SME.NG has graduated 15 women entrepreneurs from its All Women’s Accelerator known as ‘She Works Here’.
SME.NG is an impact investment platform that invests in the Nigerian micro, small and medium scale enterprises and enables them to realise environmental, social and financial returns.
The graduation took place on Saturday, 26 October 2019.
It coincided with an Investor Pitching event, where the women entrepreneurs pitched their businesses before angel and private equity investors.
“SME.NG has changed the landscape for gender-lens investing in Nigeria by creating a one-stop platform for women to strengthen their businesses and access different types of financing to meet their needs,” Thelma Ekiyor, managing director of SME.NG, said.
The platform’s approach to small and medium enterprises financing is through a ‘blended financing’ model, which will leverage private capital, public sector investments and philanthropic giving.
The SME.NG’s platform comprises the ‘Ebi Fund’— a Bottom of the Pyramid Fund for Women; the Women’s Investment Fund, a fund dedicated to large women- owned businesses; the Youth Innovation Fund, which invests in youth start-ups, and She Works Here, an all-women’s accelerator and funding space.
