First Women’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator Will Support 15 Women-Owned Businesses

The first edition of Moldova’s Women's Entrepreneurship Accelerator kicked off on Tuesday, 6 September. Over the course of three months, 15 participants, all of whom were selected from the four editions of the Pre-Accelerator Programme: Women's Entrepreneurship, will have the opportunity to improve their businesses and attract their first investments.

The official launch event brought together the programme’s participants, mentors, partners and donors. They had the opportunity to get to know each other, discuss the programme’s format and share their impressions and expectations for the next three months of the Accelerator.

Pernilla Nordvall, the Secretary for Political Affairs at the Embassy of Sweden in Chisinau, joined the event and congratulated the programme’s participants, saying: "I hope the 'support kit' you get here will help you develop your initiatives. Efforts made by the participants of the Accelerator Programme are important on many levels. Having our own financial resources is essential for gender equality and matters to everyone because an equal society benefits all of us. I’m glad Sweden is collaborating with UN Women and XY Partners on this project. Supporting women’s economic empowerment in Moldova is an example of how we (Sweden) are putting our foreign feminist policy into practice."

Nighina Azizov, UN Women Moldova’s Programme Coordinator on Ending Violence against Girls and Women, highlighted the importance of empowering women business owners: "Thanks to the Women's Entrepreneurship Programme, 58 income-generating activities are active and developing. One of UN Women's priorities is the economic empowerment of girls and women, including those from vulnerable groups. There are many women involved in income-generating activities who feel discriminated against in educational institutions and the workplace. And this state of unease can sometimes limit their values and initiatives that could help create a more prosperous and better society."

During the event, the implementation team presented the programme’s agenda as well as the planned activities and facilities the 15 participants will enjoy. The participants shared their impressions after taking part in the Pre-Accelerator Programme and talked about their expectations for the new experience.

At the end of the event, Olga Melniciuc, a programme mentor who is also the founder of the Investiții.md and the co-founder of Business Angels Moldova, offered some encouraging advice to the participants: "Women have so many creative ideas, and the only thing we sometimes lack is a little bit of self-confidence and just a little support. This is what we are trying to achieve through women’s entrepreneurship programmes. Now, at this stage, we believe that you already know what you want, what you need and what we can help you with, and our role is to support you. During these three months, it’s important to show that women can support other women – that you are a community of friends, partners and clients who can help each other grow. Only together can we move forward and change our country."

The Women's Entrepreneurship Accelerator is an intensive acceleration programme that lasts three months and focuses on companies founded by women. The programme’s purpose is to help women entrepreneurs improve their businesses and launch them in the international market. The acceleration programme offers benefits, including meetings with successful women entrepreneurs from Moldova, weekly workshops, an individualized approach, access to digital tools and a community of entrepreneurs and experts, as well as funding opportunities.

This programme is implemented by XY Partners in collaboration with UN Women, with the financial support of Sweden.