TUBUDD is an innovative platform web and app that offers a unique and limitless service by connecting travelers to local experts, aka, local buddies. They are 100% the local people who are great at different languages such as English, French, German, Korean, Chinese etc. Available in nearly 10 countries, 14 cities and nearly 500 local buddies all around the world, TUBUDD is the solution for travelers to experience the local point of view and get closer to local culture with a human touch introduction.

Kindred

Kindred’s mission is to transform the conversation around women’s health by creating a safe space to raise issues, ask questions, and explore options without stigma or judgment. That means building a community of women with access to our team of knowledgeable and empathetic medical experts and suite of services and tools, so they are informed and empowered to advocate for their own well-being.

Moonshot Ventures

Moonshot Ventures is an impact investor with a mission to address the leading social and environmental issues faced in Southeast Asia today. To achieve this, we support purpose-driven founders and startups, and we work with them to build innovative and disruptive solutions. The support we provide is focused around investment, venture building and in-kind assistance programs. A strong focus of Moonshot Ventures is in supporting women entrepreneurs and solutions that improve livelihoods for women.

Pulse 63 Healthcare Ventures

Pulse 63 Healthcare Ventures ideates, partners or invests in life-changing ventures to accelerate access & quality across healthcare in the Philippines & beyond. Portfolio companies include Kindred, Mediclick, Anna & Committed Health.

The post Panel on Fundraising and Gender Lens Investments appeared first on Creatella Impact.

“She Disrupts Vietnam aligns with Australia’s vision for inclusive and equitable economies. I am pleased to see how women entrepreneurs are being assisted to scale up their businesses and make a larger positive social and environmental impact. These digital and technology women-led enterprises are creating new jobs, increasing incomes and enhancing their productivity. This is even more important as economies recover from the effects of COVID-19.”- said H.E. Ms Robyn Mudie, Australian Ambassador to Vietnam.

The 20 successful women-led social startups were selected after pitching in front of expert mentors and judges in a 2-round, fully virtual venture competition. All participating startups received 200 hours of mentorship with experienced entrepreneurs, digital specialists and investors from Vietnam, Southeast Asia, Europe and USA. 

“We were impressed by the mentorship, so much valuable feedback from mentors with diverse backgrounds, immense knowledge and practical experience. The format of the mentorship round was well designed, we got to pitch to 5 investors within 2 weeks, that allowed us enough time to improve and sharpen our pitching.” – said co-founders of Self Hiil.

These leading ventures are extremely diverse. Their products span over different industries, each exemplifying a unique approach to business, as well as a dedication to important social issues. What they all have in common is the presence of strong-willed women founders, gender-balanced teams, a focus on the Vietnamese market, and a keen eye for innovative tech-for-good solutions to complex challenges. 

“It is equally critical that mentors hear from the mentees and beneficiaries. Female entrepreneurs have important perspectives to share; it is important that their voices are heard so that policy frameworks reflect the challenges they face. Global Affairs Canada is pleased to support a quick assessment of digitalization and financial needs of women-led and women-focused business under the SDV2021’s mentorship program.” – said H.E. Deborah Paul, Ambassador of Canada to Vietnam.

Winning startups are: Carota, CyberPurify, Diva Petcare, Dr.Shaving, EQUO International, REAL BEAN COFFEE, IMAGTOR, Launchmart Inc., LMCATION, Marie’s Work At Home, MEDIFOOD.IO, Momby, Multi Meter Machine, OSLA.io, Planté, RecyGlo Co., Ltd , Self Hiil, TRUEBODY and TUBUDD.

“We are very proud of and highly appreciate the capacity and development potential of the 20 winning startups. Many of them have participated in WISE’s support programs and have significant growth since then. With our expertise in accelerating women led startups and international network, our support will continue beyond this program, to create and connect them with further opportunities so that they can lead their business to the higher levels.” – said Tu Thu Hien, CEO of WISE Vietnam.

Following the competition, 20 startups went through an intensive 2-week pre-acceleration training from 14 to 24 February covering modules such as: Impact Measurement and Management, Gender Lens, Technology and Venture Building, Business Model Validation, Go-To Market Strategy and Investment Readiness. 

“I really like the SheDisrupts Program where I can strengthen my business plan, get lots of constructive feedback, learn from mentors and experts, as well as connect with like-minded entrepreneurs. It’s such a great experience! I definitely feel more confident and well-prepared to disrupt!.” – said Thu Nguyen, Founder of LMcation, one of the startups accepted into the pre-acceleration program.

Through keynotes, workshops and one-on-one mentoring sessions, participants refined their business and pitching toolbox, and pitched in front of investors during the Demo Day on Friday, February 25 in a fully virtual mode. During the demo day event, a soft launch of the report on Digital Preparedness and Financial Needs Assessment of Social Impact Startups in Vietnam was also made.

“Our aim is to help women-led businesses have access to capital and grow. We are proud to have such distinguished partners in our journey of creating more opportunities for Vietnamese female founders, facilitating learning, accelerating their growth and interactions with investors from Vietnam and abroad. We are thrilled to welcome such talented startups from Vietnam to a global pool of SheDisrupts entrepreneurs and are committed to providing continuous support to them.” – said Guillaume Catella, Co-Executive Director of Creatella Impact.

