A social enterprise is a business that exists to achieve positive social, cultural and/or environmental impact. Social enterprises can create impact through their processes (e.g. training and hiring marginalised women and youth to create products or deliver services) or through reinvesting their profits (e.g. reinvesting profits into social programs within the community).

ygap is our parent company. yher Pacific Islands is a program by ygap Pacific Islands to support female-led social enterprises that are improving the lives of people living in poverty across the Pacific Islands region.

ygap is an international independent development non-for-profit with offices in Australia, Africa, South Asia and the Pacific Islands. To date, our local teams have run over 45 accelerator programs and supported over 515 ventures that have gone on to improve the lives of more than 954,000 people living in poverty across these regions. yher is ygap’s female focussed program, which adapts ygap’s proven model to back the most promising female impact entrepreneurs in the regions we operate in.

We encourage you to use your networks or crowd funding sites to raise the necessary funds to cover your travel. If you have made attempts to raise funds yourself and are still unable to afford to attend, we do have some travel scholarships available.

Although the accelerator part of the program takes place in Fiji, you do not have to be based there. You can be based in any of the 22 Pacific island Countries. That being said, to get the most value out of the program (including the support and growth phases) we require our entrepreneurs to have access to the internet.

Yes, you can. We understand that getting a new venture off the ground can take time, and that you may not yet be making enough money to support yourself and your loved ones to  work on it full time. That being said, we do expect our successful applicants to be working on problems they are passionate about and and are aiming to work on their venture full time as soon as is feasible. Our program can help you get there sooner.

Yes, you can! The team is just one of the components of your business we look at when making our selection decision, so if you have surrounded yourself with great people, this will work in your favour. However, if you haven’t yet found the perfect teammates, that’s okay too as  we look for entrepreneurs who see value in having a team. Remember, it’s impossible to build a large, successful business all on your own.

Having revenue shows us that people are willing to pay for the product or service that you have created or are providing. If you don’t have revenue yet, it is up to you to get creative as to how you can show us that your venture is selling or building something that fulfills a need.

Your venture must have an impact on people living in poverty and align with at least one of the Global Sustainable Development Goals. 

Yes, you can, however only one woman founder from your team can take part in the program.

Of course! Please note that the program will be taught in english, so we do require a level of english proficiency.

Unfortunately, no. We strongly believe in the power of local leaders with solutions to local problems, so we are looking to support ideas by locals for locals.

Please ensure you have a strong internet connection, try loading from another computer or device and if you are still having problems, please send an email to talei.goater@ygap.org and we can send through a soft copy of the application via email.

Unfortunately, no. We are looking for ventures (they can be non-profit, social enterprise or for-profit) with a clear social impact that is core to your business model, and not just an accidental by-product. We generally want to see evidence of this in the way you have structured your venture or your communications (website/social media etc.). It must be evident there is a clear value and priority placed on the social impact the venture generates.

Yes! We cannot wait to see what you’ve been able to achieve since you last applied. Just note that if you weren’t successful in the past because your venture didn’t meet one or more of our eligibility criteria, please ensure that it does meet them now.

Yes, you will need to attend the one week accelerator program in person in Fiji on those dates. The reason we deliver part of our program in person is that we want you to be able to immerse yourselves into the program, and take the time to reflect on your business, along with other trailblazing women entrepreneurs.

As a program that aims to foster an equal platform for women to launch and grow their businesses, we want our programs to be as accessible and inclusive as possible. If you have any family-related requirements, please let us know at the interview stage.

Unfortunately, we can only accommodate one founder per venture. You’ll need to decide which of you is best placed to attend.

No, not as a requirement of the program. However the funding that is awarded during the program may be distributed as either a grant or an investment. This will depend on the state of the venture and a due diligence process.