Investing in Women

What Investing in Women does

Investing in Women (IW) is an Australian Government-funded development initiative, established in 2016 and managed by Abt Associates on behalf of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), that works to advance women's economic empowerment across Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Its activities are organized into four workstreams: Workplace Gender Equality (tools, advisory, and assessment to help companies implement inclusive practices and policies), Enabling Policy Reforms (evidence-based research and advocacy on the care economy and women's economic participation), Campaigns and Communities of Practice (digital campaigns and locally driven advocacy to shift gender norms), and Gender Lens Investing (capital deployment through a funding window within Australian Development Investments, alongside advisory work for investors and fund managers). The initiative also maintains a Knowledge Hub of reports, case studies, toolkits, and briefs, and operates the GEARS workplace assessment tool and the Southeast Asia LP Network as reusable platforms.

IW does not operate as a commercial technology company; there is no disclosed pricing model, paid product, or external revenue stream, and all activities are funded through Australian Government development assistance and channeled through DFAT, with Abt Associates as the implementation contractor. Its "customers" are four persona segments (business leaders, policymakers, champions and advocates, and capital providers), reached through a mix of direct partnerships with local business coalitions and government stakeholders, the Knowledge Hub, social media, events, and newsletter channels. Headcount is reported at 11-50 employees across a headquarters in Canberra and a regional office in Makati City, Philippines, with country-level leads in each target geography. Since inception, IW states it has reached nearly one million employees through its workplace gender equality programs and reports a seven-fold increase in gender-lens investing capital in Southeast Asia versus the pre-COVID period.

Name

Investing in Women

Legal name

Investing in Women

Website

https://investinginwomen.asia

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Development / Gender Equality Programming

NAICS

Other Similar Organizations (except Business, Professional, Labor, and Political Organizations) (81399)

SIC

International Affairs (9721), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment (BPAGABAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Gender Equality & Women’s Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAD), Gender Equality & Women’s Rights (BPADAGAF), Gender Lens / Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Funds (FSANAJAM), Development Finance, Guarantees & Blended Finance Programs (BPADABAM)

Keywords

• Gender equality programs
• Workplace gender equality
• Gender lens investing
• Women economic empowerment
• Development consulting services

Headquarters

HQ city

Canberra

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Australian Government Funding: Investing in Women is an Australian Government-funded initiative, managed by Abt Associates on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The initiative receives grant funding to implement programs supporting women's economic empowerment across Southeast Asia.

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Investing in Women is an Australian Government-funded development initiative that advances women's economic empowerment in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Vietnam) through four program workstreams: Workplace Gender Equality (engaging business leaders), Enabling Policy Reforms (working with policymakers on care economy), Campaigns and Communities of Practice (digital advocacy), and Gender Lens Investing (deploying capital to women-led businesses). It is managed by Abt Associates on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and it complements these programs with a public Knowledge Hub, the GEARS workplace assessment tool, and the Southeast Asia LP Network.