In addition to direct access to the pre-acceleration training and opportunity to pitch live in Demo Day, the 20 startups will receive such perks as an entry to Techstars, AWS credits from AWS EdStart, fee-free processing with Stripe, a 2-hour design workshop with Styliff Tech, up to 82,000 USD savings with Hubspot, 50,000 USD worth of Segment credits, 10,000 USD worth of Freshwork credit, up to 20,000 USD from Creatella, and the opportunity to receive equity-free seed capital of 5,000 USD provided by Investing in Women.

About the Organizers and Partners of SheDisrupts Vietnam 2021: 

Creatella Impact 

For early stage social enterprises in emerging markets, committed to providing entrepreneurial innovative solutions for the achievement of SDGs by generating measurable social and environmental impact, Creatella Impact provides venture building, technology execution, mentorship, advisory support, other acceleration programmes, impact investment including financial capital, deal syndication, blended funding and diverse financial instruments.

Website: creatella.org

Contact: programs@creatella.org 

WISE Vietnam

With the vision of being the leading organization supporting women-led start-ups and businesses in Vietnam, the Women’s Initiative for Startups and Entrepreneurship (WISE) offers all rounded business development support for women, including capacity building, business incubation and acceleration, business mentoring, improving access to finance and investment; business community building; research and policy advocacy; and fostering connection with resources and opportunities for women to create new startups as well as innovate and grow their businesses.

Website: wisevietnam.org

Contact: contact@wisevietnam.org

Investing in Women

Investing in Women, an initiative of the Australian Government, catalyses inclusive economic growth through women’s economic empowerment in South East Asia.

Established in 2016, Investing in Women tackles one of the most critical social and economic issues of our time: gender inequality. Investing in Women uses innovative approaches to improve women’s economic participation as employees and as entrepreneurs and to influence the enabling environment to promote women’s economic empowerment in the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar through: Workplace Gender Equality (WGE), Impact Investment for Women’s SMEs, Influencing Gender Norms.

Website: https://investinginwomen.asia/

Canadian Development Assistance and Cooperation in Vietnam

Since 1990, the Government of Canada has contributed over $1.7 billion in international assistance to support Vietnam’s development and poverty reduction efforts. Building upon almost three decades of development cooperation and in alignment with Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP), Canada continues to work in partnership with Vietnam on strengthening its national policies and institutional governance for more inclusive economic growth and the advancement of gender equality and women’s empowerment. Canada is focusing on growth of small and medium enterprises and cooperatives, social impact businesses and entrepreneurship, agricultural value chains and markets, private sector and trade readiness, food security and safety systems, environmental sustainability, climate action and energy transition. Together, Canada and Vietnam are working towards finding new and innovative approaches and resources to meet development challenges, including through more public-private partnerships for greater development impact and more sustainable gains.  

Website: https://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/vietnam 

GSRD Foundation

GSRD Foundation was founded by the denim brand G-Star RAW in 2007 to create a positive impact on the lives of people and communities in those countries where G-Star products are made, by supporting young people, together with partners, through education, training and coaching. Website: gsrd.com

19 Startups

Carota

Carota’s online counseling service helps young Vietnamese having mental health issues to be connected to qualified mental health service providers to get professional support by solving social stigma and accessibility problems via digital platforms. 

CyberPurify

CyberPurify’s AI solutions help Vietnamese children safe online by filtering harmful content at any site, any time, helping parents achieve peace of mind.

Diva Petcare

Diva aims to become the leading provider of premium beauty-care, well-being products for pets, as well as leisure services for pet lovers in VN & SEA. All of our pets would be well-smelling and healthy, and we also bring inclusive love and recreation solutions to all pet lovers.

Dr.Shaving

Dr.Shaving  provide people an all-in-one shaving wax  by using  our secret  technology in  which bamboo leaf  extract  was  used  for  treating  skin  inflammation   

EQUO International

A sustainable brand provides 100% natural, plastic-free, chemical-free, compostable in any environment within 90-180 days to replace everyday single-use plastic items

IMAGTOR

Provide high income employment opportunities in IT field for people with disabilities. 

Launchmart

A design and on-demand manufacturing platform helping fashion entrepreneurs to build, launch and produce fashion digitally without hassle using editable 3D garment templates

LMCATION

To inspire and empower women of all shapes, sizes and color, every single day, by the collection of SLEEPwear, GYM-TO-SWIMwear & ACTIVEwear. ​ Providing versatile, mix-and​ ​match separates, ethically-made by underprivileged female partners & offering hundreds of possible combinations.

Marie’s Work At Home

Maries Work At Home’ Idea is the useful reasonable solution while creating natural artistic handmade crafts, save the environment, and give rural women Stability & promote economic growth in traditional villages

Medifood

Save money on healthy food choice and help local farmers earn a better living. 

Momby

Momby is a personal maternity assistant co-built and recommended by obstetricians, facilitating an enjoyable and hassle-free pregnancy and parenting experience through providing clinically researched, doctor-approved medical information on the topics of health and baby care. Other in-app service offerings include telehealth doctor consultations on demand, insurances, mental healthcare tools, spa and beauty, breathing exercises, doctor-recommended maternity and family products…

Multi Meter Machine

A multi meter machine is an innovative device that measures, analyzes, and communicates utilities-related data

OSLA

OSLA.io is an educational tech-enabled platform dedicated to helping Asian students studying overseas with qualified and trusted mentors

Planté

Planté is a startup project that provides urban residents with an intelligent platform for indoor gardening, including an AI powered mobile app and gardening starter kits. 

