Visa and Halyk announce the start of applications for the fourth wave of She’s Next

The call for applications for the fourth wave of She’s Next has begun in Kazakhstan. This global initiative aims to support and develop women’s entrepreneurship. In Kazakhstan, She’s Next is implemented by Visa in partnership with Halyk.

Since 2021, nearly 30,000 aspiring and active female entrepreneurs from across Kazakhstan have participated in She’s Next. Winners of previous waves received grants totaling 29 million tenge, enabling them to launch new business initiatives and scale existing projects.

Any woman who is already developing a business or is just considering starting her own venture can participate in the initiative. This year, it has become even easier to join — you need to register on the She’s Next platform, submit a business plan, and provide a video pitch.

The application deadline is August 7. Following the selection by the expert commission, 30 finalists will have the opportunity to participate in She’s Next Camp — a closed two-day business intensive held in Almaty. At She’s Next Camp, participants will attend practical workshops, educational sessions, and receive mentoring support from leading Kazakhstani experts, preparing them for the main stage — presenting their projects to the jury. The winners will receive monetary grants to create or develop their businesses.

In addition to the new format, this year She’s Next is expanding its business categories. Alongside the traditional categories of “Start-up Business” and “Existing Business,” a new category, “IT Business,” has been added for female entrepreneurs who are developing or aspire to build a technology-driven business.

The detailed stages of the fourth wave of the initiative are described below:

1. Registration. From June 23 to August 7, Kazakhstani female entrepreneurs need to register on the She’s Next platform to participate in the initiative.
2. Business plans and video pitches. From August 8 to August 22, after the registration stage is completed, each entrepreneur will have the opportunity to submit a detailed business plan and a video pitch up to two minutes long. In the video pitch, the entrepreneur should tell about her project or idea, goals, and motivation, as well as explain why she deserves to become a participant of She’s Next Camp.
3. Selection of finalists. From August 23 to September 12, the expert commission will review all submitted business plans and video pitches. Based on the evaluation results, 30 finalists will be selected — 10 in each category — who will travel to Almaty to participate in She’s Next Camp.
4. She’s Next Camp. The final event in the format of a two-day business intensive, where participants will go through an educational program and prepare their business plans for pitching. On the second day of She's Next Camp, there will be a project defense before the jury. Following the pitching, seven winners will be determined across three categories — three winners in the “Existing Business” category, three winners in the “Start-up Business” category, and one winner in the “IT Business” category.

Prize fund of the competition:

In the “Existing Business” category:
First place: grant of 5,000,000 tenge
Second place: grant of 3,000,000 tenge
Third place: grant of 2,000,000 tenge.

In the “Start-up Business” category:
First place: grant of 3,000,000 tenge
Second place: grant of 2,000,000 tenge
Third place: grant of 1,000,000 tenge.

In the “IT Business” category:
Grant of 1,500,000 tenge and a trip to the Visa Innovation Center in Dubai, where future payment technologies are created.

News about the initiative and announcements for each stage will be published on the official She's Next Telegram channel and the social media pages of Visa and Halyk.