TL;DR: Mindset has launched the Growth Program, a six-week, non-profit initiative designed to help female founders from emerging markets prepare for international expansion. The inaugural cohort will select 15 founders who already have a working product and are ready to enter markets in Europe, the UK and the US. The program will focus on some of the challenges founders face when moving beyond their home markets, including raising capital, building investor relationships, developing a global narrative and managing communications independently.
Mindset, a women-led integrated marketing and communications agency, opens applications for its first Growth Program, a six-week non-profit initiative for female founders from emerging markets who already have a working product and are ready to scale internationally. Fifteen founders will be selected for the inaugural cohort. The program runs from 21 September to 23 November. Applications close on 30 August, with a review period running through 6 September.
Applicants must be from a country on the World Bank's list of emerging economies, though they may currently live anywhere. Countries on the list include India, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil, Bangladesh, and Mexico, among others. The full eligibility list is available here.
“At Mindset, we work with female founders every day, and we keep seeing the same barriers,” said Dina Mostovaya, Founder and CEO of Mindset. “Women still have less access to capital, less than 2% of global VC funding reaches women-founded companies, and fewer people opening doors for them. For founders from emerging markets, breaking into more developed economies can make those challenges even harder. We built this program to give fifteen founders practical guidance and direct access to people who can help them move forward, together with an actionable playbook. It’s our mission put into practice.”
The challenges the program seeks to address are well-documented. Less than 14% of startup founders are women, while only 2.3% of global venture capital funding reaches women-founded companies. A meager 11% of female founders say they feel supported by their investors, and in emerging countries specifically, the credit deficit facing women-owned businesses is estimated at $1.5 trillion.
“These aren’t abstract numbers,” said Natalia Edde, Partner and Chief Operating Officer of Mindset. “They’re the reason strong companies built by capable founders with real traction never make it past their home market. As someone who has been an immigrant myself, I know how important it is to have a community around you when you’re building something in a new environment. For female founders, this is even more important, so we want these founders to have that support as they take their companies further.”
The Growth Program is built around several capabilities that become increasingly important when a startup moves into international markets. The curriculum runs across four tracks, including investor communications, customer intelligence, personal brand, and external communications, each taught by a practitioner with direct experience in the subject:
Taryn Andersen of Impulse4Women, THCAP Venture Capital, and EIC Jury at the European Commission will teach “How to Raise Capital as a Founder from an Emerging Market,” providing an introduction to the EU and US early-stage landscape, including funds that specifically back women and emerging-market founders.
Astghik Zakharyan of Mossy Ventures, SIA Startup Investor Accelerator, will teach “Building Your Angel Round From Zero,” covering how to identify the right angels, conduct cold outreach that gets replies, and understand how syndicates come together.
Natasha Gorobinskaya, Founder, Blueberry Research Group, will teach “Customer Communication: What Stops You From Hearing Your Customers,” including templates designed to help founders distinguish what they know about their customers from assumptions that have become accepted as fact.
Karolina Attspodina, Beyond Vision, Business Growth Advisor at BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt, will teach “The Female Founder’s Personal Brand That Helps You Raise Capital,” a session outlining what a strong LinkedIn presence looks like for a female founder, and how a solid personal brand can translate into deal flow.
Erik Eklund, Founder of The Oasis, Instructor at IESE Business School, will teach “Turning Your Story Into Your Competitive Advantage,” going through the 60-second, 5-minute, and 15-minute versions of a founder’s story, designed to help founders turn a non-linear background into an advantage.
And Dina Mostovaya and Natalia Edde, Founder & CEO and Partner & COO of Mindset, will teach “Building Your Own Comms Engine,” a founder-led DIY comms playbook, including how to know when it makes sense to bring in an agency.
Each 15-founder cohort will also receive 1-on-1 mentorship sessions and live access to tier-1 journalists and investors. Participants will retain access to program materials for three years after graduation.
For Bangladeshi and South Asian founders looking to expand beyond South Asia, the program can provide a unique opportunity to learn and an entry into investor and press networks in markets that are otherwise difficult to break into, access that normally requires either an existing network abroad or a fundraising trip most early-stage founders can't afford to take on spec.
Applications for the inaugural Mindset Growth Program are open until August 30, 2026.
As noted above, the program will run from September 21 to November 23, 2026.
The first cohort will select 15 female founders from emerging markets who have a working product and are preparing for international expansion.
Application: Official application link here
Founders interested in applying should check the official program requirements before submitting their application.