Real Bean Coffee

At Real Bean Coffee, we desire to (1) accompany the farmers in the Central Highlands of Vietnam to create a specialty coffee material area in the direction of sustainable development, (2) bring to consumers the health, safety and high quality coffee products with authentic flavor, (3) elevate the value of Vietnamese coffee to become a supplier of high quality coffee exports.

RecyGlo

RecyGlo’s sustainability and waste data analytics dashboard helps businesses and organizations to reduce pollution by educating, recycling and recovering the value from waste.

Self Hiil

Self Hiil offers Vietnamese the fastest way to achieve both well-being and successful career by innovating online coaching program for life transitions.

TRUEBODY

True Body is a wellness coaching app that helps Vietnamese women to live healthy, look good and feel good in their body easily and sustainably, by providing personalised exercise, meal plan and mindset training, and also community challenges, specifically designed for Asian, hosted by Asian.

TUBUDD

Our travel platform connects the local Vietnamese people (local buddies) to the travelers. We provide the local buddies with more opportunities and help them monetize their skills and local knowledge. We also help the travelers find a suitable local buddy to have the best experience in Vietnam. 

The post SheDisrupts Vietnam 2022 Demo Day appeared first on Creatella Impact.

The future of entrepreneurship in Southeast Asia is digital, socially influential and powered by women. Creatella Impact and WISE Vietnam are proud to present “SheDisrupts Vietnam 2021”, a fully digital venture competition for Vietnamese women entrepreneurs, in partnership with Investing in Women (an initiative of the Australian Government), GSRD Foundation and Global Affairs Canada. Applications are now open at https://she-disrupts.org/. 

Unlocking the potential of Vietnamese women social entrepreneurs  

What does sustainable development have in common with tech-driven, female entrepreneurship? They both represent the future of one of the most promising economies of Southeast Asia.

After successfully holding its first SheDisrupts Indonesia with IWEF, UNDP and UN Women in Indonesia, Creatella Impact organises a new venture competition and pre-acceleration programme in Vietnam, collaborating with WISE (Women’s Initiative for Startups and Entrepreneurship) and with the support from Investing in Women (an initiative of the Australian Government), GSRD Foundation and Global Affairs Canada. Backed by Australian Aid and Asian Development Bank, WISE Vietnam has built international mentorship programs for 50+ startups, and held accelerator programs for Vietnamese female startups annually, with over $ 3 million raised by finalists since 2018. 

SMEs are an important driving force for Vietnam’s economy. Among approximately 0.8 million enterprises in Vietnam, 98% are small and medium sized ones. From 2017 to 2020, SMEs steadily contributed to more than 40% of the whole country’s GDP. Unfortunately, however, Vietnamese women founders are facing higher barriers as entrepreneurs. WISE Vietnam points out the four main existing gaps – lack of knowledge and business skills, lack of access to finance, limited connections, and more attention to housework and child or elderly care compared to men. With the efforts of WISE Vietnam and Creatella Impact, the newly launched programme SheDisrupts Vietnam 2021 will help bridge the existing gaps by supporting women-led Vietnamese startups.

“Women entrepreneurs should be at the heart of post-pandemic economic recovery to ensure it is sustainable and inclusive, but women face many more barriers in their journey to business success than their male counterparts. Through the Investing in Women initiative, the Australian Government is pleased to support She Disrupts Vietnam 2021 to catalyse greater economic opportunities for women and promote a stronger economic recovery in Vietnam.” – H.E. Robyn Mudie, Australia’s Ambassador to Vietnam.

The programme features a venture competition, mentorships and pre-acceleration programme for women-led and women-owned innovative startups. It is fully conducted in a remote and digital format, connecting participants with seasoned mentors, judges and facilitators from every corner of the world. 

‘Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are critical to the achievement of peace, prosperity, and sustainable development. Canada prioritizes investments, partnerships and advocacy efforts that have the greatest potential to close gender gaps, and to promote women’s economic rights and leadership. The Embassy of Canada is pleased to support the implementation of a mentorship program under SheDisrupts Vietnam 2021 to assess digitalization and financial needs of women-led and women-owned social impact businesses. This will help inform the development of programmes for women-led and women-owned businesses in the future.’ – said H.E. Deborah Paul, Ambassador of Canada to Vietnam.

About the programme and the eligibility criteria 

In the current preparatory phase, there is an online application/ venture competition from November 15 to December 19, 2021.  Thirty teams will be selected for the Mentoring session, the first of two parts of SheDisrupts Vietnam 2021, which is scheduled on January 10, 2022. The mentoring sessions are designed to provide founders and their teams with essential business and pitching skills, as well as with a platform to showcase their businesses to an international audience. 

 “While women have strong potential for innovation, they need a strong push to materialize ideas into business and comprehensive support to grow the business. WISE’s expertise in accelerating women led startups, enhanced with Creatella Impact’s strength in technology and international network will provide an unique opportunity for Vietnamese women founders to access high quality support to bring their business to the next level.” – said Tu Thu Hien, CEO of WISE Vietnam.

The 15 most outstanding participants will then be invited to join an intense 2-weeks pre-acceleration program starting on February 14, 2022, which will cover topics including business development, technology, marketing and financial skills, as well as topics specific to impact measurement and women’s economic empowerment. SheDisrupts Vietnam will conclude with a Demo Day on February 25, 2022.

