Standard Chartered Botswana has launched Women in Tech (WiT) Accelerator Programme, a transformative initiative designed to empower and support female entrepreneurs in the technology and innovation space.
The programme aims to address gender disparities in technology by providing female-led businesses with the tools, resources and mentorship needed to upscale their enterprises.
WiT is open to businesses that are at growth stage, registered in Botswana, at least 50 percent women-led and owned and have an annual revenue of P1 million or less.
Further those women should be aged between 18 and 40 years old.
A total of 20 selected participants will benefit from a comprehensive support system that includes: mentorship and training, with participants receiving expert guidance from industry leaders and successful entrepreneurs, covering key areas such as business strategy, technology innovation and financial management.
The programme also offers networking opportunities, connecting participants to a network of like-minded entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts.
Participants will further get business development support, tailored to help participants refine their business models, expand their market reach and enhance their technological capabilities.
Access to funding is another benefit, as the programme culminates with a pitch session that will give selected participants their share of $50,000 of equity-free seed funding.
Expressing her delight at the development, Standard Chartered Chief Executive Officer, Mpho Masupe, said, “We are thrilled to introduce the Botswana chapter of the Women in Tech Accelerator Programme.
“This project is an extension of our Futuremakers Programme that was launched in 2019 with a focus on tackling youth unemployment and building capacity amongst young women and people living with visual impairments. This next level allows us to focus in more on promoting diversity and inclusion within the entrepreneurship space, particularly in the technology and innovation sector where women are often underrepresented. We call on female-led businesses and cooperatives that are both technology enabled and innovation-driven to apply to this programme that has been designed to drive greater commercialization in Botswana.”
WiT Botswana will be implemented by Dream Factory Foundation Botswana, an organisation with an in-depth understanding of the women-led business ecosystem in Southern Africa.
The foundation boasts a proven track record of designing and running incubation programmes aimed at developing high-quality, sustainable entrepreneurs.
