CWL Accelerator Program – African Entrepreneurs 2024

Are you a social entrepreneur looking to make a difference by empowering women in low-income countries economically? Look no further than the CWL Accelerator Program! This program is an 18-month initiative that provides training, mentorship, and support to six social enterprises working to empower women economically.

Organizations that increase business skills, provide education, access to digital markets and payment tools, as well as those that provide essential mental health or healthcare support among working women and micro-entrepreneurs are invited to apply.

The CWL Accelerator Program offers comprehensive support to participating organizations. It includes a three-month onboarding and training process that equips the organization with a fully operational minimum viable chat (MVP) ready to go live. Ongoing monthly enterprise support tailored to help organizations achieve their strategic chat service objectives for 18 months, expert advice from Solutions Engineers, Conversational Designers, and a team of Turn.io AI/Data Engineers, and a Turn.io Enterprise license that includes all platform features, as well as a subsidized WhatsApp Business Account for 18 months.

The program is open to social enterprises who want to accelerate their chat service growth and impact with guidance, mentorship, and hands-on implementation support. They are looking for Social Enterprises working in Kenya, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Uganda, Senegal, Nigeria and other low-income regions that have a clear business case or Theory of Change on how they could use a chat solution on WhatsApp to improve the economic agency of women. The organizations must be able to commit to the building and continued development of their chat service and have the time, resources or team to accomplish this goal.

The selection process emphasises a strong business case/ theory of change for using chat to benefit low-income women entrepreneurs or women in the workforce. They are particularly interested in those working to reduce gender disparities. Ideal applicants are social enterprises dedicated to developing and expanding a WhatsApp-based chat service, with the resources to build, manage and sustain the chat service after the Accelerator program.

Applicants should have a clear measurement and evaluation plan on how their new chat-based system can deliver baseline (before accelerator) and endline data (after accelerator) on women’s economic empowerment through indicators such as increased turnover, higher income, better market access, upskilling and/or financial services integration. The application deadline is January 31, 2024. Interested and qualified social entrepreneurs can apply on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) website at www.turn.io.