SheDisrupts Vietnam 2021

Register to the demo day on 25 February, 11am ICT to hear live pitches of finalists and join the launch of the report on financial needs and digital preparedness assessment of these startups

SheDisrupts Vietnam 2021 is a startup competition and pre-acceleration program for women entrepreneurs. SheDisrupts is fully remote and offers tools, resources and opportunities to help women participants transform their ideas into businesses that advance the economic empowerment of women in Vietnam.

Are you a disruptive entrepreneur, with a mission to drive change?

Don’t miss the chance to apply!

Eligibility criteria

Competition & Mentoring

ROUND 1

ROUND 2

100% online
30+ startups invited in Round 1 and 2
30 mentors
10 judges
1 round of 2 mentorship sessions
1 pitching round

Pre-Acceleration

100% online
15+ startups selected
2 weeks
Lectures
Hands-on workshops
Mentoring

Demo Day

100% online
15+ startups
Pitch to investors
Networking

Pre-Acceleration programme

Why Apply

Apply

Prizes and Perks

5,000 USD Grand Prize

Equity-free seed capital of 5,000 USD

$20,000 subsidy from Creatella

Subsidy of 50% of tech venture building cost, up to 20,000USD, for up to 3 startups

Entry to Techstars

Entry interview to Techstars Startup Accelerator (global)

AWS credits from AWS EdStart

Credits to any start-up that qualifies for AWS EdStart program.

$50,000 worth of Segment credits

Get up to $50,000 in credits across Segments platform with over 200 marketing, analytics, and data warehousing tools

$10,000 worth of Freshworks credits

Get $10,000 worth credits and create customers-for-life using the right tools, mentorship and resources

Fee-free processing with Stripe

Get fee-free processing with Stripe.

Design workshop by Styliff Tech

2 hours of Strategic UX Design mentoring by senior app creators and entrepreneurs

Up to 82,000 USD savings with HubSpot

Up to 82,000 USD savings in the first 12 months, up to 90% off for qualifying startups.

Timeline

Application deadline

Submit your pitch and application online

19 December 2021, 11:59 ICT

Selection

Top 30+ teams are selected for 1st round

5 January 2022

Round 1: Mentoring

The 30+ selected teams participate in 2 mentoring and pitch training sessions with industry experts

10 - 21 January 2022

Round 2: pitching

All 30+ teams pitch 1-on-1 in front of VCs and angel investors

10 - 21 January 2022

Pre-acceleration

Top 15+ teams begin the 2-weeks pre-acceleration program

14 - 24 February 2022

Demo Day

All 15+ pre-accelerated startups pitch at our online Demo Day

25 February 2022

Finish

Our Judges and Mentors

Over 50 experienced impact investors, business angels, VCs, accomplished social entrepreneurs and senior experts from both the startup and corporate world will join us as judges and mentors, and accompany the participants through both rounds of the competition.

Our Partners

Presented by

In partnership with

Frequently Asked Question

What are the rules of participation?

In brief, your startup must be women-led and an early-stage technology startup (prototype stage to Series A) with less than US$ 300,000 in yearly revenues. Your focal market must be Vietnam with an impact on at least of the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs).

Please refer to the Rules of Participation for the exhaustive list of eligibility criteria.

Do I have to be incorporated to apply?

No, but you should have clear development project and goals. In the case that a non-incorporated project wins the competition, the funds will be transferred or prizes will be given once the company is incorporated.

What are the evaluation criteria?

The team, problem identification and value proposition, innovation, timing, market opportunity, execution plan and go-to-market strategy, business model viability, investability and pitch quality.

What language will the event be conducted in?

The application, the online pitch and talkings with advisors and investors will be held in English. The pre-acceleration will be conducted in English with simultaneous interpretation in Vietnamese.

How much time will I have to spend on the competition?

It will take about 15 to 30 minutes to apply. If you are selected for the mentoring round, you will participate in two 30 to 60 minutes calls with your assigned mentor. If you are then selected as a finalist, you will have the opportunity to pitch to a judge (investor) for 30 minutes. If you are among the 15+ selected to join the pre-acceleration program, the pre-acceleration will last for 2 weeks, 4hours per day. We also recommend to take some time and fully prepare for each round in order to get the most out of the competition, but the necessary time will vary from team to team.

Can I apply to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) categories?

Yes, if your startup covers several of them. You will have to briefly justify how your startup addresses the SDGs when completing the application form.

What are the rules for the pitching?

In the mentoring phase (round 1), you will have 2 calls of 60 minutes with one mentor each, with 10 minutes to pitch, as well as 40 minutes of feedback and mentoring. The mentors will be given a one-pager summary of your startup, as well as your pitch deck. For the judging phase (round 2) you will have 10 minutes to pitch and 20 minutes of Q&A.

If you are selected into the pre-acceleration program, you will also join the demo day, during which you will have 5 minutes to pitch in front of investors.

How many winners will be chosen?

Round 1 is a non-elimination round. All startups will automatically progress to round 2. In round 2, 15+ winners will be selected and will then move to the pre-acceleration program.

What if I’m not in the same city as the mentors/judges?

That’s ok! All of the pitching, mentoring, and judging will take place entirely online. Our team will ensure you are paired with a judge in a similar time zone so each round is convenient for both parties.

Who will be evaluating my application?

Our team will be going through each application and select the best 30+ to participate in the mentoring program. Considerations will include completeness of application, fit within category, impact, team, market, product.

Is there an application fee?

No.

Are there any costs associated with the competition?

No, neither money nor equity are requested for participation.

Who can participate in all the rounds?

Only the startup founders/co-founders can participate in each round. We suggest that the same persons participate in every round.

Will Covid-19 related restrictions affect my participation?

Not at all! All sessions are online.

What is the pre-acceleration program and who will get access to it?

The top 15+ startups will be invited to the pre-acceleration round. It is a 2-weeks workshop led by industry experts/facilitators specially designed to support and provide opportunities for women founders to grow their team, product, and startup align with the SDGs.

What are the WEPs? Is it required to be a signatory to be eligible?

The Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) are a set of Principles offering guidance to business on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community.

It is not mandatory to be signatory to be eligible fort the competition and pre-acceleration, however we highly encourage you to become a signatory at https://www.weps.org/

Apply

SheDisrupts Vietnam 2021 is a programme combining mentorship, venture competition, pre-acceleration and demo day for social and environmental enterprises in pursuit of achieving maximum impact for women economic empowerment in Vietnam.