Moeda Announced 18 Micro-financing Projects Chosen for Moeda Seed Pilot Program
Moeda announced 18 micro-financing projects chosen for the Moeda Seed Pilot Program on December 18th, 2017, jointly with Unicafe, a national organizing body of cooperatives across Brazil.
The projects were chosen from an existing record of cooperative projects that Unicafes was aware of and had been supporting in their process of obtaining funding and resources.
All projects are group projects, meaning that they are managed by one or more family farms collectively.
Restricted Selecting Process
All evaluated projects were submitted using a standardized form, shown here:
Beyond being a business-oriented idea, projects have to meet the following requirements in order to be provided a Seed Investment:
Gender Equality
- Projects are all female lead projects.
- Projects are mixed gender but are focused on programming or other work to empower women.
Project Readiness
- Project owners have a mindset of entrepreneurship.
- Project owners are ready for global exposure.
- Projects owners are able to articulate their story/clear narratives of their idea, and advocate them.
- Already have 70% of physical infrastructure in place.
- Can articulate clear project milestones/roadmap for completion.
- Can articulate what loan amounts they need in order to achieve milestones and define what the funds will be used for.
Project Appropriateness
- Is this a project that could grow into a scaled operation and foster stronger global community?
- Are these projects able to provide clear and direct feedback regarding their needs and visions?
The initial vetting of projects was completed by Unicafes, in partnership with the Brazilian Moeda team. Unicafes completed an in person feasibility study, to validate the readiness and appropriateness, and understand the needs of each of these projects.
Seed Project Lifecycle
The Humanitarian Touch: Technical Assistants
A support system for every Seed Project
In addition to funding, each Seed project will receive technical assistance from one or more subject matter experts (SMEs) called Technical Assistants. The Technical assistants provide early assessment and ongoing advisory services to Seed projects. The Seed Pilot will include Technical Assistants from the Unicafes cooperative development network and other partners, including labor cooperatives, universities, and specialized companies.
At the beginning of each Seed project, Technical Assistants will use participants, application information and team meetings to assess the project. Projects will be analyzed based on economic, social, and environmental viability of the business, and the degree to which the project empowers women entrepreneurs.
