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Dentsu Aegis Network continues with its initiative to fund female entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia

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By Taruka Srivastav, Reporter

October 3, 2017 | 3 min read

Dentsu Aegis Network announced the second edition of its initiative Female Foundry which aims to mentor, develop and help fund female entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia.

Dentsu Aegis Network continues with its initiative 'Female Foundry' to fund female entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia

Dentsu Aegis Network continues with its initiative 'Female Foundry' to fund female entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia

The idea follows a report from iProspect titled 'Hear Her Voice' which states that female entrepreneurs seek technical skills and personal development to grow and scale in the next 12 months. According to the report, some 20% of female startup founders aim to raise capital and source further financial backing.

As part of the initiative, Female Foundry in collaboration with Female Founders and West Tech Fest will also organise a demo day to help the female entrepreneurs secure a second round of funding. Bill Tai, venture capitalist and founder of ACTAI Global will act both an advisor and judge on the demo day.

The selected participants will also get a chance to be mentored by senior industry workers like Microsoft Advertising's APAC marketing manager Darshini Santhanam, Paula Taylor, executive director and co-founder, West Tech Fest and Katarina Hasbani, general manager of Female Founders.

The winner will be sponsored to travel to Australia's West Tech Fest to present the final idea at its 2017 Startup Challenge in December.

According to Dentsu Aegis Network Asia Pacific's CEO, Nick Waters: “Female Foundry helps prepare startups by equipping them with the necessary tools, networks, skills, and strategy to thrive in the digital economy."

He said: "Through Female Foundry, we hope to provide a platform that will support and empower women in emerging markets where 80% of the global middle class will live in 10 years."

Joanna Catalano, CEO of iProspect Asia Pacific said: "We continue to support initiatives which leverage tech for good and drive meaningful and lasting change in society. Building on the success and learnings from last year and in partnership with leading influencers, we are delighted to welcome our second cohort of founders.”

Dentsu further plans to extend the programme into Latin America and Africa as part of its plan to roll Female Foundry out to 30 markets around the world in 30 months.

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