Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and retailers in Indonesia have faced challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The decline in income is inevitable, but this is inversely proportional to the number of MSMEs which has increased the past year. Despite the global crisis, Indonesia stands out as one of the fastest-growing countries in the economic sector. The main drivers are MSMEs, almost half of which are owned or led by women. Howbeit, Indonesian women face higher barriers as entrepreneurs, such as greater difficulty in accessing financial support. These constraints inflicted heavy losses on the local economy estimated at USD 135 billion.
The largely untapped economic potential of women entrepreneurs in South East Asia, might be used to increase the social and economic resilience of the entire region in the post-COVID era. Therefore, SheDisrupts Indonesia 2021 is the one of the ways to alleviate the spark of women entrepreneurs in Indonesia. This program is held one year after the launch of the Indonesia Women Empowerment Fund (IWEF), aspire to bridge the existing gap by supporting Indonesian startups led by women. IWEF itself exists to overcome barriers to women’s economic empowerment by investing in disruptive technology solutions led by women entrepreneurs.
“SheDisrupts Indonesia 2021 allows us to provide direct support for women-run tech entrepreneurs – which is the hallmark of IWEF, to a wider audience. The competition and pre-accelerator will give the team access to experienced mentors and experts who are passionate about supporting more businesses that are growing and led by women,” said Tom Schmittzehe, Managing Partner of Moonshot Ventures.
SheDisrupts Indonesia 2021 is designed to provide founders and their teams with essential business and pitching skills, as well as a platform to showcase their business to an international audience. This program features startup competitions and pre-acceleration programs for innovative startups that are entirely conducted in a remote and digital format. SheDisrupts connects attendees with experienced mentors, judges, and facilitators from every corner of the world.
The twenty most prominent participants in the competition will be invited to take part in an intensive 2-week pre-acceleration program, which will cover topics including business development, technology, marketing, and financial skills, as well as topics specific to impact measurement and economic empowerment.
The program accepts applications from early-stage startups (Pre-Seed to Pre-Series A), ideally with a developed product idea, and with at least one woman among the founders or in a leadership role. Moreover, this program targets entrepreneurs who develop solutions with a particular focus on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.
“A year after our launch, SheDisrupts Indonesia 2021 allows us to increase the reach of IWEF – which is the basis for us to build a supportive community of business founders, both beginners, and veterans, and to create peer-assisted opportunities that we know are critical in helping women cope there are many obstacles in developing their business,” said Stella Tambunan, CEO of YCAB Ventures.