Sagufta Janif
Women in Tech Fiji
Sagufta Janif is Country Director for Women in Tech Fiji, an organisation that is part of a global movement to empower 5 million women and girls in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) by 2030. It has just launched the FoundHer Program, Fiji’s first women-focused startup incubator and investor training initiative, designed to strengthen women innovators and entrepreneurs.
FoundHer empowers women to transform their innovative ideas into scalable ventures, while building a new generation of women and youth investors who understand gender-lens investing and inclusive finance. The program will support 10 women-led tech startups and train 15-20 women and youth in venture capital and gender-lens investing. The week-long program concludes with a Shark Tank-style Demo Day, where founders, future VCs, and ecosystem partners come together with financiers and policymakers to turn ideas into investment-ready opportunities. Janif says programs like FoundHer help get more women and girls into STEAM by creating tangible pathways.
“It’s not just about technology; it’s about equality, confidence, and access. When women have the opportunity to create and fund solutions, everyone benefits,” says Janif. The first FoundHer Program has just run with great success. “Every time I thought about building a start-up ecosystem in Fiji, I kept coming back to the same barrier of funding. Not just accessing capital but understanding how to raise it, how investors think, and how to design solutions that are fundable. The FoundHer Program wasn’t a program about ‘selecting a winner’. It was about refining ideas, building confidence, sharpening pitches, and taking entrepreneurs to where their ideas can turn into reality,” says Janif. “Over the next few months, the founders will move into mentorship, coaching, and business development support to take their journey forward.”
women-in-tech.org/women-in-tech-fiji
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