How Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) is empowering women entrepreneurs to start-up and scale-up

Women-owned businesses are significant drivers of job creation and economic growth. Despite being the most powerful consumers in the world, women have been largely underrepresented in business today. Research shows that investing in women-owned businesses positively impacts the global economy, and this has been the driving purpose behind the creation of Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) by Dell Technologies.

Established in 2009, DWEN is a prestigious networking community and resource organisation designed for the future-focused woman entrepreneur looking to transform and scale up her business. As a nod to World Entrepreneurs' Day on August 21, a day in which we acknowledge and celebrate those courageous enough to blaze their own trail, DWEN also salutes women entrepreneurs blazing their own trail, and hopes to continue to support and celebrate women entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership.

Designed to connect, inspire, and transform

For over a decade, DWEN has brought together women-run businesses globally, both startups and scale-ups, to connect, share best practices, and build a community of support. DWEN empowers these entrepreneurs by equipping them with cutting-edge technology tailored to their needs, funding resources, expert knowledge, and a global network to ensure maximum realisation of potential in their journeys to success.

The unique DWEN forum enables like-minded women entrepreneurs of various levels of experience to share their insights to encourage women to venture into entrepreneurship. This community enables the women to forge new business opportunities and explore possibilities of expanding their business beyond borders.

The launch of the digital platform DWEN.com in 2020, has enabled a strong DWEN community of 80 thousand members across 50 chapters worldwide, to remain connected through in-person and virtual events, extensive networking, and resources. The annual DWEN member survey has helped them identify that members rely on the network for business-focused educational resources and networking opportunities to help them expand their business.

Leveraging tech to aid scale-up

The DWEN Dream Tech contest was designed to provide maximum support and tech worth over $60,000 to winners. It launched in India in 2021 in addition to three other geographies that included the U.S., Germany, the U.K. and Australia. The first year saw four women entrepreneurs emerge as winners.

After a hugely successful first innings, the contest will be taken live in India on August 29, 2022 and will be further expanded to countries like France, Japan, and Brazil. The India market will have close to $60,000 to divide up between the top four applicants, and tech worth almost $500,000 across various geographies.

Besides the contest, DWEN members can access a dedicated IT advisory team via the DWEN Tech Hub and learn about present technology that can be customised for their business needs, so that they can make the most of what is available to them.

The DWEN method

All of the content they have in their robust resource ecosystem, both original and sometimes commissioned through their partnership with TED, is designed to provide insights and inspire action. Their Empower Hour and Tech Talks series' episodes bring together women who share their success stories and learnings. Since first airing in 2020, these episodes have boosted growth for more than 10,000 women entrepreneurs across the world.

DWEN also provides a subscription-driven monthly newsletter Power Edit and a bi-weekly newsletter named Power Boost, both of which offer a variety of thought-starters, actionables, and scannable insights.

Besides this, they also host an annual summit with global access and hold powerhouse conferences across international centres of commerce. Through the WE City Initiative, DWEN invests in global research on economic development, women’s access to tech, and their market viability.

DWEN members can also access funding opportunities via the DWEN Funding Hub which connects them to potential investors and other resources.

DWEN encourages business owners, founders, aspiring entrepreneurs, and investors to register to become members so they can avail these benefits and opportunities, and advance their businesses.

Head over to DWEN Community to know more,