Heroikka

Women with small and new business have limited or lack access to networks that effectively support their entrepreneurial efforts.

Heroikka provides a platform for women to access opportunities facilitated by corporations and governments looking to build inclusive impact.

We have discovered through our solution that women entrepreneurs are able to increase their growth opportunities, balance the gender gap in entrepreneurship within their communities and improve their chances to build sustainable projects.

The Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE Program) in Europe posted an open call for projects on our platform for women entrepreneurs in the Canary Islands. Women from Latin America, Africa and Europe living in the islands responded. We were able to facilitate access to 60 scholarships, 6 awards and 5 projects were nominated for the Santander X Global Award. Thanks to the success of the open call this program will be implemented in Andalucía and Sevilla in 2020.

Inclusive entrepreneurship and women empowerment

Globally, there are +400 M of women entrepreneurs. Approximately 231 million women are starting or running new businesses in 59 countries. In low-income countries, 37.8% of women intend to start a new business within three years, but world-wide women owned businesses operating for more than 42 months is only 6.2%.

If women and men participated equally as entrepreneurs, the global GDP could rise by approximately 3% to 6%, boosting the global economy by $2.5 trillion to $5 trillion. 

Unequal access to social capital plays a significant role in the gender gap, particularly for women starting new businesses. Women have a steeper learning curve and face many barriers and prejudices trying to access networks/capital. 

90% of the women (Latinas, African-American and Immigrants) that we interviewed said they have higher risks of business discontinuance within 6 months of starting. 

In communities abroad who engaged with our platform, less than 3% of women, had direct access to funded programs and opportunities provided by corporate and governments.  

On Heroikka, women are able to register and post their projects and share  their specific needs in areas that they need particular assistance. In the project template women share a brief description of their venture that serves as a introduction of their business.

These projects are then made visible to companies and government organizations. Project leads can be contacted directly on the platform and when enabled shared on social media. 

Corporations and governments get a customized tag assigned to their  programs in the platform. Women then, can add the tag to their projects to be considered for open calls and campaigns related to these programs.

Through our platform analytics, we are able to gather information about the most wanted skills for the businesses, the most popular projects locally and overseas, connections made by project. Collation of these trends help organization to localize their community and engagement efforts. 

Women: with early stage businesses, ideas or project with a social impact component. We want to be the foundation of community growth and provide wider opportunities to vulnerable women. Putting women at the center of economies will fundamentally drive better and more sustainable development outcomes for all, support a more rapid recovery from the current economic climate, and place the world back on a footing to achieve the 'Sustainable Development Goals'. 

Companies: Most companies already have Corporate Social Responsibility programs and budgets but are looking for opportunities to engage their workforce and obtain brand recognition. 

Governments: around the world are looking for social impact projects that matter to their policies and interests. Access to a pipe-line of women businesses will allow them to connect with community initiatives and build sustainable long-term programs.

So far we have been able to run 3 government initiatives that resulted in registration of 821 projects, institution engagement with 150 projects, award of 60 scholarships, and established avg 4.7 connections per project. 

Imagine how many women were empowered to fulfill their dreams. How many did they then inspire with their projects. How many communities benefited from 3 initiatives.  

We serve women in underrepresented communities and low-income regions. At Heroikka, it is key that women discover networks, connect with resources and workforce to build sustainable projects. This is the best way to create growth that translate to good jobs for the community at large. We want to be the catalysts that drive meaningful and long lasting changes to all the women entrepreneurs out there. 

The businesses that participated in the Canary Islands program through our platform created 32+ jobs.

Heroikka empowers women to connect their project ideas and needs with global networks and social capital This includes women gaining mentorship, visibility and economic opportunities.  Our immediate goals are to increase the participation of women in the programs established in their communities, understanding the specific needs for their projects, and made visible these projects to the institutions and partners that run these programs. These immediate goals link to our long-term outcomes including improving the employment rates in the communities, strengthening the access to corporate and government partnerships, and decreasing the rate of business discontinuance for women. We've carried out two pilots, one in Spain and  another in Mexico. Results show that more progress is being made in women that participated in an open call from programs posted in Heroikka, and there is a significant increase in engagement with other women entrepreneurs that are starting new businesses in the region. 

The Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE Program) in Europe posted an open call for projects on our platform for women entrepreneurs in the Canary Islands. Women from Latin America, Africa and Europe living in the islands responded. We were able to facilitate access to 60 scholarships, 6 awards and 5 projects were nominated for the Santander X Global Award. Thanks to the success of the open call this program will be implemented in Andalucía and Sevilla in 2020.

Full-time 1

Part-time 3

Contractors 1

Maica Gil 

Her experience in entrepreneurship, government and non-profits, has helped her create a platform for diverse international organizations to collaborate, share resources and give visibility to various projects and initiatives, start-ups and businesses specific to women at the SF International Women Entrepreneurs Forum. As Co-Founder at Heroikka, Maica is passionate and committed to closing the gap by connecting women-led projects, funding and support systems around the world.

Janelle Kellman initially pursued a career in environmental law,  then left the law to launch an on-demand marketing and e-commerce platform.  She currently serves as a strategic advisor to a cybersecurity company focused on data and blockchain technologies.  She also served on the Board of Directors for Baykeeper, a water quality non-profit, Janelle's broad range of experience with startups, government and non-profits allows her to apply a unique lens to the projects she leads and nurtures.

Priyanka Shetty has a vast experience in Consulting and Strategy in Technology, Consumer (B2B&B2C) products. She has lived in 5 continents, delivered solutions for 15+ emerging and developed countries, visited 62 countries. Focused on Business Operations & Transformation, Strategic Partnerships, Design Thinking, Product Management, and Storytelling. Possess strong people, leadership, and influence skills with demonstrated success building a high-performance organization. 

Candace Crowhurst is the Head Community at the Female Founder School. Community for Women Entrepreneurs as a core tenet of the business. She has extensive experience in sourcing and identifying all potential customers and
developing their International Partnership Programs.

- Academy of Women Entrepreneurs in Spain  ( US Embassy in Madrid and US State Department through our non-profit in Spain, Asociacion Heroikka.

https://asociacionheroikka.com/

- Proexca - Canary Island Government: Preparing an open call of projects in a digital global event for women from at least 3 continents in November.

- AFRIMAC: 100 Women to Change Africa

https://100women.afrimac.org/

We have encountered the same problem that we are trying to solve.

We need access to new networks, funding and technical advise to build the new platform with what we have learnt from our users and project builders.

Just by applying we are giving visibility to the projects that are in the platform created by amazing women from around the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQD0d6eHoPU

We also need partners for the Summit that we have established to give visibility and connect all these women through their projects with opportunities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmpJPakMoe8&t=2s

Heroikka is a digital platform that empowers women to connect their project ideas and needs with global networks and social capital.

We will use the prize to build the new platform since right now we have only our MVP. This will allow us to help more women in the specific areas that they need.