Value for Women
Value for Women is a London-headquartered advisory firm that helps investors, businesses, banks, and development organizations in emerging markets integrate gender-inclusive practices through consulting, technical assistance, and published toolkits.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
Value for Women firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Value for Women
- Legal name
- Value for Women Ltd.
- Website
- https://v4w.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Value for Women is a London-headquartered advisory firm that helps investors, businesses, banks, and development organizations in emerging markets integrate gender-inclusive practices through consulting, technical assistance, and published toolkits.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Value for Women industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Gender-Smart Advisory Services
- NAICS
- Human Resources Consulting Services (541612)
- SIC
- Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)
- akta.pro primary industry
- People Analytics, Assessment & Psychometrics Consulting (BPAHAGAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment (BPAGABAF), Gender Equality & Women’s Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAD)
Keywords
Where Value for Women is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Value for Women business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Advisory and Consulting Services: Direct advisory engagements with investors, businesses, financial institutions, and development organizations to provide gender-smart technical assistance, capacity building, and strategic consulting on gender inclusion in business and investment practices.
- Research and Publication Licensing: Development and dissemination of gender-lens investing guides, toolkits, reports, and frameworks that are shared publicly and may be licensed or used in partnership with development organizations and foundations.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Value for Women product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Value for Women is a global advisory services company that designs and delivers gender-smart advisory, technical assistance, capacity building, and leadership programs to investors, businesses, banks, financial institutions, accelerators, and development organizations operating in emerging markets. Its work is supported by proprietary gender-lens investing frameworks and a suite of published toolkits, guides, and reports (e.g., Equity Lens Toolkit for VC Investors, GEDSI Toolkit, How to Invest with a Gender Lens Guide, Clean Energy & Women's Economic Empowerment report) made available via the Inclusive Action Hub and Resources Hub.
Product overview
Value for Women is a global advisory company that helps drive gender inclusion for businesses. The company offers consulting and advisory services organized around three core areas: (1) Leadership Programs that build individual leadership capacity, (2) Organizational Services providing gender assessments, technical assistance, and capacity building to businesses, investors, banks and accelerators, and (3) Evidence & Research including publications, toolkits, case studies and reports. Key products include the Inclusive Action Hub, the Equity Lens Toolkit for Venture Capital Investors, and various specialized toolkits like the GEDSI Toolkit and Gender-Smart Green Financing Toolkit. The company also produces research publications, case studies, and practical guides including the How to Invest with a Gender Lens Guide. Value for Women operates across emerging markets in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Inclusive Action Hub An initiative launched by Value for Women to create more and better opportunities for millions of women in emerging economies as leaders, employees, and consumers.
- Equity Lens Toolkit for Venture Capital Investors A publication providing tools and frameworks to mitigate unconscious bias in investment processes for venture capital investors.
- Leadership Programs Programs that equip and activate leaders who can transform business, investment, and finance into levers of gender and social inclusion across emerging markets.
- Gender Assessments Diagnostic assessments provided to clients to evaluate gender inclusion practices and opportunities across the organization.
- Technical Assistance & Capacity Building Technical assistance and capacity building provided to businesses, investors, banks, and accelerators to help them adopt inclusive practices.
- Gender-Smart Technical Assistance Advisory services that provide gender technical assistance to enhance the capacity of small and medium enterprises, investors, and financial institutions.
- GEDSI Toolkit Gender Equality, Disability & Social Inclusion Toolkit developed to support organizations in taking a GEDSI lens to their work within the Transforming Energy Access platform and beyond.
- DGGF Gender Lens Investing Technical Assistance Program A technical assistance programme for 15 investment funds combining bootcamps, hands-on coaching, practical tools and roadmaps, and portfolio-level engagement to mobilize gender-lens investing practices.
- Clean Energy as a Catalyst for Women's Economic Empowerment Report A report synthesizing evidence on the ways clean energy solutions can significantly improve women's economic lives in emerging markets.
- How to Invest with a Gender Lens Guide A practical guide providing concrete pathways for investors who want to keep inclusion at the core of their efforts, covering entry points for gender lens investing.
