We believe that women’s entrepreneurship is an integral part of an empowered society. Our mission is to contribute to a world where women entrepreneurs in Africa have quality and equal opportunities to build impactful and sustainable businesses.
Welcome
Over the last three years we have supported game changing, women-led impact ventures that are improving the lives of people living in poverty across the African region.
Our Accelerator program has provided the region’s most promising female founders with access to the skills, knowledge, connections, funding and community they need to build sustainable and scalable ventures. It has been designed and is delivered by women entrepreneurs, for women entrepreneurs. The idea for yher was born in Africa - where more women are pursuing entrepreneurship per capita than anywhere else in the world. yher leverages ygap's proven model which has been developed by running over 47 programs and supporting more than 541 impact ventures globally.
COVID-19 has gifted us with the opportunity to reflect on our experience and expertise and to explore new ways we can continue to make an impactful dent in the female entrepreneurial landscape. We are currently hard at work designing our new offering which will focus on addressing the funding gap for women led ventures. The main objective of this new offering is to get capital into the hands of the women who have the power, passion and ambition to shape Africa’s future.
Accelerate
Start your yher journey by taking part in a six day intensive in-person entrepreneurship program in South Africa. There, you will get access to our proven curriculum, developed over the course of running 47 programs globally, and delivered by our world class local and global facilitation team. We take a holistic approach to our program, accelerating not just the venture but YOU as an entrepreneur, ensuring you have the tools, techniques, courage and tribe of women supporting you to handle the roller coaster journey that is life as a social entrepreneur.
Connect
You will become part of a community of inspiring, supportive and like-minded women entrepreneurs all working towards solving social and environmental challenges across the region.
Support
After having spent a week deep diving into your business model in South Africa, you get access to six months of remote coaching, resources, small grants, connections and more.
Grow
At the end of the support phase, we will work with the entrepreneurs who have made the most progress and have been the most engaged and proactive to obtain further funding and support.
The yher programme challenged me to think hard about myself and really explore the 'why' of my business. I had to re-evaluate my business deeply in order to scale it in the most sustainable and impactful way. It was an intensely emotional and challenging week and I couldn't have done it without the support of this amazing group of women. I am proud to say that I am part of this community where I feel safe to open up and share.
JADE LI
Katapult | Mauritius
My time at yher has boosted my confidence as a female founder - the mentors and supportive female founder community have helped me run an impactful business with clear metrics and goals. The follow on tailored support and an opportunity to consult on everyday business challenges has created a safe space for me to grow and to be sure I am not alone in the race. Are you a female founder out there? I strongly encourage you to apply, your life and business will not remain the same.
ASHA NAMUGAMBE
Teheca Health | Uganda
Our Point Of Difference
Why us? What makes us different?
We are one of the only organisations on the continent with a niche focus on women entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurship.
We have built credible experience in identifying early-stage ventures with potential to scale.
We have over a decade's worth of expertise in supporting the growth of early-stage impact ventures.
We are experts in applying a gender lens to acceleration & incubation and have been developing and contributing to resources and capacity building programs to directly support the ecosystem to advance gender equality.
We understand the needs and challenges of women entrepreneurs.
Since attending yher, our growth has been phenomenal and it has enabled us to remain committed to our goal to demonstrate how a social enterprise - one that is built on addressing critical challenges faced by the world's most vulnerable women - can be sustainable and scalable. The yher peer review funding from has assisted us to define ourselves through industry leadership, equitable team structure and innovative partnerships.
MUZALEMA MWANZA
Safe Motherhood Alliance | Zambia
As a female founder in Africa, we face a lot of barriers, and unfair challenges that deter us from navigating the entrepreneurship landscape with ease. For many months after launching my business, Maid in Johannesburg, I felt like I was going around in circles with no-one to reach out to for help. This feeling of loneliness and uncertainty pushed me to apply for the yher programme. The programme was valuable because it helped me to clarify my WHY. Additionally, I was able to build a tribe of female founders across Africa who empathised with me. Since then, we regularly share entrepreneurial advice which makes the experience less lonely and fun too."
KATLEGO SEKETE
Maid in Johannesburg | South Africa
Our Organisation
yher is a program by ygap, an international independent development non-for-profit with offices in Australia, Africa, South Asia and the Pacific Islands. To date, our local teams have run over 47 accelerator programs and supported over 541 ventures that have gone on to provide opportunities for more than 1,295,411 people affected by disadvantage in these regions to break the poverty cycle. yher is ygap’s female focussed program, which adapts ygap’s proven model to back the most promising female impact entrepreneurs in the regions we operate in.
