Singapore’s First Certified Women Owned Business

Less than 1% of large corporate and government spend worldwide goes to Women Owned businesses.

On the 13 August 2018, Just Startup Pte Ltd officially became the first certified Women Business Enterprise (WBE) in Singapore. We are now 100% women ownership certified by WEConnect International. Which is a certification recognised by its 80 corporate members. Of which primarily Fortune 500 companies representing over $1 trillion annual purchasing power that have committed to sourcing more from women-owned businesses globally. (See official press release here)

It is part of Lime Agency’s DNA to be activists of change, and being a 100% women owned business made us extremely aware of the challenges facing female founders. Our commitment to gender equality and the feminist cause was already without doubt thanks to our long standing partnership with Singapore Committee for UN Women, but meeting with WEConnect gave us the opportunity to become key players in addressing and bridging the gender gap existing in the business world.

The numbers are astounding.

From a consumer perspective, women control $20 trillion in annual spending and make 85% of purchasing decisions. And businesses with at least one female founder are found to perform 63% better than companies with only male founder. This makes them the prime target of a majority of advertising strategies. Still, a women owned business does not yet have equal participation in business spendings from large corporations.

“Across the globe, women continue to earn on average less than 1% of the money spent on suppliers by large corporations and governments. Our coalition of global partners, government allies, corporate members, and women business owners are integral to bridging that gap.” – Elizabeth Vazquez, WEConnect International CEO & Co-Founder.

In Singapore alone, women represent 27% of the business owners and have the potential to create 170,000 jobs in four years time*. The potential of equal participation of men and women in the economy on a local and global level is endless. Hence Lime Agency decided to take action and become part of the WEConnect International. Which is an organisation partnering with both women enterprises and global corporations to become part of the solution. It allows women owned businesses to showcase their product and services and an opportunity for large corporations to diversify their supply chain.

“Big market opportunities are often kept behind closed doors in the private sector. WEConnect International works hand in hand with large corporations to pave the way for women owned businesses. We now have the platform to showcase our services to important potential markets. As a result large corporates also have the avenue to get access to new vendors. Overall this helps in integrating quality services and the agility of smaller structures.” – Cecile Gauthier, COO Just Startup Pte Ltd

* Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) 2018 and 2017 study conducted by Development Economics and YouGov on behalf of Facebook