Her Startup Opens 2nd Cohort for Women Entrepreneurs

The second cohort of Her Startup, an accelerator program for African women entrepreneurs, is now open for applications. The program provides seed funding, mentorship and business development assistance to early-stage technology-enabled businesses.

The initiative seeks to support female entrepreneurs by providing access to financial resources, practical training and expert guidance. It aims to help founders strengthen their operations and build sustainable businesses.

Selected participants will take part in an intensive accelerator program delivered through the Founder Institute. They will also receive stipends, mentorship and opportunities to pitch for seed funding of up to $5,000.

The program is open to female founders, co-founders and chief executive officers aged 18 to 35 who run technology-enabled businesses in any African country.

Key Highlights:

• Her Startup Cohort 2.0 offers mentorship, business training and funding opportunities of up to $5,000
• The program supports African women entrepreneurs aged 18 to 35 with established technology-enabled businesses
• At least 15% of selected participants will come from Francophone African countries

There should be a minimum viable product or introduction to the market of an existing product. They also need to have been running their business for at least 6 months and demonstrate monthly revenues of at least $500.

In addition to financial support, the program offers practical business training to help the participating entrepreneurs make the best use of their businesses and optimize their business models and prepare for future investment opportunities.

Diversity in the African entrepreneurial ecosystem is also a key focus of her Startup. Selected startups will be chosen from Fintech companies and at least 15% of the participants will be from Francophone African countries.

The program is part of other programs that encourage women entrepreneurship in Africa such as She Leads Africa and the Tony Elumelu Foundation, which offer entrepreneurship training, access to funding and business development support to women entrepreneurs.

Although women's entrepreneurship is gaining momentum, funding for early-stage businesses for women entrepreneurs is still an issue in many parts of the continent.

To fill in some of this void is a combination of capital access and structured training and mentorship that her Startup aims to do.

But, there is no guarantee of investment even if the people participate. The selected founders are required to undergo the respective training and to pitch their business to be considered for funding.

It is an initiative that provides eligible women entrepreneurs a chance to develop their businesses, enhance business networks and boost their future preparedness.