Ignite Initiative

The IGNITE Initiative ensures a landscape that promises greater opportunity for women entrepreneurs, which will accordingly promote their economic empowerment.

Background

The IGNITE Initiative, funded by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, unleashes the power of women entrepreneurs in major urban and peri-urban centers of Vietnam. It will increase access to finance, technology, information, and entrepreneurial networks of 50,000 strivers through collaboration among financial service providers (FSPs), business accelerators, and NGO partners. The program aims to target ‘strivers’, or entrepreneurs with 2-10 employees who are looking to grow their business and hire more employees but often lack the right type of financing and need access to specific knowledge and skills.

Objective of Ignite Initiative

ACCESS TO FINANCE
Women entrepreneurs are linked to formal financial services, particularly credit

ACCESS TO KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
Women entrepreneurs are given critical knowledge and skills to run effective businesses

OUTREACH CAMPAIGN AND NETWORK BUILDING
Entrepreneurial networks supporting women entrepreneurs are strengthened and become more accessible

Partners and their roles in Ignite Initiative

VPBank
VPBank is the leading commercial bank in the country which provides tailor-made financial products for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, focusing on women-led ones.

Key roles:

Customise financial products to satisfy the needs of women-led enterprises.
Develop non-financial services including diagnostic tools, industrial forecasts as well as webinar training series to enrich users’ experience.

WISE
WISE is the leading organization supporting women’s startups and entrepreneurship in Vietnam and the Mekong Region. WISE provides support including digital literacy, entrepreneurial skills, mentoring, and accelerator programs.

Key roles:

Provide an entrepreneurial support package to women entrepreneurs to start, sustain, and grow their businesses including skills building, coaching, and mentoring.
Connect women entrepreneurs to entrepreneurial networks and promote their digital integration.

CanalCircle
Canal Circle is a fintech company that offers digital finance solutions for banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Vietnam. Canal Circle aims to create an ecosystem that connects financial institutions to the poor and low-income populations via technology.

Key roles:

Fulfill the gap in reaching out to women-led enterprises in rural areas given its partnership with a wide MFI network in Vietnam.
Provide insights for reviewing and adjusting financial products targeting women-led enterprises.

CARE
CARE is a non-profit international development organization dedicated to ending poverty and achieving social justice.

Key roles:

Ensure that programming and adaptation of products and services fit with the realities of gender inequalities.
Lead the project’s overall implementation – serving as the broker of partners and technical expert on gender and social norms change, monitoring, evaluation, and learning.
Lead the digital and social marketing campaign to promote women’s entrepreneurship.