On the 27th of August 2021, 24 impact-oriented, women-led startups pitched online to the Indonesia Women Empowerment Fund (IWEF) and other impact investors and ecosystem partners in Indonesia and abroad as part of “SheDisrupts Indonesia 2021” program.
“As an impact fund, IWEF invests in women-led startups that through disruptive tech solutions are improving livelihoods for women across Indonesia. SheDisrupts supports this goal and is showcasing some of the leading and emerging women entrepreneurs and their teams, who are breaking down barriers and driving change in Indonesia,” said the joint managers of IWEF, Stella Tambunan – CEO of YCAB Ventures, and Tom Schmittzehe – Managing Partner of Moonshot Ventures.
The program was initiated by IWEF and Creatella Impact, in partnership with Investing in Women, UNDP, UN Women and Citibank, to empower Indonesian women entrepreneurs to build and scale innovative and tech-driven business solutions to complex social and environmental issues in Indonesia.
“Creatella impact identifies promising social enterprises, and provides a range of services to strengthen their business model and presence, and increase chances of access to funding. We do this by applying the world best practices, but also, continuously learning together in this dynamically shifting industry,” said Nozomi Witherspoon, the Board Director and Treasurer of Creatella Impact.
The venture competition was launched in June 2021. From all the applications, 50 startups were selected for a round of 1:1 mentorship with 57 experienced impact investors, entrepreneurs and advisors from around the world.
“We are pleased to note this robust public private partnership between IWEF, Creatella Impact, UNDP, UN Women, DFAT and Citi in organizing SheDisrupts Indonesia with a holistic approach in empowering women founders to run profitable businesses while making measurable, long term positive social and environmental impact in Indonesia. We believe this is in line with our current development priorities,” said Lenny N. Rosalin, SE, M.Sc, M.Fin, Deputy of Gender Equality, Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, Republic of Indonesia.
“She Disrupts Indonesia aligns with Australia’s vision and efforts towards inclusive and equitable economies by enhancing the capability of women-owned and women-led businesses to grow and create a greater positive social and environmental impact,” said Mr. Alex Street, Political Economy and Investment Counsellor, Australian Embassy Jakarta.
24 promising startups were selected from this shortlisted pool of 50, and were invited to join the 2-week pre-acceleration.
“I would like to extend my deepest congratulations for all 24 ventures present today. I hope that this initiative serves as a platform to inspire and encourage you all to share innovative ideas and help work through these difficult times. It has been extraordinary to see the exceptional support delivered especially given that we are now in the decade of action as we work towards the SDGs,” said Sophie Kemkhadze, Deputy Resident Representative for UNDP Indonesia.
The curriculum of the pre-acceleration included lectures, workshops, group work and 1-on-1 mentoring on business, technology and impact-related topics, with a strong focus on gender issues and women empowerment.
“We are proud to be part of the mentoring team for the founders, to witness that these talented and mission-driven women founders are not only more conversant on gender equality but also empowered to bring changes to the industry, creating an impact on women’s empowerment. We hope that more acceleration programs in Indonesia will adopt a similar gender-responsive approach to fully unlock women’s potential in the tech and digital economy sectors,” said Jamshed Kazi, UN Women Indonesia’s Representative and Liaison to ASEAN.
The 2-week pre-acceleration program concluded on Friday, the 27th August with a public virtual demo day, which was attended by 150 investors, mentors, and partners.
“As a Bank, we are driven by Diversity & Inclusion goals, and we believe that it is important to incorporate and measure gender diversity targets. Furthermore, we are seeing that finance communities are eager to support these initiatives, and we are already seeing the most ambitious companies linking their financing directly to gender and diversity-related metrics. These efforts should be further replicated in other sectors, not to mention in the startups world,” said Batara Sianturi, CEO of Citi Indonesia.
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