Female agri-business founders are being sought to enter She’s Next 2023 with grants of €10,000 available.
While Ireland now has the third-highest rate for early-stage female entrepreneurs in Europe in 2022, only 37% of high potential start-ups across Ireland were women-led.
The disparity extends to the issue of confidence with a new Visa study with 250 Irish small business owners finding that 93% of men surveyed feel very or completely confident when it comes to evolving their business, against 71% of women surveyed.
Similarly, 87% of Irish women small business owners surveyed said they were optimistic about the future of their business compared to 98% of men.
Agri-business founders should apply
To help close the entrepreneurship gap in Ireland, digital payments company, Visa, is bringing the She’s Next Grant Programme back to Ireland to further support women entrepreneurs to grow their business.
The programme is on its third consecutive year and will offer women small business owners the chance to receive one of five grants of €10,000 and one year of coaching with international business experts through IFundWomen.
Mandy Lamb, managing director UK and Ireland, Visa said: “It is encouraging to see Ireland helping pave the way for female entrepreneurs.
“Women business leaders are absolutely integral to the future of entrepreneurship, and while important progress has been made, there’s still more to be done to address the challenges and obstacles that women-led businesses face.
“With this programme, we want to empower women by providing funding, expertise and coaching so they can achieve their growth aspirations and make a difference to society.”
Karen Cahn, founder and CEO at IFundWomen added: “It’s an honour to partner with Visa on the third She’s Next grant programme in Ireland.
“It was encouraging to see the significant growth in applications in last year’s programme and we’re confident that with continued funding and resources, each woman-led business will be able to take the steps to grow with confidence.”
Applications
From today (Friday May 26), women business leaders in the Republic of Ireland are invited to apply for the chance to receive one of five grants of €10,000 and the coaching with IFundWomen.
Due to the success of the previous years, two new categories are being introduced in 2023; in addition to awards for micro-, small and early-stage businesses, the newly introduced categories are Changemakers and Innovation and Technology.
The Changemakers category is open to women who have set up a business to help address societal or economic challenges such as supporting communities or promoting sustainability practices.
The Innovation and Technology category will recognise fin-techs, technology-driven businesses and companies that have used technology to grow their business.
How to apply
The She’s Next programme is open to small businesses and organisations, including agri-business that are majority owned by women, operating across all industries and sectors.
It is designed to be an inclusive programme to appeal to a diverse range of applicants from different backgrounds. Applicants in previous years who were not selected as winners can also reapply.
To enter, applicants are asked to submit details about their business and online presence at www.ifundwomen.com/visaireland. The closing date is July 21, 2023.
Applications are invited under five different categories:
- General awards for:
- Micro-business: Sole proprietorships or micro-businesses with no more than two employees;
- Early-stage business: Businesses founded and incorporated within the last 24 months (must have been operating for at least six months);
- Small business: Any small business with fewer than 50 employees.
- Additional two categories for:
- Changemakers: Social enterprises or community-based enterprises or businesses that show recognisable achievements in sustainability efforts e.g., sustainable energy, climate resilience, environmental and social best practice, environmental and social innovation, and gender and economic inclusion;
- Innovation and technology: Businesses in science, fin-tech, technology, engineering or medicine or a business that has used technology to grow.