Ivana SaboThe Grand finale or the Demo Day of Women Founders Accelerator in Albania took place on December 4th. And it was one of the best online events this season and a perfect ending of the three-month long journey.
To remind you, the Women Founders Accelerator program was organized by Women Founders Network Albania and Spring Activator with the support of the EU for Innovation program.
About the Women Founders Acceleration Program
The program reserved exclusively for women founders in Albania started at the beginning of September. The program’s goal was to enable participants to explore different options of scaling their businesses outside Albania’s borders.
The program was quite versatile – besides classical workshops and lectures, participants had the opportunity to attend boot camps (extensive learning courses), study visits, networking events, peer learning, and mentoring. Lecturers and mentors were held by an excellent mixture of global and local experts.
Participants of the program were women who had started their businesses and already had a business track record behind them. We could meet them all during the program on the Instagram page of WFNA. They are:
- Antea Goci, with Art Hostel,
- Sada Peça, with L’Atelier Sada’s,
- Irida Nallbani, and Rock Tirana,
- Nerita Kuka Prenjasi, with Esenti.al
- Aureola Buzi, and Aura Events Boutique
- Pranvera Rrokaj, and Pinca
- Jozefina Luci Maliqaj, and Vish Imagjinaten
- Elda Puca, with ZAZ design
- Kristi Janku, and Kikiliciouss
- Aneida Bajraktari, with Balkans Capital
Demo Day
The entire work of participating ladies, organizers, mentors, and everyone involved was summed up in the impressive Demo Day organized on December 4th. The online event was hosted from Tirana and Vancouver (where Spring Activator is located), and it was a real pleasure to watch it. If you are interested in the video, you can watch the recorded material here:
Two-minute pitches of participants were pre-recorded, and we could enjoy the creativity and witty ideas that ladies used to describe and present their products and businesses to us. After the pitches, they answered the questions of jury members in a live program. At the end of each pitch and Q&A session, the audience had the chance to give their thoughts in a mini-poll and help the entrepreneur resolve some enigma.
While the judges were deliberating, the audience had another opportunity to hear the ladies in the lightning round. They each had 1 minute to present their case and convince the audience to give them their votes.
The judges, who had quite a difficult task to ask questions and decide on the winner of the €5000 price, were Dijana Džindo (Foundation 787 – Sarajevo), Sandra Nešić (ICTHub – Belgrade), Melanie Ewan (Volition advisers – Dublin) and Vesna Ivanovska (Seavus Accelerator – Skopje).
Who are the winners?
The lady who won the hearts of the audience in the lightning round is Kristi Janku, with Kikiliciouss. Kikiliciouss is a community that helps to grow a healthy and collaborative food environment, where different recipes, working methods, great experiences, and new contacts can be shared and celebrated.
And the winner of the Women Founders Accelerator finale is Aureola Buzi and Aura Event Boutique. Aura Events Boutique is a great event planning business that was founded in 2016 in Tirana. This agency specializes in social and corporate events and is known for the authenticity and genuineness that characterizes their designs. The improvement that they came up with in recent months is a party box that can help you organize a themed house party in no time.
We congratulate the winners and all the ladies who were a part of the first acceleration program tailor-made for women founders in the region.
And we also want to say “Excellent job!” to all the organizers and people who made this program happen. Well done, everyone!
