Women Empowerment Award

By supporting female entrepreneurs with groundbreaking ideas, Bayer Foundation specifically recognizes and celebrates their role as game changers driving sustainability and social impact through entrepreneurial innovation.

“Studies have shown that women play a central role in bringing change and working towards a more equal society. We also see this in our daily work. In the many years of Bayer Foundation’s activities, the positive impact of strong women has been a central theme. They are the change makers we need. As a basic principle for our activities, we therefore have chosen to strengthen and highlight the role of women as leaders in science and as entrepreneurs,” states Monika Lessl, Executive Director of Bayer Foundation.
 
Bayer Foundation has a strong track record of supporting female-led social enterprises. One example includes the Kenyan insurtech startup Pula. Led by and Co-CEO Rose Goslinga, Pula bundles insurance products with farm inputs, such as fertilizer, seeds, or credit. This substantially lowers risks for farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa who want to invest in more expensive, higher-yielding inputs. The insurance provides income stability for farmers who are at the mercy of droughts, floods, and pests.

“What do farmers really want? They don’t necessarily want insurance. So instead of selling insurance directly to farmers, we package our insurance with products that farmers want and need, like seeds and fertilizer,” says Pula’s Co-CEO Rose Goslinga.