Chat for Women’s Livelihood is inviting female social enterprise founders for its 18-month accelerator programme in collaboration with Turn.io a startup which helps organisations use chat for impact.
Nairametrics learns that the accelerator program will involve training, mentorship and support to social enterprises working to empower women in low-income countries economically.
Program details
According to the program organizers, the accelerator program will:
- Feature an extensive three-month onboarding and training process, providing the organization with a fully operational minimum viable chat (MVP) ready for deployment.
- This accelerator initiative includes support for prototyping and launching your specific use case, coupled with ongoing monthly enterprise support tailored to help organizations achieve their strategic chat service objectives over 18 months.
- Participants will benefit from mentorship by leading experts and practitioners, receiving expert advice from Solutions Engineers, Conversational Designers, and a team of Turn.io AI/Data Engineers.
- Additionally, organizations will receive a Turn.io Enterprise license, encompassing all platform features, along with a subsidized WhatsApp Business Account for 18 months.
- The program aims to enhance knowledge in chat-based technologies, offering a collaborative learning environment with quarterly cohort sessions to foster a robust community of practice among the six participating enterprises.
Who should apply?
The accelerator program targets:
- Organizers aiming to enhance business skills, deliver education, provide access to digital markets and payment tools, and offer essential mental health or healthcare support to working women and micro-entrepreneurs.
- Social Enterprises seeking to expedite their chat service growth and impact through guidance, mentorship, and hands-on implementation support are encouraged to participate.
- Participating organizations should operate in regions such as Nigeria, Kenya, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Uganda, Senegal and other low-income areas.
- They should have a well-defined business case or Theory of Change outlining how a chat solution on WhatsApp could enhance the economic agency of women.
To qualify, organizations must demonstrate a commitment to building and continually developing their chat service, and possessing the necessary time, resources, or team to achieve this objective.
What are the selection criteria?
- The selection process prioritizes a robust business case/theory of change focused on leveraging chat technology to empower low-income women entrepreneurs or women in the workforce, particularly those actively working to diminish gender disparities.
- The program shows a particular interest in social enterprises committed to the development and expansion of a WhatsApp-based chat service.
- Successful applicants should demonstrate the capacity to construct, manage, and sustain the chat service beyond the Accelerator program.
- Applicants are expected to present a well-defined measurement and evaluation plan outlining how their new chat-based system can generate baseline (pre-accelerator) and endline data (post-accelerator). The evaluation should emphasize indicators related to women’s economic empowerment, such as increased turnover, higher income, improved market access, upskilling, and/or integration of financial services.
Key dates
- Application deadline: 31 January
- Accelerator programme: February ’24 – July ’25
Application
Applications are to be made here.
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