Beneficiaries of Standard Chartered Women in Technology programme share inspiring stories at Induction Ceremony

Beneficiaries of the Standard Chartered Women in Technology (WIT) Incubator programme have shared inspiring stories of how the programme has impacted their businesses positively.

They shared how the incubator including an intensive ten-week executive session gave them a lifetime opportunity to meet and interact with business development coaches has broadened their horizon.

They include: Anaporka Adazabra of Farmio Limited, Selasi Dzikunu of The Delse Shop and Carla Olympio of Agency Seven Seven of Cohort 2 of the SC WIT programme.

Anaporka and Selasi who were fortunate for win the seed capital of $10,000 (GHS equivalent) said it was a dream come true.

Sharing her story at the induction ceremony of participants into Cohort 3 of the Standard Chartered Women in Tech programme, Selasi Dzikunu recounted how she has been able to scale up her Made in Ghana beauty products businesses, resulting in a significant increase in revenue. Most importantly, is the access to a wider network of women entrepreneurs both home and abroad.

“The exposure is something we cannot quantify and the opportunities are endless after the event” she added.

Anaporka Adazabra of Farmio Limited also shared how she has been able to build a network of like-minded women entrepreneurs across the globe. The knowledge gained, she stated has had significant impact on her, agribusiness company which focuses on providing tech-enabled agribusiness investment solutions for people interested in building sustainable and profitable agricultural businesses.

Her turnaround point was after the Women Entrepreneurs Transformation Programme, a session with other entrepreneurs during the incubator. The stories of accomplished women entrepreneurs changed her life.

“It is good to get direct knowledge from experienced people; nothing teaches better than experience” Anaporka Adazabra stated.

Though she did not win the seed money, Carla Olympio of Agency Seven Seven, a professional business advisory service firm admitted that being part of the 20 shortlisted female businesses has turned around her business. She encouraged the businesses not to let being female inhibit them in their quest to grow their businesses especially when it came to requesting for financial support.

“The SC Women in Tech programme has given my business credibility and I want to thank the organizers for the opportunity” Ms. Olympio added.

They were speaking at the induction ceremony of 20 young women entrepreneurs into Cohort 3 of the programme.

20 female-led businesses have been shortlisted for the SC Women in Tech Ghana Cohort 3 programme. The women entrepreneurs will participate in a comprehensive nine-month incubator aimed to empower women-led start-ups and provide them with the necessary resources and support to thrive in the technology industry. 5 of the businesses will pitch their ideas/concepts and business plans to a panel of judges who will select the top five winners.

They will each receive seed funding of $10,000 (GHS equivalent) to scale up their businesses Additionally, these selected businesses will benefit from GCIC’s high value Mini MBA and the Women Entrepreneurs Transformation Programmes, as well as mentoring and access to a wider network of other companies for these entrepreneurs.