Product overview

Investing in Women is an Australian Government-funded initiative that operates as a knowledge and program platform focused on advancing women's economic equality in Southeast Asia. The organization offers four interconnected program areas: Workplace Gender Equality (providing tools and support for businesses), Enabling Policy Reforms (research and advocacy for policymakers), Campaigns and Communities of Practice (digital campaigns promoting gender-progressive attitudes), and Gender Lens Investing (investment strategies for women-owned businesses). These programs are supported by a Knowledge Hub—a centralized repository containing reports, case studies, fact sheets, tool kits, and briefs. Additional platforms include GEARS (a workplace gender equality assessment tool) and the Southeast Asia LP Network (a peer-to-peer learning platform for impact investors).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Workplace Gender Equality (WGE) Program Program providing tools and support for business leaders in Southeast Asia to adopt gender-equal workplace policies, diversity and inclusion practices, and anti-harassment programs across their organizations.
• Enabling Policy Reforms Program Program delivering evidence-based insights and research to help Southeast Asian policymakers craft and implement policies addressing women's economic challenges, with particular focus on the care economy.
• Campaigns and Communities of Practice Program Program of digitally-driven campaigns and Communities of Practice that support broader adoption of gender-progressive attitudes and behaviors, including locally driven initiatives in Southeast Asia to strengthen public support for women's economic participation.
• Gender Lens Investing Program Investment program that deploys capital into funds that invest with a gender lens and supports gender-lens investment strategies and products to maximize investment potential for women-owned and women-led businesses in Southeast Asia.
• Knowledge Hub Public, centralized repository of quality resources on women's economic empowerment — including reports, case studies, fact sheets, toolkits, and briefs — organized by area of work, country, and resource format.
• GEARS Workplace Gender Equality Assessment Tool Assessment tool for companies to evaluate and improve their workplace gender equality practices.
• Southeast Asia LP Network Peer-to-peer learning network for limited partners in Southeast Asia focused on gender-lens investing.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reached nearly one million employees since 2016 through workplace gender equality initiatives
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Abt AssociatescoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerAbt Associates is the implementing contractor managing Investing in Women on behalf of the Australian Government. Philippa Venning serves as Vice President at Abt Associates and leads Abt's technical team providing quality advice and implementation across the breadth of the programs.
• Global Institute for Women's Leadership (GIWL) at Australian National UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGIWL partnered with Investing in Women to conduct the SNAPS 2024 research study on gender attitudes, behaviours, and advocacy across Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam. GIWL conducted the research and provided analysis.
• Australian Development Investments (ADI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIW has a funding window within Australian Development Investments (ADI) to deploy capital into funds that invest with a gender lens, facilitating gender lens investing in Southeast Asia.
• Indonesia Business Coalition for Women Empowerment (IBCWE)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIW's Workplace Gender Equality Director previously served as Executive Director of IBCWE. Maya Juwita helped initiate the establishment of IBCWE in October 2016 and continues collaboration with the coalition.
• UN WomenmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIW co-developed e-learning module on Workplace Gender Equality and ESG reporting with UN Women and Global Reporting Initiative. Also shares UN Women's Women's Economic Empowerment Strategy.
• Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIW and GRI co-developed e-learning module on 'Reporting on Gender Equality - From Principles to Practice' for ESG reporting related to workplace gender equality.
• Villgro PhilippinesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVillgro Philippines developed the 'Closing the Gender Finance Gap' report with support from Investing in Women, focusing on opportunities for gender lens investing in the Philippines from women entrepreneurs' perspectives.
• IntellecapminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIntellecap produced the Impact Investing in Southeast Asia Update 2020-2022 report in partnership with Investing in Women, providing analysis on impact investing and gender-lens investing trends.
• Asian Development BankminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerADB provided the tip sheet on Gender Mainstreaming in Private Sector that IW shares through its knowledge hub, offering guidance on mainstreaming gender into private sector projects.
• USAIDminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUSAID published the 'Advancing Women's Economic Empowerment: Social Norms Landscaping Study' that IW shares through its knowledge hub, mapping interventions for shifting social norms.
• World Economic ForumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIW shares the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap reports through its knowledge hub, curating external resources on gender equality benchmarks.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Women's World Banking: Global nonprofit focused on women's financial inclusion and economic empowerment, especially in emerging markets. Highly comparable to IW's gender-lens investing and workplace economic-participation workstreams across Southeast Asia.
• Plan International: INGO advancing children's rights and girls' and women's equality, with significant Asia-Pacific programming. Comparable to IW's rights-based, gender-equality mission and country-level presence in the same region.
• WEConnect International: Global nonprofit connecting women-owned businesses to corporate supply chains. Comparable to IW's market-access and corporate-engagement model aimed at advancing women-led enterprises in emerging markets.
• Cherie Blair Foundation for Women: Foundation supporting women entrepreneurs in emerging markets through skills, capital access, and advocacy. Directly comparable to IW's entrepreneur-empowerment and gender-lens-investing pillars in Southeast Asia.
• UN Women: The UN entity dedicated to gender equality and women's empowerment. Directly comparable to Investing in Women given its overlapping focus on women's economic empowerment, policy advocacy, and partnerships with businesses and governments — including co-development of e-learning modules with IW.
• 2X Collaborative: Industry body mobilizing capital for gender lens investing. IW's Impact Investing Director previously led the U.S. DFC's 2X Women's Initiative; IW is operationally comparable as a regional GLI mobilizer.

Emerging players

• Palladium Group: International development consulting firm implementing donor-funded programs (including DFAT) across gender, governance, and economic inclusion. Comparable as a peer implementing contractor with overlapping client and thematic remit.

Broad incumbents

• BSR (Business for Social Responsibility): Global sustainability nonprofit working with businesses on gender equality and inclusive workplaces. Comparable to IW's Workplace Gender Equality and corporate-engagement workstreams, though with a global rather than ASEAN-only focus.
• International Finance Corporation (IFC): World Bank Group private-sector arm operating gender-finance and 2X-aligned programs globally. A broader incumbent than IW but works on overlapping gender-lens investing and women-led-SME themes across the same Southeast Asian markets.
• USAID Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment: U.S. government programming arm for gender equality and women's empowerment, including in Southeast Asia. Comparable as a donor-backed gender-equality initiative with overlapping geographies, research products, and policy-advocacy instruments.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCJTi1SGi-ko36K3kMK7tZGg
• Facebookfacebook.com/InvestingInWomenAsia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/investing-in-women
• Instagraminstagram.com/investinginwomen
• Xx.com/IWASEAN

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Investing in Women