“We believe that sustainable human development can be accelerated by empowering women and ensuring gender equality. Therefore, we designed SheDisrupts model programs to empower women, leverage technology to accelerate innovation, facilitate capital flow to women-led impact oriented startups to help them scale and contribute to economic growth and prosperity. We are excited to collaborate with such reputable local and international partners and are strongly committed to delivering an impactful program for the women leaders of social enterprises in Vietnam.”, said Karen Vardanyan, Co-Executive Director of Creatella Impact.

The program welcomes applications from early-stage startups (Pre-Seed to Pre-Series A), ideally with a clearly developed product idea and some traction, and with at least one woman among the founders or in a leadership role. The program targets entrepreneurs who are developing solutions with a particular focus on gender parity and women’s economic empowerment. The program is industry agnostic: candidates may come from the world of health-tech, edtech, fintech – or any other.

The application criteria for the venture competition at a glance:

• For-profit social startups whose target market is Vietnam
• Women-led or gender-balanced teams with a women in C role
• Early-stage, from MVP to early traction
• With a product or service that disproportionately improves women’s economic empowerment
• Tech or innovation driven

For entrepreneurs and founding teams who are interested in taking part in the programme, please apply at https://she-disrupts.org/ The application deadline is December 19th, 2021 at 23:59 ICT. 

About the Organizers and Partners of SheDisrupts Vietnam 2021: 

Creatella Impact 

For early stage social enterprises in emerging markets, committed to providing entrepreneurial innovative solutions for the achievement of SDGs by generating measurable social and environmental impact, Creatella Impact provides venture building, technology execution, mentorship, advisory support, other acceleration programmes, impact investment including financial capital, deal syndication, blended funding and diverse financial instruments.

Website: creatella.org

Contact: programs@creatella.org 

WISE Vietnam

With the vision of being the leading organization supporting women-led start-ups and businesses in Vietnam, the Women’s Initiative for Startups and Entrepreneurship (WISE) offers all rounded business development support for women, including capacity building, business incubation and acceleration, business mentoring, improving access to finance and investment; business community building; research and policy advocacy; and fostering connection with resources and opportunities for women to create new startups as well as innovate and grow their businesses.

Website: wisevietnam.org

Contact: contact@wisevietnam.org

Investing in Women

Investing in Women, an initiative of the Australian Government, catalyses inclusive economic growth through women’s economic empowerment in South East Asia.

Established in 2016, Investing in Women tackles one of the most critical social and economic issues of our time: gender inequality. Investing in Women uses innovative approaches to improve women’s economic participation as employees and as entrepreneurs and to influence the enabling environment to promote women’s economic empowerment in the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar through: Workplace Gender Equality (WGE), Impact Investment for Women’s SMEs, Influencing Gender Norms.

Website: https://investinginwomen.asia/

Canadian Development Assistance and Cooperation in Vietnam

Since 1990, the Government of Canada has contributed over $1.7 billion in international assistance to support Vietnam’s development and poverty reduction efforts. Building upon almost three decades of development cooperation and in alignment with Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP), Canada continues to work in partnership with Vietnam on strengthening its national policies and institutional governance for more inclusive economic growth and the advancement of gender equality and women’s empowerment. Canada is focusing on growth of small and medium enterprises and cooperatives, social impact businesses and entrepreneurship, agricultural value chains and markets, private sector and trade readiness, food security and safety systems, environmental sustainability, climate action and energy transition. Together, Canada and Vietnam are working towards finding new and innovative approaches and resources to meet development challenges, including through more public-private partnerships for greater development impact and more sustainable gains.  

Website: https://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/vietnam 

GSRD Foundation

GSRD Foundation was founded by the denim brand G-Star RAW in 2007 to create a positive impact on the lives of people and communities in those countries where G-Star products are made, by supporting young people, together with partners, through education, training and coaching. Website: gsrd.com

The post SheDisrupts Vietnam 2021 takes off appeared first on Creatella Impact.

On the 27th of August 2021, 24 impact-oriented, women-led startups pitched online to the Indonesia Women Empowerment Fund (IWEF) and other impact investors and ecosystem partners in Indonesia and abroad as part of “SheDisrupts Indonesia 2021” program. 

“As an impact fund, IWEF invests in women-led startups that through disruptive tech solutions are improving livelihoods for women across Indonesia. SheDisrupts supports this goal and is showcasing some of the leading and emerging women entrepreneurs and their teams, who are breaking down barriers and driving change in Indonesia,” said the joint managers of IWEF, Stella Tambunan – CEO of YCAB Ventures, and Tom Schmittzehe – Managing Partner of Moonshot Ventures.

The program was initiated by IWEF and Creatella Impact, in partnership with Investing in Women, UNDP, UN Women and Citibank, to empower Indonesian women entrepreneurs to build and scale innovative and tech-driven business solutions to complex social and environmental issues in Indonesia.

“Creatella impact identifies promising social enterprises, and provides a range of services to strengthen their business model and presence, and increase chances of access to funding. We do this by applying the world best practices, but also, continuously learning together in this dynamically shifting industry,” said Nozomi Witherspoon, the Board Director and Treasurer of Creatella Impact.

The venture competition was launched in June 2021. From all the applications, 50 startups were selected for a round of 1:1 mentorship with 57 experienced impact investors, entrepreneurs and advisors from around the world.

