Seed Grants for Supporting Women Entrepreneurs to Develop Sustainable Solutions to Wash Challenges

Deadline: 23-Oct-22

Are you a woman entrepreneur developing a business focusing on improving access to Water, Sanitation, or Hygiene? Then, you can apply for the Women Innovators In WASH program.

The “Women Innovators in WASH” is an incubation program aiming to support women entrepreneurs in Africa and Latin America with an innovative business project in the water, sanitation and hygiene sectors.

The Women Innovators in WASH Incubation Program’s overall goal is to sustainably improve access to safe and affordable Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) products and services for communities living in Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Tanzania, South Africa as well as Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia.

Throughout the program, you will create your own executive summary business plan to present to potential investors or new co-founders while receiving the necessary support from a personalized mentor, and having the certainty that you are building a business validated by your potential clients.

They are looking for early-stage women-led ventures across the following value chains

WASH is an acronym that stands for “water, sanitation, and hygiene. Together, they want to support you to develop and scale your innovative solutions to any of the following WASH challenges:

• (Safe) Water
  • Type of innovations may include but are not limited to:
    • Household/ community water treatment and safe water storage
    • Innovative water treatment and water filtration in homes and emergency contexts
    • Products for testing water quality
    • Provision of safe water
• Sanitation
  • Type of innovations may include but are not limited to:
    • Lightning and amenities for safer latrines
    • Fecal sludge treatment
    • Innovative fecal sludge disposal
• Hygiene
  • Type of innovations may include but are not limited to:
    • Innovative handwashing solutions for difficult contexts
    • Affordable soap and soap alternatives
    • Affordable or sustainable menstrual hygiene solutions

Funding Information

• $15K in total divided for the top 4 entrepreneurs: $5K each for the first two and  $2.5K each for the other two.

Why Participate?

• Methodology and Structure
  • You will follow their step-by-step methodology, working directly on your business and making the most important decisions. You will also be able to visualize your financial projections, growth, and impact plan for the next years.
• Find your Mentor
  • You’ll be partnered with a professional to personally guide you in weekly mentoring sessions so that your project grows in the right direction.
• Seed Funding Opportunities
  • Pitch your business in front of a top-level jury and win a seed capital prize, granted to the finalists of their final Demo Day event ($15K in total divided for the top 4 entrepreneurs: $5K each for the first two and  $2.5K each for the other two).
• Experience Active Learning
  • Their platform offers a learn-by-doing approach inspired by MIT’s Disciplined Entrepreneurship and you’ll get to generate a business plan in PDF.
• Anytime, Anywhere
  • Collaborate from anywhere at any time through their online platform; no barriers, limits, or excuses; just an internet connection.
• Global Network
  • Become a part of a supportive community of founders from 89 countries that share resources and harness challenges together. So far, 3000+ entrepreneurs from 126 countries have gone through their programs!

Eligibility Criteria

• You are or identify as a woman and your business is women-led (or at least 50% of the founding team is female).
• You are based in and your venture impacts Africa (Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Tanzania, South Africa) or Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia).
• You have an early-stage innovation-based business (you have a business concept developed or an MVP recently launched) and your business is either a for-profit or a social enterprise.
• You can dedicate at least 6-8 hours per week during the duration of the program (4 months) to work on the platform and have online meetings with your mentor.
• You have access to a computer or tablet and a reliable and stable internet connection, as all the program will be online.
• You speak fluent English (keep in mind the whole program and all activities related will be in this language).

For more information, visit this link.