- Gender-Smart Green Financing Toolkit A toolkit providing financial institutions with a framework and resources to mainstream gender-smart solutions in green finance operations for women-led MSMEs.
Quantifiable outcome
- 39% increase in deposits from women customers and 19% growth in women's loan portfolio for Family Bank Kenya
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Value for Women
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Value for Women technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Value for Women partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
22 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Family Bank KenyacoreValue for Women partnered with Family Bank Kenya to develop the Queen Banking initiative, providing gender-smart technical assistance that helped the bank design and operationalize tailored financial services for women entrepreneurs, resulting in significant business growth outcomes.
- Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF)coreValue for Women partnered with DGGF (managed by Triple Jump and PwC) alongside Tetra Tech to deliver a gender lens investing technical assistance programme for 15 investment funds from January 2023 to July 2025, mobilizing $50M+ in gender-smart assets.
- Tetra TechcoreTetra Tech partnered with Value for Women as the implementing consortium partner for the DGGF gender lens investing technical assistance programme.
- Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE)coreANDE and Value for Women partnered on the 'Partnership for Sustainable and Inclusive Small and Growing Businesses' with support from Walmart Foundation, implementing 7 technical assistance projects in Central America, Mexico, and South Africa.
- Goodwell InvestmentsminorSouth African impact investor receiving tailored gender advisory services through the ANDE-VfW-Walmart Foundation technical assistance programme.
- African Management InstituteminorSouth African business support organization receiving gender advisory services to improve support for women participants in their programmes.
- Oribi VillageminorSouth African incubation organization receiving gender advisory services to formalize gender inclusion across activities.
- PomonaminorOrganization in South Africa receiving tailored gender advisory services through the TA programme.
- AlternaminorOrganization in Central America receiving gender advisory services as part of the TA programme.
- FundasistemasminorGuatemalan organization receiving gender advisory services to improve organizational gender intentionality.
- Fundación Haciendas del Mundo MayaminorOrganization in Mexico/Central America receiving gender advisory services through the technical assistance programme.
- Aceli AfricaminorAceli Africa is a blended finance facility mobilizing private capital for inclusive agri-SMEs. Family Bank Kenya case study mentions collaboration among Family Bank, Value for Women, and Aceli Africa on women entrepreneur financing.
- Good Nature AgrocoreValue for Women collaborated with Good Nature Agro under the Nutritious Foods Financing Facility to assess barriers to women's leadership, develop a Gender Action Plan, and support early implementation, achieving measurable improvements in women's representation in field leadership roles.
- Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)coreGAIN's Nutritious Foods Financing Facility engaged Value for Women to provide gender technical assistance to portfolio enterprises including Good Nature Agro.
- Shell FoundationcoreValue for Women collaborated with Caribou on research and evidence synthesis for Shell Foundation, producing the 'Clean Energy as a Catalyst for Women's Economic Empowerment' report synthesizing over 115 studies.
- CariboucoreCaribou partnered with Value for Women to co-author the Clean Energy and Women's Economic Empowerment report for Shell Foundation, combining Caribou's measurement expertise with VfW's gender expertise.
- Transforming Energy Access (TEA) PlatformcoreValue for Women developed the GEDSI Toolkit on behalf of the TEA platform to support organizations in taking a Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion lens to energy access work.
- The Carbon TrustminorThe Carbon Trust leads the consortium providing oversight and management of the TEA platform. VfW's GEDSI Toolkit development is part of TEA's ecosystem.
- Global Disability Innovation (GDI) HubminorGDI Hub provided key insights for the GEDSI Toolkit development alongside Value for Women and The Carbon Trust for the Transforming Energy Access platform.
- AlphaMundi FoundationcoreAlphaMundi Foundation partnered with Value for Women on an 18-month initiative to pilot gender-smart strategies with nine SMEs in their portfolio, generating early results including increased market size, client retention, and improved diversity.
- Global Distributors CollectiveminorValue for Women collaborated with the Global Distributors Collective to produce the 'Gender in Business: Lessons Learned for Last Mile Distributors' guide, exploring how five last mile distributors embedded gender into operations.