“We are pleased to note this robust public private partnership between IWEF, Creatella Impact, UNDP, UN Women, DFAT and Citi in organizing SheDisrupts Indonesia with a holistic approach in empowering women founders to run profitable businesses while making measurable, long term positive social and environmental impact in Indonesia. We believe this is in line with our current development priorities” said Lenny N. Rosalin, SE, M.Sc, M.Fin, Deputy of Gender Equality, Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, Republic of Indonesia.

“She Disrupts Indonesia aligns with Australia’s vision and efforts towards inclusive and equitable economies by enhancing the capability of women-owned and women-led businesses to grow and create a greater positive social and environmental impact”, said Mr. Alex Street, Political Economy and Investment Counsellor, Australian Embassy Jakarta.

24 promising startups were selected from this shortlisted pool of 50, and were invited to join the 2-week pre-acceleration. 

“I would like to extend my deepest congratulations for all 24 ventures present today. I hope that this initiative serves as a platform to inspire and encourage you all to share innovative ideas and help work through these difficult times. It has been extraordinary to see the exceptional support delivered especially given that we are now in the decade of action as we work towards the SDGs,” said Sophie Kemkhadze, Deputy Resident Representative for UNDP Indonesia.

The curriculum of the pre-acceleration included lectures, workshops, group work and 1-on-1 mentoring on business, technology and impact-related topics, with a strong focus on gender issues and women empowerment. 

“We are proud to be part of the mentoring team for the founders, to witness that these talented and mission-driven women founders are not only more conversant on gender equality but also empowered to bring changes to the industry, creating an impact on women’s empowerment. We hope that more acceleration programs in Indonesia will adopt a similar gender-responsive approach to fully unlock women’s potential in the tech and digital economy sectors,” said Jamshed Kazi, UN Women Indonesia’s Representative and Liaison to ASEAN. 

The 2-week pre-acceleration program concluded on Friday, the 27th August with a public virtual demo day, which was attended by 150 investors, mentors, and partners.

“As a Bank, we are driven by Diversity & Inclusion goals, and we believe that it is important to incorporate and measure gender diversity targets. Furthermore, we are seeing that finance communities are eager to support these initiatives, and we are already seeing the most ambitious companies linking their financing directly to gender and diversity-related metrics. These efforts should be further replicated in other sectors, not to mention in the startups world,” said Batara Sianturi, CEO of Citi Indonesia.

Brief descriptions about pitching startups are below and the details can be found in the website here: https://shedisruptsindonesia2021.pory.app/

Anjani

Anjani curates eco-friendly products manufactured by small-scale women-led/community businesses across Indonesia.

ArkaLearn

ArkaLearn works toward efficient education and training of Indonesian Migrant Workers, using digital learning platforms to help migrants develop skills. 

Bintang Kecil

Bintang Kecil helps parents of 89 million children from middle to lower-income groups to access the best “edutainment” for their children, fulfilling the need for non-formal education and stimulating character growth. 

Career.Support

Career.Support is an end-to-end digital platform for schools, students and companies to help recent grads and interns across Indonesia to get access to national job opportunities.

Dewisri Farm Tech

Dewisri helps Indonesian horticulture farm owners to manage their field resources sustainably through more efficient use of resources and lower chemical intake.

GenPeace

GenPeace is an integrated web-based learning platform which enables schools to create innovative learning environments and empowers educators to sustainably reinvent the way they teach.

Greenie Indonesia

Greenie’s Areca-based furniture helps Indonesian Millennials who want to have ready-to-assemble furniture which is minimalist, functional, and customizable while also reducing logging activities, increasing environmental awareness, and promoting responsible consumption. 

Hear Me

Hear Me is a social startup that provides the first Indonesian sign language translator in 3D animation display, fostering an inclusive ecosystem and equal rights for people with disabilities.

Hilmasta

Hilmasta is a one-stop digital marketing integration, consisting of three major services: Social Media Management (SMM), Online Shop Optimization (OSO) and Creative Content Creation (CCC). 

Liberty Society

Liberty Society produces, distributes and sells apparels, accessories and gift sets that are eco-friendly and impactful by creating collections with established brands using zero waste solutions.

Perfect Fit

PerfectFit creates sustainable menstrual products and offers education on women’s health, body, and rights.

Plépah

Plépah transforms the Areca Palm leaf sheath into food packaging and plates, as a substitute for non-biodegradable packaging in order to alleviate future environmental burden through excessive non-perishable waste. 

remparempa

remparempa helps customers who want to maintain their health and immunity by offering Indonesian artisan jamu beverages in a unique, hassle free format.

Rentique

Rentique is Indonesia’s favorite destination to rent or buy more than 5000 apparel collections from 200+ local & international designers, all over Indonesia.

Rubysh

Rubysh designs and creates fashion accessories from waste materials amidst the increasing trend of eco/slow fashion.

Senormal

Senormal creates and delivers refillable cleaning effervescent tablets that require no plastic bottles.

SIAB Indonesia

SIAB is a IoT water management system consisting of integrated hardware and software that monitors water quality, manages water distribution, and provides automatic water filtration.

Studio Kode

Studio Kode offers Tech-Ed programs, extending beyond coding and programming, with the purpose of  empowering Indonesian children with critical creative skills to solve global issues.

