Standard Chartered Bank and Village Capital, an investment firm targeting early-stage entrepreneurs, have recently announced a new partnership seeking to invest in impact-driven, women-led startups. The partnership will see the launch of a financing facility to invest in Standard Chartered’s Women in Tech program in efforts to address the gender financing gap that persists in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“The financing facility’s key objective is to provide much-needed catalytic capital, empowering women entrepreneurs to overcome the challenges they face in accessing investment and financing opportunities compared to their male counterparts,” a joint release shared by the two firms reads in part.
“We’re extremely excited to partner with Standard Chartered Bank to support their vision to lift participation of women globally by driving more investment capital to impact-driven women founders,” said Heather Matranga, Vice President, Impact Investments, Village Capital.
As part of the pilot program, Village Capital will be investing $150,000 in two women-led startups: Bena Care, a Kenyan start-up delivering affordable clinical and supportive care to patients with life-limiting illnesses in the comfort of their own homes, and Zambian fintech startup, Mighty Finance. To note, each startup will be receiving $75,000.
“We are excited to be able to partner with Village Capital to bolster our successful Women in Tech program, which has trained more than 70 women-led businesses by providing them with critical support to help scale their businesses to international standards,” said Joyce Kibe, Head, Corporate Affairs, Brand and Marketing, Standard Chartered.
“We believe by supporting more women in business, we are stimulating more robust and resilient economic activity while providing support for inputs that are often neglected for start-up businesses,” said Ms. Kibe.
