SC Women in Technology: StanChart awards GHS550,000 grant to five women-owned businesses to scale up

Standard Chartered Bank Ghana PLC has reinforced its commitment to supporting women-owned businesses after giving a GHS550,000 grant to five women-owned businesses to scale up.

The cash has been given to the top five entrepreneurs from the 20 entrepreneurs who have graduated as the third cohort in the SC Women in Technology Incubator Programme.

The women entrepreneurs participated in a comprehensive incubator aimed at empowering women-led start-ups and providing them with the necessary resources and support to thrive.

After a rigorous pitch process, five (5) outstanding participants were awarded seed funding of GHS110,000 each to invest into their businesses.

The programme is implemented in partnership with the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre, an Ashesi University business incubator.

Speaking at the graduating ceremony of the third cohort of incubators on Thursday, August 24, Yvonne Gyebi, Consumer Private & Business Banking, Standard Chartered Bank Ghana PLC commented congratulated all the 20 entrepreneurs, adding that they are all winners.

She noted, “As a bank, we celebrate these incredible women, a powerful testament to the limitless potential of diversity and innovation. With our Women in Tech programme, we are championing economic inclusion for female businesses. We are inspired by their journey of breaking down barriers that truly reflect the world we live in.”

In her address, Yvonne Gyebi assured that StanChart is keen on doing more to support women-owned businesses.

Speaking to journalists after winning first place, Ms. Natalie Fordwor, Founder of WonderspacED, an Educational Content Creation company said she is over the moon and grateful to Standard Charted and its partners.

She promised to put the GHS110,000 grant to good use by investing it into the company to come up with more content on various platforms.

“I’m so excited to have gotten first place. I just can’t believe it. I’m excited and I can’t wait to produce more content for children and to change the face of education in Africa.

“Expect more content from WonderspacED. Expect to see us on all TV stations and expect more content on YouTube and also look out for our E-Box. We will be working on that for children, individuals at home and for schools as well and then later a full curriculum that can be used in schools around the world,” Ms. Natalie Fordwor said.

Speaking at the event, Ruka Sanusi, Executive Director of the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre, expressed her profound enthusiasm for the significant strides being taken to drive innovation and sustainable solutions in our ever-evolving technological landscape and she highlighted the pivotal role that collaboration, knowledge exchange, and empowerment of women entrepreneurs play in propelling our society towards a greener and more prosperous future.

Besides Natalie Fordwor of WonderspaceED who won first place, [ wonderspaced ], the other winners include:

• Lucie E Blay - Legal Find – website - https://trylegalfind.com/
• Naa Kukuokor Owoo - Esse Studios – website - http://esse-studios.com
• Umar Farouk Mubaraka - Kodu Technology – website - http://kodutechnology.com/
• Laura Pepera – Virtutoronline – website - https://www.virtutoronline

The Standard Chartered Women in Technology Incubator programme speaks to the Bank’s strategy of investing in women-owned businesses to bring greater prosperity and diversity to the communities in which they operate with an emphasis on supporting innovation, infrastructure and technology.

Through this initiative, women entrepreneurs have a platform to build capacity and realize their full potential in the world of business.

In addition to the seed funding, the businesses will receive portfolio management support over the next 10 weeks, exposure to potential investors who are looking to support women-led businesses and will also be joining the global SCWIT alumni network where they will have access to additional networking events, resources, content, and business scaling opportunities.