Visa announces expansion of She's Next programme

Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, announced the expansion of its global She’s Next grant programme in Vietnam, empowering women to fund, run, and grow their small businesses

The She’s Next programme will run from March 28 until April 29. To receive funding, participants are representing businesses that have been operating for one or more years, with at least 51 per cent of the equity owned by women.

The criteria for evaluating the winning female entrepreneurs are scored according to compelling business stories, business metrics, digital presence, social impact, and several other factors.

Dang Tuyet Dung, country manager of Visa Vietnam and Laos said, “Women have long been an important part of the business community in Vietnam and are an organic part of the thriving and dynamic entrepreneur community. While men and women are on an equal legal footing, the International Finance Corporation estimated a financing gap of $1.19 billion to the disadvantage of women. With She’s Next, we are looking to tip the scale back in favour of women by providing them with the funds they need to achieve their business ambitions.”

According to Dung, the Visa She’s Next programme, in partnership with IFundWomen, will provide three winning Vietnamese businesses grants of $10,000, along with a one-year coaching membership and chances to join IFundWomen’s chain of conferences and connections events.

Chairwoman of the Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs Council Nguyen Thi Tuyet Minh said that Vietnam has led Southeast Asian countries in the increase of the number of women-led enterprises.

However, only 37 per cent of women-led small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) have had sufficient conditions and opportunities to access banks’ loans over the past two years. This ratio is lower compared to 47 per cent of men-led firms.

"The She’s Next grant programme is expected to become a motivation for female entrepreneurs and women-led firms to work harder and develop innovative ideas", Minh said.

This new programme builds on Visa’s commitment to digitally enable 50 million small businesses around the world to kickstart recovery from the pandemic.

In Vietnam, through its Where You Shop Matters campaign and Visa Commercial Offers programme, Visa has encouraged consumers to support local businesses while helping SMEs to go digital to benefit from the surge in e-commerce while enhancing business efficiency.

As the trusted engine of commerce, Visa is also providing access to entrepreneurial knowledge and tools to unleash businesses in the digital era via its Practical Business Skills platform.

The Visa She’s Next programme will further support small businesses, with a particular focus on unlocking the potential of the most promising female entrepreneurs.