She’s Next, Empowered by Visa

Visa’s She’s Next Irish Grant Programme

Visa is continuing to take action and help remove the disproportionate barriers faced by women business founders. In collaboration with global funding platform IFundWomen, Visa’s She Next programme launched in Ireland to support women business owners with tools, resources, insights and funding to help them make their next move in business. The She’s Next grant programme offers five Irish small businesses led by women one of five grants of €5,000. The winners will also receive a one-year IFundWomen coaching membership. Terms and conditions apply.

Applications for this year’s grant programme is now closed.

The five winners will be announced on 14^th December 2021.

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Previous Visa's She’s Next Grant Programme Winners Share Their Stories

Priyanka Bakaya, Founder, Renewlogy, Salt Lake City, USA

Renewlogy was born out of a passion for the environment and a MIT class project on electronic waste. When Priyanka Bakaya learned that less than 10% of plastic waste is recycled through traditional mechanical recycling she turned Renewlogy’s attention to chemical pathways that create new markets for low-value plastics. Now, Renewlogy, which has commercial operations rolling out across multiple geographies, converts non-recycled plastic waste into new products.

“This grant will go towards supporting our work to build small scale systems targeting ocean plastics. We are also using it to launch a crowdfunding campaign to build a system for our non-profit partner “Plastic Ocean Project.” We hope it will inspire others to invest in advanced plastic recycling. Beyond the environmental benefits, we will also continue creating jobs and improving societal awareness about recycling.”

Priyanka Bakaya, Founder, Renewlogy

Link to website

Amanda Wilson, Founder, VOXAPOD¹, Portland, USA

In developing countries, 40-60% of girls don’t attend secondary school¹ – sometimes due to a lack of access to menstrual health products — and those who do attend often drop out for the same reason. VOXAPOD, a period care brand, is helping fight the gender gap while reducing waste and building stronger communities. They donate period products and 2% of sales to keep girls in school and provide menstrual health education. To date, they have helped more than 200 girls stay in school with confidence while also eliminating the cost burden of single-use products for thousands of women and reducing the waste of more than 4 million non-biodegradable disposables.

“With the recent outbreak of COVID-19, we are committed to using these funds exclusively to expand our operations and outreach to provide safe period products, education, and opportunities to those most in need––both in developing countries and right here at home.”

Amanda Wilson, Founder, VOXAPOD¹

^{¹United Nations Women Commission on the Status of Women 2012}

Link to website

Wanona Satcher, Founder, Makhers Studio, Atlanta, USA

Makhers Studio customises shipping containers into residential, commercial, community, retail and anchor service spaces. Primarily located in underserved communities, these spaces allow for hiring locally so residents can build and own the change they want to see. In response to COVID-19, Makhers Studio is supporting local, regional, state and federal needs by building MedPods – modular container clinics and housing units. With their healthcare partners they can build and rapidly deploy multiple clinics, micro-hospital Pods and on-demand housing.

“This grant will help my company launch and sustain our marketing plan to gain a larger customer and partner base. It will help us focus on the critical branding and marketing we need to attract our next round of investment.”

Wanona Satcher, Founder, Makhers Studio

Link to website

Nora LaTorre, CEO & Founder of the Eat REAL School Program, Oakland, USA

Public schools in the United States serve 30 million students five billion meals each year, and the food culture surrounding children is flooded with overly processed and sugar-loaded meals. Eat REAL is a public health nonprofit that increases real food access and education in schools for the well-being of children and the planet. They transform the menus on the largest restaurant chain in America – our public schools – by partnering with communities and schools to ensure students are being provided with healthier food options every day.

“This support means we can remove more schools from our waitlist, and more kids can safely access meals. As more families lose their incomes, they're increasingly depending on meals from schools to feed their kids. We will use the grant to support schools that continue to serve meals to kids during the crisis and help them transform their food programmes to be healthier for kids and the planet.”

Nora LaTorre, CEO & Founder of the Eat REAL School Program