Deadline: 2-May-21
Hungary joined the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs’ (AWE) global network and will launch the Academy through the U.S. Embassy in Budapest in association with The Foundation for Sustainable Enterprises.
The 10-month program will utilize global best practices adapted to the local environment to best serve Hungarian participants.
AWE is an entrepreneurship promotion program that provides women entrepreneurs with the knowledge, tools, and network they need to create and grow their businesses. It enables women from all over the world to deepen their entrepreneurial skills and build their business model through facilitated online education and ongoing mentorship.
Funding Information
- A total of $25,000 will be distributed as seed funding to the three to five most promising entrepreneurs based on their submitted business plans and presentations.
Benefits
Participants will have:
- access to the online business planning platform Dreambuilder;
- a dedicated one-on-one mentor to support them in their business planning process;
- access to a community of female entrepreneurs with opportunities for peer-to-peer
- inspiration and learning;
- the opportunity to pitch their business idea in front of a prominent jury;
- the chance to win several thousand dollars to launch or consolidate their business.
Activities
The AWE Hungary program consists of 3 phases:
- Phase 1.: DreamBuilder Online Business Planning Course: In the first phase, participants will enroll in the Dreambuilder Program, an online business planning course that is specifically developed for women entrepreneurs participating in the AWE programs worldwide through a partnership between Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Management and global copper mining company Freeport-McMoRan.
- Phase 2.: Business Plans 2.0: In this phase, participants will receive feedback on their submitted business plans, their strengths and weaknesses, what is clear, and what needs to be further improved. There will also be 4 workshops (online or offline depending on the circumstances) on topics most relevant for the participants (e.g. business regulations, sales, online marketing, market research, access to finance, pitching, public speaking, and work-life balance). The program will also provide an opportunity for participants to talk to a legal expert.
- Phase 3.: Pitching & networking event: AWE Hungary will organize a pitching and networking event where the 8 finalists will have the chance to pitch their ideas in front of a jury, who can provide valuable feedback on each presentation and make a suggestion on how the funding should be allocated. Three to five of the finalists will be selected as winners and awarded a portion of the $25,000 based on their investment needs. A number of criteria will determine how the award will be split among the winners: the funding needs, the innovative nature of the business idea, the projected viability and long-term sustainability of their business, and the participant’s entrepreneurial skillset as assessed by program mentors
Eligibility Criteria
AWE Hungary is looking for women with unrealized enterprise ideas or whose business is in a very early stage and who are motivated to launch or further build their enterprise.
They intend to recruit 30 women in total, 5 from Pest County (Budapest excluded) and 25 from the countryside. They are looking for you, if you:
- have a business idea or a running business with less than a total of 1 million HUF revenue;
- are dedicated to commit a total of 7-10 hours per week in a flexible setup to improve your entrepreneurial skills, to develop/fine-tune your business model and to connect with mentors and other would-be entrepreneurs;
- live and plan to realize the business in both rural and urban areas of Hungary outside of Budapest;
- are between 25 and 45 years old; – have a good understanding of written and spoken English to be able to complete the online course;
- have access to a computer/tablet.
For more information, visit https://hu.usembassy.gov/academy-for-women-entrepreneurs-apply-now/