Suarise

Suarise an end-to-end social enterprise which enables people with disabilities, namely those who are visually impaired, with better access to the digital sector.

Talent Growth

Talent Growth is an all-in-one website that combines hiring and virtual learning with the mission of closing the skill gap between graduates and employers.

Techroka

Techrocka develops a mobile cooling box powered by solar energy that aims to improve the cold chain of fish and perishable foods for micro and small-medium enterprises.

The Self Hug

The Self Hug is a physical well-being journal and guide that prompts simple daily routines for continuous personal growth and productivity.

Wilov

Wilov is a free menstrual tracker app with holistic & personalised health services made by women for women. 

Yumn Healthy Eats

Yumn Healthy Eats is an online personalized nutrition coaching program specifically focused on helping people living with hypertension, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome reach their treatment target. 

Henny Wahyuni, founder of Arkalearn shared that she had an exciting and fun experience despite the tight schedule of the programme. She added that she met many inspiring Founders and Mentors that gave her direct and honest feedback,  which she felt is essential to help her learn and grow as an entrepreneur. Henny hopes “to do what you love and love what you do, but most importantly do something meaningful that creates a positive impact.”

“SheDisrupts 2021 have been the most intense weeks for me. The courses were detailed and practical at the same time. The mentors and the speakers were very supportive. I signed up for the program, because I want to learn from the practitioners and apply it to my business. What I get is far more personalised feedback and encouragement from the mentors and the team. The sharing sessions from female entrepreneurs are very interactive and I am grateful for the enlightening experience. Thank you to all the people behind SheDisrupts. My team and I are more confident to embrace the next step in our journey.” –  Atiek Fadhilah, founder of Teroka.

Susli Lie joined SheDisrupts 2021 as a panelist. In her keynote, Susli, a Venture Partner at Monk’s Hill Ventures and a Y Combinator founder, shared about investment readiness. “As a founder turned VC investor, I have seen a growing number of talented founders from Indonesia, many of them women. I’m supportive of platforms, such as SheDisrupts, to help female founders gain exposure and grow their network of peers, mentors, and investors, which can often be difficult to access. The complexity of issues facing Indonesia requires a diverse set of solutions from a diverse set of founders, and the contribution of female founders will prove invaluable as the tech ecosystem scales.”

About SheDisrupts Indonesia 2021:

Women-led MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) are the backbone of the Indonesian economy. According to estimates by the Indonesian Ministry of Enterprise, 1 in 2 small businesses and 1 in 3 medium businesses are led by a woman. Unfortunately, Indonesian women-owned businesses face many barriers to growth, most prominently reduced access to investment opportunities. 

SheDisrupts Indonesia 2021 not only provides talented women-led teams with pitch training and mentoring, but also offers the opportunity to secure funds from local and international impact investors. The Indonesia-focused programme is the first edition of SheDisrupts, and will be replicated for women social entrepreneurs in other high-potential emerging markets.

The post SheDisrupts Indonesia 2021 Demo Day appeared first on Creatella Impact.

On August 6, after being shortlisted from a pool of close to 80 applicants, 50 talented teams pitched in front of expert mentors and judges in a 2-round, fully virtual venture competition. 24 startups stood out from the crowd and were announced as winners of the contest. 

These leading ventures are extremely diverse. Their products span over  different industries, each exemplifying a unique approach to business, as well as a dedication to important social issues. What they all have in common is the presence of strong-willed women founders, gender-balanced teams, a focus on the Indonesian market, and a keen eye for innovative tech-for-good solutions to complex challenges. 

Their names are: Anjani, ArkaLearn, Bintang Kecil, Career.Support, DEWISRIFARMTECH, GenPeace, Greenie Indonesia, Hear Me, Hilmasta, Liberty Society, Perfect Fit, Plépah, remparempa, Rentique, Rubysh, Senormal, SIAB Indonesia, Studio Kode, Suarise, Talent Growth, Techroka, The Self Hug, Wilov, and Yumn Healthy Eats. 

“It has been an honour to have to mentor women-led startups for SheDisrupts Indonesia 2021. As an Indonesian, I am so proud to see the quality of the founders shortlisted. They are passionate, highly coachable, and have strong missions to make our world a better place to live in. The entire event was so well prepared, briefed, and organised that it went smoothly from end to end. Kudos to Team Creatella! You have created a meaningful platform that allows us mentors to be part of the founders’ journey. My life has been enriched from the entire experience. Thank you!”  – Donna Daritan (Mentor, Asia Institute of Mentoring)

In addition to direct access to the pre-acceleration and the Demo Day, the 24 teams have secured $10,000 worth of credits in Freshworks software products, with 3 selected startups additionally receiving respectively 250,000 Rp, 500,000 Rp and 1 million Rp’s worth of internet packages by Telkomsel. A special mention goes to 2 selected startups, each awarded with one “greenlight” entry to their chosen Techstars accelerator program, and access to one workshop on design thinking by Styliff Tech. These prizes come on top of the perks offered by Hubspot, Segment and Freshworks to all 50 participants.

The winners are now headed for the intense pre-acceleration. Its rich curriculum includes (but is not limited to) 6 key modules: Impact Measurement and Management, Gender 101, Technology and Venture Building, Business Model Validation, Go-To Market Strategy and Investment Readiness. Through keynotes, workshops and one-on-one mentoring sessions, participants will refine their business and pitching toolbox, in preparation for the Demo Day scheduled to take place on Friday, August 27 in a fully virtual venue. 

