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Society for Working & Women Entrepreneurs - Kenya
Welcome To SWWE Kenya.
The Home For Female Founders
SWWE Kenya is a non-profit initiative that helps working women & women entrepreneurs learn how to create lasting careers or build real a company.
Whether it’s a startup founder or a corporate employee looking to level up, we’ll introduce them to the very best mentors, investors, cofounders, and sponsors in the space ready to help them get started on their journey.
OUR PROGRAMS ARE
COMPREHENSIVE
We create a framework as Advisors where The Founder (s) & Team, are up-skilled on everything they need to run a successful startup or identify the next steps in their career.
COLLABORATIVE
We work in partnership with all available startup service providers & co-working partners to build sustainable ecosystem solutions so our candidates can easily transition anywhere they need to.
ACCOUNTABLE
Using our Online Platforms, Analytics & Progress Reporting, we can continually measure candidates performance advising them on developing opportunities they can seize, or what initiatives to hold back on till things improve.
Startup Scene In Kenya
Entrepreneurship is the future of Prosperity in Africa
600+ tech hub incubators in Africa
50+ of them are in Kenya, focused mainly in Nairobi – The African Report
$1B in VC funding available to African Startups
Kenya raised the 2nd highest amount in Africa, securing $564 million (5.64 billion) in 2019 – WeeTracker
Startup Friendliness Index (SFI) of 31.4%
Nairobi is ranked seventh out of the 16 cities in Africa thanks to its’ Human Capital strength – Enpact
CHALLENGES
Not all founders are equipped to start a company in the digital economy
More Book than Street Smarts
The academic education is inapplicable in the job market – enpact.org
Founders Misread The Market
Lack skills in pitching, team selection, MVP & customer insights so can’t fully understand the market
Ecosystem & Culture Sideline Women
African culture sees women as home makers, so organizations prioritize resources to train men
CHALLENGES
Not all founders are supported equally
Less Funding For Women Founders
56% in the region cite lack of finance as a reason for closing down their business – (GEM) 2016/17
Less Program Support For Women Founders
Fewer programs catering specifically to train in overcoming challenges faced by African women founders
THE VISION
That's where WE come in!
SWWE Kenya is a non-profit multi-industry empowerment program that helps working women & women entrepreneurs. At SWWE Kenya, every startup, every professional is re-enabled to develop a commercially viable business or career strategy that can thrive in the modern world.
TARGET MARKET
SWWE Kenya is the Home For Female Founders. We have programs catering mainly to Women Professionals & Women Entrepreneurs between the ages of 23-50 whether they’re starting their first business or headed to their 5th, whether they’re looking to upskill for the gig economy or land better paying jobs.
WHY WOMEN
Kenyan society still holds on to traditional norms that drive gender inequality. Therefore, women experience an unnecessary barrier that cripples their ability and potential to largely participate in the economy – Viffa Consult, Doing Business in Kenya Reflection of Women SMEs 2019
At SWWE Kenya, we’ve experienced that the women we interact with are more willing to experiment in business & make incremental changes (Minimum Viable Progress) to their strategies vs waiting for an entire plan.
SWWE Kenya MVP
We conceptualized the idea in 2017 & launched our first pilot – MVP – in 2018. The inaugural event saw 65 women entrepreneurs register, 25 of whom completed the program.
In 2019 we saw 800 registrations with 255 women completing the program.
2018 PILOT
32%
2019 ATTENDEES
1%
Total Available Market Served (2019)
12%
Serviceable Available Market (2025)
SWWE Kenya GOALS
With 110K representing the Total Available Market (TAM) of Women in SMEs in Kenya, 800 registrations represent under ~1% conversion rate.
The TAM is our lifetime approach, we plan to reach 14K women in SME’s – representing the Serviceable Available Market (SAM) – in 5 years
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
We are the first & main participants of our program
70% of the training material used in our programs is internally generated thanks to 60% of the program support team being inhouse.
70%
Amount of Training Material that is Generated In-House
60%
Size of SWWE Kenya's Own Support Team
50%
Efficiency in Deploying Programs vs The Global Average
40%
Amount of Training Completed in the 2 Day Workshops. The Rest is Completed During the Accelerator Program
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Prior experience has helped us launch programs faster.
Programs are conceptualized & deployed in 2 months countrywide – twice as fast as the average estimates for a single city by TechStars, one of our global partners. Those who enroll in a SWWE Accelerator program, 40% of the coursework is completed during a 2 day workshop – TechStars Startup Weekend – with the remaining 60% covered in the coming months depending on the business complexity & resources applied by the entrepreneur.
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
We Are Budget Conscious
Thanks to our partners, 80% of the attendees workshop costs are sponsored & 60% of the incubation program cost is payable as convertible note debt.
80%
Program Amount that is Sponsored
60%
Amount Payable as Convertible Note Debt
Access to 1000+ professionals
We have a database of 1000+ professionals & are working with 50+ partner organizations to support women.
COMPETITIVE APPROACH
Hands On Education
Mentorship & Advisory
Online Communities & Platforms
Workshops offer hands-on program recruitment & subsidized training of Women in Entrepreneurship.
Post program mentorship & advisory for as long as they need it.
Women Only Entrepreneurship Advisory & Resources Platform as a safe space for collaboration & growth.
IMPACT SO FAR
BUSINESS MODEL
We employ a 3-tiered business model with pay-to-play at its core
- Host paying events involving Women Entrepreneurs & SMEs looking to build commercially viable businesses or up-skill their craft to access better jobs/build careers.
- Customize our frameworks for each Women Entrepreneur to develop their business ideas through creating products & defining the services offered.
- Enroll them on our Subscription based Women Only Platforms to resource & network with peer entrepreneurs who have achieved the same level of success.
REVENUE MODEL
We see subscriptions as the most viable approach to sustainable program development.
Once launched, subscriptions will be at the heart of our platforms revenue model allowing us to offer added value to our candidates while relying less on donor funding.
The platform will open up other lines of business like program while labelling – we’ve already had other institutions approach us & one has already adopted our model in the field.
Founder & Programs Director
Partnerships Director
Associate
Founder, Ardy Marketing
Founder & CEO, MAMA Ventures
Founder & CEO, All & Sundry Limited
Founder, Step & Stone Consultancy
Executive Director, Baraza Media
Founder, Mwanadada