ING, Visa Launch She's Next 2026-27 with EUR 90K Grants

ING Bank Romania and Visa, with the support of Impact Hub Bucharest, have announced the launch of the third edition of She's Next, a program dedicated to supporting women entrepreneurs and the development of women-led businesses in Romania. The grants for the 2026-2027 edition will amount to EUR 90,000, with women founders also having access to mentoring and coaching, business training, and networking.

Applications will be accepted from 15 September until 15 November 2026. There is no time limit for businesses to apply, but they must be at least 51 percent owned by women. The new edition expands the total grant amount from EUR 60,000 in the previous edition, and doubles the number of grant recipients from three to six.

Key Highlights

• She’s Next offers EUR 90,000 in grants to six entrepreneurs
• Fifteen women founders will receive personalised mentoring and coaching
• Applications remain open from September 15 to November 15

There will be 6 grants: 1 EUR 30,000 grant, 2 EUR 15,000 grants and 3 EUR 10,000 grants. Besides the financial assistance, 15 female entrepreneurs will be chosen as the finalists, and they will get access to mentoring, irrespective of whether they are ultimately awarded a grant.

The program aims to provide assistance to women entrepreneurs in various stages of development. The finalists will be involved in individual mentoring, group coaching, mastermind sessions, personal branding and pitch preparation from January to May 2027.

Each finalist will receive five individual two-hour mentoring sessions between January 18 and March 19. The program will also include four group coaching sessions, three coaching circles, personal branding training, a professional portrait session, and individual pitch coaching. The final pitch and awards gala are scheduled for 24–30 May 2027.

Luana Sorescu, Head of Easy Banking Business Banking Division at ING Bank Romania, noted that She's Next seeks to empower women entrepreneurs to build their businesses through one-to-one mentorship, group mentorship and targeted training. She shared that the program's efforts to support women entrepreneurship are ongoing as it doubled the number of grant recipients, and increased the mentoring to 15 finalists.

The program has demonstrated that entrepreneurs require not only funding, but also business knowledge, mentoring, digital tools and a community that supports them, said Elena Ungureanu, Country Manager of Visa Romania. The expanded initiative, she said was a framework in which women entrepreneurs can upskill, experiment with their ideas and leverage technology to grow their businesses.

The She’s Next Caravan will also return with events in Bucharest on October 6, Cluj-Napoca on October 22, and Iasi on November 5. The events will provide women entrepreneurs with opportunities to exchange business experiences and gain practical insights.

During the application period, She’s Next will additionally host seven free webinars led by industry experts. This will include financial management and access to finance, marketing and communications, artificial intelligence in business, leadership, strategic business development and customer acquisition.

Oana Craioveanu, CEO and co-founder of Impact Hub Bucharest, pointed out how important it is to connect women entrepreneurs, noting that when they share experiences, problems and solutions, the communities can be useful throughout the lifecycle of a business. Hence, the program includes financial assistance, leadership development, mentorship, business education, digital skills, and networking for women entrepreneurs as a part of financial assistance.