(From left) Mereka project director Farhana Mohd Noor; Biji-biji Initiative and Mereka group chief executive officer Rashvin Pal Singh; Biji-biji Initiative chief executive officer and Mereka director Juliana Adam; Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development (MECD) deputy secretary general (Policy and Monitoring) deputy secretary general Noor Afifah Abdul Razak; Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia chairman Datuk Yvonne Chia; Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Brand & Sponsorship, Impact and Community Engagement head Mastura Adnan; Saadiq Malaysia chief executive officer Mohd Suhaimi Abdul Hamid; and Standard Chartered Malaysia Corporate Affairs, Brand and Marketing head Geraldine Tan.
TO further empower women, Futuremakers by Standard Chartered and Mereka Innovative Education (Mereka) have introduced the Women in Entrepreneurship (WiE) Programme to equip local women-led organisations with essential business acumen.
The launch of WiE was officially inaugurated by Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Ministry (MECD) deputy secretary general (Policy and Monitoring) Noor Afifah Abdul Razak on Sept 11, 2023 at Mereka Space, Publika Shopping Gallery, Kuala Lumpur.
Open to women-led organisations based in Malaysia with a minimum viable product (MVP) and a clear business model, the programme comprises webinars and pitching sessions, with a highly competitive selection process that will shortlist only 20 teams to participate in the bootcamp.
In addition, the top five winning teams will receive seed funding from a pool of USD 100,000 and undergo a six-month dedicated mentorship programme, where they will receive guidance and support from experienced mentors in the entrepreneurship fields.
“We believe that women entrepreneurs have enormous potential to drive economic growth and innovation in Malaysia. Through this programme, we want to provide them with the necessary tools, resources, and guidance to build successful and sustainable businesses. We are hopeful that our current partnership with Mereka will drive more opportunities for women entrepreneurs as they look for growth beyond the COVID-19 period, where more than 176,000 entrepreneurs nationwide were forced to close their businesses.
“Since 2020, Standard Chartered has committed USD25mil to support youth-focused economic recovery projects as part of Futuremakers by Standard Chartered, with the Standard Chartered as the lead delivery partner for all Futuremakers projects,” said Standard Chartered Saadiq Malaysia Chief executive Officer Mohd Suhaimi Abdul Hamid.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Futuremakers by Standard Chartered and Mereka on this initiative. Women entrepreneurs face unique challenges in accessing the support and funding they need to launch and grow their businesses. “WiE is designed to address these obstacles by providing women entrepreneurs with access to essential resources and mentorship. By supporting women-led businesses, we can not only help them unlock their full potential, but also drive positive change and economic growth in communities across Malaysia.
Moreover, by empowering women entrepreneurs, we can help close the gender gap in entrepreneurship and promote gender equality in our society,” said Juliana Adam, Director of Mereka and Chief Executive Officer of Biji-biji Initiative.
Applications for the WiE Programme are now open, and interested teams can apply via the Women in Entrepreneurship official website at https://wie.mereka.my/.
