The She's Next Empowered by Visa initiative in partnership with maib marked its end with a recently organised event with maib - the largest bank in Moldova, and Visa - the global leader in digital payments.
During the event, the 26 participants who made it to the final stage presented their business ideas, and three of them received special prizes from the organisers, including from maib.
She's Next Empowered by Visa initiative in partnership with maib was implemented in collaboration with XY Partners and EFSE, aiming to support women entrepreneurs through the mentoring and education program "XY Women Accelerator II" and the online education program accessible on the digital community platform "She's Next".
The initiatives are designed to give women entrepreneurs access to education and mentoring programs, discovering new opportunities through networking. To encourage participants at all stages of mentoring, the organisers offered prizes for the most highly prospective business projects.
Maib expressed its support for the three winning entrepreneurs: Marcela Mastac, founder of Guga Gaga - 1st place, Olesea Nistor, Wild Mind English - 2nd place and Ecaterina Nikiforova, Kaia, 3rd place, by offering each of them a prize, which consists of a reduced interest rate on any loan product in MDL/EUR/USD up to 1 million MDL or its equivalent in foreign currency, for 3 years. By supporting this initiative, maib aims to inspire, motivate and provide additional support to participants who have demonstrated excellence and innovation in their entrepreneurial projects.
Svitlana Chyrva, Visa Vice President and Country Manager for Ukraine and Moldova:
“Visa supports the development of small and medium-sized businesses around the world. We are overjoyed that the She's Next Empowered by Visa initiative has reached Moldova this year. Together with our implementing partners, we have helped empower women to build and grow their businesses. We look forward to more programs to develop women's entrepreneurship in Moldova."
Andrii Glevatskyi, maib Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, responsible for the Business Banking division:
"I believe that the presence of such a large number of women entrepreneurs at this stage confirms both the goals you have managed to achieve and the potential you can further harness. Maib expresses its support for the innovative initiatives and ideas presented at the initiative and aims to continue creating solutions tailored to the lifestyle of businesswomen to support growth to the next level. I want to thank Visa for implementing this globally successful initiative in Moldova, the partners - XY Partners and EFSE - and the women entrepreneurs who choose to create and grow businesses in the Republic of Moldova."
About the She's Next Empowered by Visa initiative in Moldova
She's Next Empowered by Visa in Moldova is a global initiative to support women entrepreneurs worldwide. Visa provides them with the tools and resources to build, sustain and advance their businesses, recognising the crucial importance of small businesses in local economies. In 2023, this initiative was launched in Moldova in collaboration with UN Women, USAID and Agora, and with the support of the Moldovan Ministry of Finance. A key component of the program is creating the "She's Next" digital platform for women entrepreneurs, where they can interact, access webinars, and benefit from mentoring and networking opportunities.
About maib
Maib is the largest bank in Moldova, with a share of 33,8% of deposits and 38,2% of loans of the entire banking system end of Q3, 2023. Maib is a disciplined lender with an NPL of 3.1% and well capitalised with a CAR of 23% as at September 30, 2023.The bank is of systemic importance and serves almost a third of the country's population. Since 2018, maib's largest shareholder is a consortium, which includes the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Invalda INVL, a leading asset management group in the Baltic States and Horizon Capital, a private investment fund focused on emerging markets from Europe.