“Creatella’s pairing with the mentors and judges are very well thought of and diverse! I was paired with Jesse Van de Zand from Moonshot Ventures who also had a founder’s background in a similar industry. The session certainly helps me consider new ways of doing things. What I find so different from other coaching or judging sessions is the willingness of the mentors to go beyond the call to connect us with their network and further develop relationships for us to grow.” – Tamara Gondo, CEO, Liberty Society

“SheDisrupts was amazing and well-planned! Equipped with new skills and tools, I am becoming more confident to pitch and present my enterprise.” – Ika Juliana, Founder, Greenie Indonesia.

About the Organizers of SheDisrupts 2021: 

IWEF

The Indonesia Women Empowerment Fund (IWEF) addresses barriers to women’s economic empowerment by investing in disruptive tech solutions, led by gender-balanced startup teams. 

Website: moonshotventures.org/about-iwef
Contact: info@moonshotventures.org 

Creatella Impact 

For early stage social enterprises in emerging markets, committed to providing entrepreneurial innovative solutions for the achievement of SDGs by generating measurable social and environmental impact, Creatella Impact provides venture building, technology execution, mentorship, advisory support, other acceleration programmes, impact investment including financial capital, deal syndication, blended funding and diverse financial instruments.

Website: creatella.org
Contact: aileen.taleene@creatella.org 

Moonshot Ventures 

Moonshot Ventures is a venture capital firm that addresses development challenges faced by emerging economies in Southeast Asia. We invest in disruptive innovations and mission-driven entrepreneurs, in order to achieve large-scale impact.

Website: moonshotventures.org

YCAB Ventures 

YCAB Ventures was born out of YCAB Foundation’s ambition to create a thriving world where youth and mothers are empowered through love, hope and opportunity to be liberated from generational poverty in sustainable ways. YCAB Social Enterprise uses a social investment approach in maximizing its social and economic impacts. The fund from social investment then invested in mission driven ultra-microfinance through YCAB Ventures. By providing capital to women-led ultra-micro business, YCAB Ventures aim to improve income stability in the family, leading to opportunities of better education for their children.

Website: ycabventures.com

UNDP

UN Development Programme (UNDP) is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet. In 2018, UNDP Indonesia established the Innovative Financing Lab as a platform working alongside various partners to design and implement new innovative financing instruments, enhance investments for higher SDG-returns and contribute to a strong enabling environment for SDG friendly finance.

Website: undp.org

UN Women

UN Women is the United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, the organization was established in 2010 to accelerate progress on women’s rights worldwide. UN Women’s efforts are based on the fundamental belief that every woman has the right to live a life free from violence, poverty, and discrimination, and that gender equality is a prerequisite to achieving global development. WeEmpowerAsia is a UN Women programme funded by and in partnership with the European Union that seeks to increase the number of women who lead and participate in business in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Website: http://weempowerasia.org

Citibank

Citibank is the financial subsidiary of Citigroup. Through our core business and philanthropy, we address some of society’s greatest challenges—an imperative stated in our mission and an idea that shapes our decisions every day.

Website: citibank.org

The post 24 winners of SheDisrupts Indonesia 2021 appeared first on Creatella Impact.

Unlocking the potential of Indonesian women social entrepreneurs  

What does sustainable development have in common with tech-driven, female  entrepreneurship? They both represent the future of one of the most promising economies of Southeast Asia. The venture competition and pre-acceleration program SheDisrupts marks one year since the launch of IWEF (Indonesia Women Empowerment Fund), and is organized as a collaboration of three impact investors – Creatella Impact, Moonshot Ventures and YCAB ventures – as well as UN Women and UNDP . IWEF is a great addition to the Indonesian women entrepreneurship landscape, which is characterised by an emphasis on sustainable, innovative and inclusive business models. IWEF aims to address barriers to women’s economic empowerment by investing in disruptive tech solutions led by women entrepreneurs. The targeted USD 10 million fund is jointly managed by YCAB Ventures and Moonshot Ventures, with Investing in Women, a program of the Australian Government, as sponsor investor. 

In spite of the global Covid-19 crisis, the economy of Indonesia still stands out as one of the fastest growing in the world. Its main driver is micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), almost half of which are owned or led by women. Unfortunately, however, Indonesian women face higher barriers as entrepreneurs, such as greater difficulty in accessing financial support. These barriers come at great expense to the local economy, estimated at USD $135bn.

Harnessing the still largely untapped economic potential of women entrepreneurs in the powerhouse economy of Southeast Asia can improve the social and economic resilience of the whole region in the post-Covid era. The newly launched programme SheDisrupts Indonesia 2021 aims at bridging the existing gaps by supporting women-led Indonesian startups. 

“SheDisrupts Indonesia 2021 allows us to provide the hands-on support for tech women entrepreneurs that is a hallmark of IWEF, to a much wider audience. The competition and pre-accelerator will give teams access to experienced mentors and experts who are passionate about supporting more women-led businesses,” said Tom Schmittzehe, Managing Partner of Moonshot Ventures.

The programme features a venture competition and pre-acceleration programme for innovative startups. It is fully conducted in a remote and digital format, connecting participants with seasoned mentors, judges and facilitators from every corner of the world. 

