Women supported by EIT Food EWA programme in 2022 – monitoring results
The monitoring of female entrepreneurs supported by the EIT Food EWA programme in 2022 in the CEE region has been carried out between August and September 2023, in the form of an online questionnaire, distributed in 6 countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia and Lithuania. The questionnaire has been filled in by 50 out of 60 EWA alumni of 2022.
Empowering Women in Agrifood programme aims to provide comprehensive support for early-stage female entrepreneurs in using their potential, providing them with appropriate knowledge and access to a wide network of contacts to successfully set up and develop a sustainable business in the agrifood industry. The programme has already supported 370 female entrepreneurs in seventeen European countries for the past four years. For six months EWA Mentees participate in workshops, dedicated trainings and events while developing ideas under the individual supervision of a professional female or male Mentor. At the end of the programme, participants pitch their business ideas in front of a wide audience. This performance adds the last point to the final score for each Mentee, who may be selected to receive a final grant of 10,000 or 5,000 euros.
It is the first activity of this type carried out in this region of Europe for the EWA programme, the main goal of which is to learn about the future entrepreneurial journeys of EWA 2022 graduates to improve the structure of the programme, including better clarification of application criteria and improvement of mentoring and training processes best to adapt them to the needs of programme female participants.
EIT Food CLC North-East representatives analyzed the data collected from the surveys, and the results were presented in the graphics below.
EWA programme invites female entrepreneurs with a startup at a very early stage but also participants only with a business idea. In 2022 more than half of the respondents (26 female entrepreneurs) joined the EWA programme with already registered startups. 11 of them registered the company during the EWA programme.
The vast majority (90%) of EWA alumni, included in the monitoring activity, are very satisfied with the fact that they took part in the EWA programme in 2022.
Among key benefits gained through participation in the EWA programme, the following were mentioned:
You can get to know the participants of the EWA programme and read more about their impressions after this wonderful six-month adventure >> HERE <<
The next edition of the EWA programme will take place in 2024. The programme is conducted in local languages, and the exact list of countries where it will take place will be confirmed at the beginning of 2024. The individual stages of the activity and their dates are indicated >> HERE <<.
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