WeScale Will Help South Asian Women Entrepreneurs to Get Fund Ready - Launched with Support of USAID & DAI

Led by a rockstar regional consortium of leading accelerators and angel networks and USAID-DAI fund. Applications due this week.

Bangladesh Angels and its sister chapter Bangladesh Women Investors Network is proud to partner with USAID, DAI, Singapore-based early stage accelerator and investor Accelerating Asia and angel networks and accelerators from across the region to launch WeScale, the first cross-regional accelerator in South Asia focused on women-led companies who want to raise their first funds.

WeScale is a Digital Frontiers program, part of South Asia Regional Digital Initiative (SARDI) by the USAID’s Innovation, and Research (ITR) Hub, Technology Division (ITR/T), implemented in partnership with DAI. The consortia also includes SAFAL Partners (Nepal), India Accelerator and Lankan Angel Network.  

Laat year a series of in-depth interviews conducted by SARDI in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka revealed a lack of mentorship and support for women entrepreneurs in tech. Interviewees mentioned a strong startup support ecosystem that fades away and leaves businesses lacking mentorship for growth over time and further investment opportunities. In addition, businesses lack the support required to navigate the myriad of digital policies that affect their business operations. 

To help address this, the consortium came together to launch a cross regional accelerator that would start with 100 women entrepreneurs, and work with the top 20 to help raise investments.

Check out the recording from the info session on the program that we recently hosted to help prospective applicants and network partners learn more about the application process and the overall program.

Accelerating Asia, as the program lead, has worked with the partners to lay the initial program curriculum and provide localized solutions, which include masterclasses with our Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and Mentors-in-Residence, who are specialists in raising funds, scaling a company, and digital safety and security for businesses - Rohana Wood, Partnerships and Marketing Manager at Accelerating Asia. 

We aim to be the leading cross regional platform for getting women entrepreneurs funded. Having worked with 300+ mostly early stage companies in the region and helped invest $70M into them in the last few years, we have the networks and know-how to make it happen - Nirjhor Rahman, CEO of Bangladesh Angels.

“The idea is to create a path to a sustained network for women entrepreneurs in South Asia who can lean on and learn from other successful women entrepreneurs from the region to change the status quo in the gender gap in the tech entrepreneurship sector. By leveraging sustained partnerships across borders, the program will promote engagement with the digital policy environment for the relevant stakeholders ” - Tina Jabeen, Senior Government Policy Consultant at USAID-DAI.

The program is open to women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka and is composed of three main parts:

🚀 a 12-week virtual program created to get companies ready for growth.

🚀 WEscale+, a high-touch, intensive four-week program with a live summit that aims to distill the lessons learned through WEscale and attract investors.

🚀 A program network made up of WEs, mentors, investors, government and other key players in the innovation ecosystem that will help WEs and build a long-lasting, reliable network of contacts for them.

Applications for WeScale are open till 11th November as a soft extension of the initial 8th November deadline. If you are an early stage, woman-led tech-enabled company with a minimum viable product, please apply here to be a part of the program.

Interested network partners, such as investors, mentors and partner organizations who want to engage with women entrepreneurs, source investments and deal flow, deliver expertise and network with peers across South Asia can apply here.

To learn more, please visit: https://wescale-sardi.com