 “A year after our launch, SheDisrupts Indonesia 2021 allows us to scale IWEF’s reach – it sets the foundation for us to build a supportive community of founders, whether first-time or veterans, and to create peer mentoring opportunities that we know are critical in helping these women overcome the many barriers in growing their business,” said Stella Tambunan, CEO of YCAB Ventures.

About the programme and the eligibility criteria 

The venture competition kicking off on July 19 is the first of two parts of SheDisrupts Indonesia 2021, and is designed to provide founders and their teams with essential business and pitching skills, as well as with a platform to showcase their businesses to an international audience. 

“Combining tech knowledge and tools with training on business and impact management, offers a massive value proposition for women-led enterprises, inspires more women to pursue entrepreneurial activities and innovative business models contributing to economic progress and SDGs. That’s why Creatella Impact promotes creative use of ICTs as a platform to raise the agency of businesswomen and women’s economic empowerment,” said Guillaume Catella, Co-Executive Director of Creatella Impact.

The 20 most outstanding participants from the competition will then be invited to join an intense 2-weeks pre-acceleration program, which will cover topics including business development, technology, marketing and financial skills, as well as topics specific to impact measurement and women’s economic empowerment. 

According to Muhammad Didi Hardiana, Technical Advisor Development Finance, Head of the Innovative Financing Lab (IFLab) at UNDP, “Women play an important role in uplifting communities and economies. COVID-19 has widened the gap between women and men even within the entrepreneurial ecosystem. UNDP is delighted to collaborate in SheDisrupts Indonesia 2021 to strengthen the local entrepreneurship ecosystem, likewise empower women entrepreneurs to reach their highest potential and create a positive impact in various areas whilst contributing to the SDGs”.

The program welcomes applications from early-stage startups (Pre-Seed to Pre-Series A), ideally with a clearly developed product idea and some traction, and with at least one woman among the founders or in a leadership role. The program targets entrepreneurs who are developing solutions with a particular focus on gender parity and women’s economic empowerment. The program is industry agnostic: candidates may come from the world of health-tech, edtech, fintech – or any other.

“By supporting SheDisrupts, UN Women hopes to open opportunities for women to become drivers of change through their start-ups. Through our WeEmpowerAsia project, we are proud to work with industry partners in this competition, to ensure that technology-based solutions are geared towards gender equality in the country,” said Dwi Faiz, Head of Programme at UN Women Indonesia.  

The application criteria for the venture competition at a glance:

• For-profit social startups whose target market is Indonesia
• Women-led or gender-balanced teams
• Early-stage, from MVP to early traction
• With a product or service that disproportionately improves women’s economic empowerment
• Tech or innovation driven

“We see a great potential in women, particularly in their role to advance the country’s economy during this digital era. We are proud to support this year’s SheDisrupts as this is fully aligned with our commitment to empower women and to contribute to gender equality as stated in SDG 5,” stated Puni A. Anjungsari, Country Head of Corporate Affairs, Citi Indonesia.

For entrepreneurs and founding teams who are interested in taking part in the programme, please apply at she-disrupts.org. The application deadline is July the 11th 2021, at 23:59 WIB. 

About the Organizers of SheDisrupts 2021: 

IWEF

The Indonesia Women Empowerment Fund (IWEF) addresses barriers to women’s economic empowerment by investing in disruptive tech solutions, led by gender-balanced startup teams. 

Website: moonshotventures.org/about-iwef
Contact: info@moonshotventures.org 

Creatella Impact 

For early stage social enterprises in emerging markets, committed to providing entrepreneurial innovative solutions for the achievement of SDGs by generating measurable social and environmental impact, Creatella Impact provides venture building, technology execution, mentorship, advisory support, other acceleration programmes, impact investment including financial capital, deal syndication, blended funding and diverse financial instruments.

Website: creatella.org
Contact: aileen.taleene@creatella.org 

Moonshot Ventures 

Moonshot Ventures is a venture capital firm that addresses development challenges faced by emerging economies in Southeast Asia. We invest in disruptive innovations and mission-driven entrepreneurs, in order to achieve large-scale impact.

Website: moonshotventures.org

YCAB Ventures 

YCAB Ventures was born out of YCAB Foundation’s ambition to create a thriving world where youth and mothers are empowered through love, hope and opportunity to be liberated from generational poverty in sustainable ways. YCAB Social Enterprise uses a social investment approach in maximizing its social and economic impacts. The fund from social investment then invested in mission driven ultra-microfinance through YCAB Ventures. By providing capital to women-led ultra-micro business, YCAB Ventures aim to improve income stability in the family, leading to opportunities of better education for their children.

Website: ycabventures.com

UNDP

UN Development Programme (UNDP) is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet.

Website: undp.org

UN Women

UN Women is the United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, the organization was established in 2010 to accelerate progress on women’s rights worldwide. UN Women’s efforts are based on the fundamental belief that every woman has the right to live a life free from violence, poverty, and discrimination, and that gender equality is a prerequisite to achieving global development. WeEmpowerAsia is a UN Women programme funded by and in partnership with the European Union that seeks to increase the number of women who lead and participate in business in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Website: http://weempowerasia.org

Citibank

Citibank is the financial subsidiary of Citigroup. Through our core business and philanthropy, we address some of society’s greatest challenges—an imperative stated in our mission and an idea that shapes our decisions every day.

Website: citibank.org

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