Lucie Blay, Others Win GH¢550,000 SC Grant

Lucie Blay, (2nd left) with the other winners

 

FIVE outstanding women entrepreneurs have emerged grant awardees of the Standard Chartered Women in Technology Incubator Programme, Cohort 3.

The five were selected among 20 participants of the programme aimed at empowering women-led start-ups and providing them with the necessary resources and support to thrive

The winners, Lucie E. Blay of Legal Find, Natalie Fordwor of Wonderspace, Naa Kukuokor Owoo, of Esse Studios, Umar Farouk Mubaraka of Kodu Technology and Laura Pepera of Virtutoronline received a seed funding of GH¢110,000 each to invest into their businesses after a successful pitch.

Speaking at the awards ceremony in Accra, Consumer Private & Business Banking, Standard Chartered Bank Ghana PLC, Yvonne Gyebi, said, “As a bank we celebrate these incredible women, a powerful testament to the limitless potential of diversity and innovation.

With our Women in Tech programme we are championing economic inclusion for female businesses. We are inspired by their journey of breaking down barriers that truly reflects the world we live in.”

She said the programme was implemented in partnership with the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre, and Ashesi University business incubator.

Executive Director of the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre, Ruka Sanusi, also expressed her profound enthusiasm for the significant strides being taken to drive innovation and sustainable solutions in the ever-evolving technological landscape and highlighting the pivotal role that collaboration, knowledge exchange, and empowerment of women entrepreneurs play in propelling society towards a greener and more prosperous future.

She said apart from the seed funding, the businesses will receive portfolio management support over the next 10 weeks, exposure to potential investors who are looking to support women-led businesses and as well as join the global SCWIT alumni network where they will have access to additional networking events, resources, content, and business scaling opportunities.

By Ebenezer K. Amponsah