“I have that big vision in me”: HerVenture makes waves with women entrepreneurs in Kenya

On Women’s Entrepreneurship Day 2020, we released our brand new video highlighting our work in Kenya in 2020.

This year, we partnered with DHL Express, together with Nairobi-based implementation partner SITE, to bring our flagship skills training app, HerVenture, to women entrepreneurs in Kenya.

Since launching in May 2020 the app has supported over 1,100 Kenyan women to protect and grow their small businesses during an incredibly challenging time. Over two thirds (68%) of the women entrepreneurs who used the app felt that the financial situation of their families would improve as a result.

Now, we’re pleased to share with you a new video which features the stories of Juliet, Wangari and Doris, several of the women entrepreneurs who have successfully used HerVenture to strengthen their businesses, as well as important words from Professor Margaret Kobia, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Public Service and Gender, Kenya:

An evaluation conducted in August on the app’s outcomes for users in Kenya illustrated the important benefits corporate-NGO development partnerships can achieve. After going through the app’s learning journey, 79% of users reported knowing how to achieve their business goals, up from 48% before using the app. 81% of users grew in confidence and 75% improved their financial planning and budgeting skills.

Within just a few months of using the app, and despite the difficulties of COVID-19:

  • 38% of users reported an increase in sales
  • 31% reported growing their customers
  • 25% increased their profits
  • 44% grew their savings, and others were optimistic that they would be able to post-pandemic
  • 68% felt optimistic that the financial situation of their families would improve as a result

Wangari Mwaura, owner of New Start Organics, is featured in the video as a HerVenture user. She explains, “[HerVenture] has enabled me to run my business and keep learning even when I’m at home and taking care of my baby. I learned how to launch a business, […] prepare myself, [use] business language, articulating challenges to forge ahead in a business environment. It has given me the tools to share with other women how to manage different sides of business. Before, we were running blind, so the app is a light in the dark; it helps us to know what to do, and if you’re stuck you can access tools and address it.”

Professor Margaret Kobia, Cabinet Secretary and Kenyan Minister of Public Service and Gender further comments in the video: “The status of women entrepreneurs in Kenya is a bright star rising. Whenever there is an opportunity for them to learn better skills, especially through HerVenture, it is something that we welcome wholeheartedly as a government.”

Juliet on the phone