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Absa backs black female tech entrepreneurs

Sibahle Malinga
By Sibahle Malinga, ITWeb senior news journalist.
Johannesburg, 18 Apr 2018
Antoinette Prophy, project manager of the Rise Scalarator.
Antoinette Prophy, project manager of the Rise Scalarator.

Absa bank's fintech innovation hub Rise has unveiled the Rise Scalarator, and is calling on female tech entrepreneurs to apply for the programme.

The Rise Scalarator is a global community which facilitates collaboration and fintech innovation in local SMEs. Through the programme, Absa says it will be providing five Cape-Town based women entrepreneurs with a 12-week-long subsidised membership to the Barclays-funded initiative.

The programme aims to support South African black female entrepreneurs who have developed a tech solution to help boost and scale their start-up, while acquiring a range of new ICT skills training from business coaches.

Antoinette Prophy, founder and MD at the 88 Business Collective, and project manager of the Rise Scalarator explains: "The programme is designed to focus on the female founder holistically, they will have access to an advisory board, a business coach, financial management and modelling tech tools as well as access to a world-class network by being based at Rise Cape Town for the duration of the programme."

The Rise Scalarator will start in June until November, kicking-off with a 12-week boot camp, and culminating in a funding pitch to be held at Rise offices in Cape Town that will assist participants in securing investment opportunities with the broader network.

The five selected female founders will receive support from a business coach to boost their personal growth and leadership skills in supporting the growth of their own employees, leadership team and company.

Rise is a global start-up community pioneering financial services and unlocking Africa's potential, and through this network innovators and entrepreneurs gain the support and resources to help fast-track their business.

According to the 2017 Global Gender Gap Report, only 13% of SA graduates in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields are women, despite the country being ranked 19th out of 144 countries.

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