Business Acceleration

By giving women entrepreneurs the skills they need to scale up their businesses, our acceleration programme creates jobs and transforms communities from the ground up – raising business owners’ families well above the lower middle-income poverty line of $3.20 a day.

Tackling poverty at scale

 

As well as lifting first-time entrepreneurs above the poverty line, Hand in Hand helps generate grassroots economic growth by giving existing women entrepreneurs the skills, mentoring, credit, networks and connections they need to scale up their enterprises, as part of our ‘accelerator’ training. 

 

 

 

 

 

Helping women overcome the barriers to expansion

By supporting this group of women business owners we:

  • Help them to raise their families well above the middle-income line of $3.20 a day,
  • Create much-needed jobs in some of the world’s most deprived places,
  • Strengthen existing value chains, creating strong local business ecosystems. 
  • Support women to overcome the barriers to accessing credit, so they can expand their businesses.
  • Tackle digital exclusion, helping women business owners reach new and larger markets through e-commerce platforms. 

Our aim is for 30% of the entrepreneurs we support to scale up their businesses through our accelerator programme,  creating jobs in their communities.

Our impact at a glance

0.66

Job created per business started. 

$192

Average increase in monthly earnings for accelerator programme members 

95%

Average increase in profit for accelerator programme members.

43%

Average cost reduction for accelerator programme member

Our partnerships

Fighting poverty in Kenya with Visa 

We teamed up with Visa to reach 10,200 women to lift their families out of poverty in some of Kenya’s most disadvantaged regions.

Planet friendly farming with IKEA 

Thanks to the IKEA Foundation we will train 1,600 smallholder farmers in regenerative and circular practices to increase productivity and reduce poverty.

Partnering with Cartier Philanthropy to empower women

This groundbreaking project works with men to tackle restrictive attitudes that hold women back.

Success stories

Bathsheba, Kenya 

Boosting food security in her community during the  Covid-19 crisis. 

Faith, Tanzania

How one woman found a way to provide for her family when her husband lost his job.

 

Rozi-Khal, Afghanistan

A former refugee turned poultry farmer who can now provide for her children.