Scaling Up: How WeVenture Bridges the Gap for Female Founders

The program, funded by the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, moves beyond simple capital injection by focusing on the strategic architecture of growth. Participants work directly with industry specialists to refine investment readiness and operational scaling. For Mariam Baghdasaryan, founder of Purma Bakery in Armenia, the mentorship shifted her perspective on fundraising from an intimidating hurdle to a standard business negotiation.

In Kazakhstan, Marina Boshel leveraged the program to digitize her operations. By moving from a manual matching system to a dedicated app, she connected over 100 stylists with salon space in a single month, demonstrating how technology serves as a force multiplier for small businesses. Meanwhile, Georgian entrepreneur Salome Kareli utilized her new professional network to launch the Caucasian Circular Economy Alliance, successfully pushing her sustainable packaging business into cross-border markets.

These outcomes highlight a fundamental shift in how the World Bank approaches regional economic development. Rather than viewing support for women-led firms as a social participation metric, the program treats it as a primary economic engine. With global GDP potential estimated to rise by $2.3 trillion if women-owned businesses matched the growth rates of their male-owned counterparts, the focus remains on equipping founders with the specialized connections and practical tools required to survive beyond the startup phase.