- MusikaminorZambian non-profit company working to stimulate private sector investment in smallholder agriculture markets. VfW engaged Musika's private sector clients with gender lens technical assistance over 11 months in 2020-2021.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Value for Women competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- 2X Global: Industry body and certification body for gender-lens investing with membership of DFIs, private funds, and corporates; directly comparable as a gender-smart investing framework provider that Value for Women engages with via DGGF and 2X-aligned mandates.
- Root Capital: Impact-focused agricultural lender working with SMEs in Africa and Latin America; comparable because it combines gender-inclusive business practice with finance deployment in emerging markets, and Value for Women's Senior Technical Lead previously worked on Root Capital's strategy and impact team.
- Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE): Network of entrepreneurial support organisations in emerging markets; Value for Women is a documented ANDE partner on gender-inclusive SME programmes, making it both a collaborator and a comparable peer serving DFI/foundation-funded SME capacity-building mandates.
- Aceli Africa: Blended finance facility mobilising private capital for inclusive agri-SMEs in East Africa; cited as a collaborator on Family Bank Kenya's women-entrepreneur financing and operates in the same DFI-funded gender-inclusion ecosystem as Value for Women.
- GenderSmart: Investment-industry initiative convening capital allocators, asset owners, and managers to scale gender lens investing; directly comparable as a gender-smart investing ecosystem peer targeting similar institutional investor and DFI audiences.
- Criterion Institute: US-based social-purpose organisation working at the intersection of finance and gender, producing frameworks and analysis on gender lens investing; comparable as a thought-leadership and advisory peer targeting similar DFI/foundation audiences.
Broad incumbents
- Acumen: Established impact investor and venture builder serving entrepreneurs in East Africa and South Asia with patient capital and leadership programmes; comparable at the intersection of gender inclusion, emerging-market business, and leadership development, but with significantly more capital under management.
- BSR (Business for Social Responsibility): Global sustainable business consultancy working with corporates on DEI, gender equality, and human rights; broadly comparable as an enterprise-level gender and inclusion advisory peer with a similar consulting model but operating at far larger scale and with corporate rather than DFI/foundation clients.
- GIIN (Global Impact Investing Network): Industry network and standards body for impact investing broadly; overlaps with Value for Women on gender lens investing standards, IRIS+ metrics, and DFI-facing convenings, but operates at a much larger scale across all impact themes.
Emerging players
- 60 Decibels: Impact measurement and customer-insight firm serving investors and social enterprises in emerging markets; comparable as a data-driven advisory peer that supports impact investors with benchmarking and gender-disaggregated measurement, overlapping with VfW's evidence and research work.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Value for Women social profiles
Digital presenceValue for Women financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Value for Women leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Value for Women funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Value for Women M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Value for Women
What does Value for Women do?
Value for Women is a global advisory services company that designs and delivers gender-smart advisory, technical assistance, capacity building, and leadership programs to investors, businesses, banks, financial institutions, accelerators, and development organizations operating in emerging markets. Its work is supported by proprietary gender-lens investing frameworks and a suite of published toolkits, guides, and reports (e.g., Equity Lens Toolkit for VC Investors, GEDSI Toolkit, How to Invest with a Gender Lens Guide, Clean Energy & Women's Economic Empowerment report) made available via the Inclusive Action Hub and Resources Hub.
Is Value for Women a public or private company?
Value for Women is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Value for Women founded?
Value for Women was founded in 2012. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Value for Women based?
Value for Women is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Value for Women make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Advisory and Consulting Services are the primary driver. The others are research and Publication Licensing.
Who are Value for Women's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are 2X Global, Root Capital, Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), Aceli Africa, GenderSmart and Criterion Institute. Broad incumbents are Acumen, BSR (Business for Social Responsibility) and GIIN (Global Impact Investing Network). 60 Decibels is listed as an emerging player.
Does Value for Women have an API?
No public API is recorded for Value for Women.
What industry is Value for Women in?
Value for Women's product category is Gender-Smart Advisory Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAGAH, People Analytics, Assessment & Psychometrics Consulting, with a secondary code of BPAGABAF, Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment. Its NAICS code is 541612 and its SIC code is 8742.