US Embassy once again awards women entrepreneurs in Portugal

Four women, four businesses and four awards given by the Embassy of the United States of America, in Lisbon. It was the outcome of the third edition of the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE), a program that supports women entrepreneurs in Portugal and which, this year, awarded a total of 24 thousand dollars (around 22 thousand euros).

“The program was very useful in being able to develop parts of the business where I felt most fragile, such as in the financial or communication areas”, begins by explaining to EXAME, the illustrator and winner of this edition, Ana Seixas, 39 years old.

With a store open in Porto since 2020, the artist received 9 thousand dollars (8.3 thousand euros) for coming in first place. It currently employs three people and exports to several European countries. “We know that projects will come out of here very successfully and it is a sign that we are giving to all women, so that they can also create their own businesses”, she adds.

In Portugal, the program lasts a total of 13 weeks and includes support from professionals in various areas to serve as a “springboard” for the launch of these companies. Worldwide, AWE has existed since 2019 and was responsible for launching 25 thousand businesses from 25 thousand different women.

Previous editions in Portugal awarded several businesses that would later stand out. This is the case of Joana Duarte, creator of Béhen – and winner of the first edition – who won the Golden Globe as Personality of the Year in Fashion, in 2022. Or even Sandra Ruivo – second place, in the second edition – who, with his company Turtle Petals, exports biodegradable and compostable coffee capsules to the USA.

“We have a fantastic review of this year’s edition. All of these women are able to continue these projects. Some already had projects launched, others were created for here”, explains Catarina Miguel Martins, director of Drive Impact, which implements AWE in Portugal. “We work in the concrete field. We have real projects by women who produce and have no follow-up, many of them don’t have the chance to go back to school and get an MBA and here they have access to a mini MBA”.

“This award makes us very proud”

Randi Charno Levine, US ambassador to Portugal, is only the second woman in this position since 1991 and, she tells EXAME, she feels “a great privilege to have the honor of, in the month of March, Women’s Month, being able to support women entrepreneurs, as young as the ones we have here”.

“These women are very talented and we have been training for a long time, in a ‘bootcamp’. I hope they manage to have the money and knowledge necessary to be successful in their future projects”, she continues. “It’s a project that makes us very proud.”

In second place was Irís Mira and her SheDoes project, home repairs, and in third place was Diana Costa, with her Quinta Mourisca, located in Trás-os-Montes. They received seven thousand and five thousand dollars (6.5 thousand and 4.6 thousand euros), respectively.

“The fact of being surrounded by women entrepreneurs is very important. These are women who are creating their own projects and fighting to make it no longer strange to see women running businesses”, confesses Diana Costa, after being awarded.

As for the money received, it will already be allocated: “we have invested a lot in digital marketing and improving our website”. Quinta Mourisca has 100 hectares in Alfandega da Fé, Bragança district, almost all of which is used for olive oil production. Currently, it has a store open in Porto, but already exports to some European countries. “We also work with five restaurants in Porto and one in London, but we are still in the early stages of the project”, he explains.

In fourth place was Ksenniia Golubytska and her language school Language Lab.