Busu Naturals emerges as the winner of the She’s Next Kenya 2024 grant competition. The announcement was made on July 10th,2024 during the award ceremony where they received a Ksh. 2.5 million grants.
She’s Next, empowered by Visa is a global advocacy program that supports women-owned small businesses through funding, training, and mentorship to take their businesses to the next level.
Over 2000 applications were received for the competition and after a rigorous selection, five businesses emerged as the finalists.
The winning venture Busu Naturals addresses the need for locally manufactured smoothening products that cater to sensitive African skin. The venture incorporates local botanicals and traditional beauty practices from different Kenyan ethnicities to provide high-quality, safe, and consistent skincare products.
The second runner-up was Timao Group receiving a grant worth Ksh. 2 million.
Timao group addresses plastic pollution and affordable housing in Kenya by transforming plastic waste into durable, cost-effective building materials for modular homes.
Code With Kids emerged as the 3rd runner-up and received Ksh. 1 million
The enterprise empowers children from low-income backgrounds with affordable and accessible STEM education, ensuring socioeconomic barriers do not hinder their ability to learn, innovate, and succeed.
Crafts with Meaning and Cladfy each received Ksh.500,000 as a participatory grant.
Crafts with Meaning collaborates with artisans in Kenya and Uganda to create home decor goods and corporate merchandise inspired by African heritage while Cladfy addresses the credit gap by providing working capital loans to micro-businesses.
The top five together with fifteen more SMEs are going to benefit from an exclusive mentorship and capacity-building program courtesy of She’s Next in collaboration with Kayana Create.
