Fashion shopping app, Her Black Book, and Samsung have revealed the recipients of their joint grant package.
The $40,000 grant was launched to support start-up businesses led by women and has been awarded to textile recycling service RCYCL, and online resource for advice and assistance on buying an affordable home, AffordHome.
RCYCL founder Belinda Paul and AffordHome founder Helen Spira will receive funding, technology and mentorship to help them achieve their business goals.
The businesswomen will be mentored by Her Black Book and Stylerunner founders and sisters, Sali Sasi and Julie Stevanja (pictured above), who have firsthand, lived experience of starting businesses and achieving key goals.
The sisters' new business, Her Black Book, recently raised $1.6 million in an oversubscribed round.
Sali Sasi said the pair are excited to be part of RCYCL and AffordHome's journey.
"We look forward to mentoring Belinda and Helen and share the insights my sister and business partner, Julie, and I have gained from launching and growing our own businesses.
"We deeply value the opportunity to play a part in the next chapter of their ventures, and we hope this inspires them to continue empowering women in business and pay it forward to those starting out too," she said.
Belinda Paul's RCYCL service collects old clothing to repurpose into yarn to be made into new items, such as carpet underlay.
She founded the business after experiencing the devastation of the Black Summer bushfires, driving her to start a business with a positive impact on the environment.
"After being evacuated from the bushfires on holiday in the summer of 2019/20 and seeing ash wash up on the sand daily six months after the bushfires, I knew there had to be a solution to helping our world somehow.
"I’m beyond grateful for this financial and mentoring opportunity and to be recognised for the urgent work I’m doing, as everyone is curious about what the future holds for textile waste.
"It is on the Environment Minister’s List for 2022 to help tackle the mountains of clothing and textile waste reaching landfill in Australia.
"This is a great space to be in right now as we can all be responsible consumers," she said.
Belinda Paul
Meanwhile, Helen Spira and her son Louis Foster founded AffordHome after questioning why Australians aren't taught key property life skills at school, such as how to save a deposit or negotiate a home loan.
AffordHome fills this gap by providing an online information hub about each step of the home buying process, and a support service for those who do not have the time, capacity or resources to find an affordable home.
"[The grant] will really help get the business off the ground and give it a public profile," Spria said.
"My goal is to make information regarding ‘what to buy and where’ very accessible.
"Having the opportunity to assist women of all ages into an affordable home of their own is an aspiration and legacy not just for individual women but for our welfare and economy as a nation," she said.
The grant follows Her Black Book’s Up Close with Her Black Book event, which celebrated entrepreneurial women, inclusivity and equality.
Helen Spira