Save money, get interest on microcredits, support causes, contribute to organizations? these are all things you can do with the financial platform for women, BolsaCheia, founded by Thereza Bukow.
The startup was a finalist at the Cartier Women?s Initiative Awards.
Brazil?s economy is one of the fastest growing emerging markets and its expanding middle classes are rapidly acquiring wealth. Female purchasing power has increased tremendously.
Yet 29 year-old Thereza Bukow has found that many middle-class women don?t know how to manage or invest this newfound capital. She decided the market was ready for the tools and resources offered by Bolsa Cheia, an Internet platform to educate and empower women financially.
She will be speaking at the 2nd Reunion of Women Business Owners held by the counsel of women founder and SEBRAE in Sao Paulo. Her pitch is available in Portuguese on our media partner?s website, Startupi.
Bolsa Cheia literally means ?plentiful purse? in Portuguese and the goal of Thereza?s company is to make women feel secure about money, investments and donations. The objectives are twofold: to target and attract women looking to invest and to educate on how to save and spend wisely. Educational aspects cover the fundamentals of personal finance, with articles on the mechanisms of interest rates, for example.
Bolsacheia.com initially aims to reach one million women and will gain revenue from advertising, referral fees and consultancy opportunities.
?Women have taken on key roles in the social changes affecting our country,? says Thereza, but given Brazil?s economic past, not everyone has an innate knowledge of how to move forward financially.?
Social gains through networks
Teaching was a childhood vocation for Thereza, who duly trained to be a teacher after graduating with honours from S�o Paulo University. ?Now I want to take education beyond the classroom. I?ve always wanted to be able to spread knowledge to as many people as possible.?
So it?s no surprise that Bolsa Cheia is linked up to social networking sites, in a country where over 70 million people use the Internet: ?I believe that teamwork breeds progress and women can help each other by sharing. My own social networking led me to find about the Cartier Awards on Facebook!?
To launch her business, Thereza has teamed up with her cousin and strategic advisor, Tiffany Bass Bukow, who successfully developed the MsMoney.com finance education website in the US and inspired Thereza to become an entrepreneur.
Thereza?s role model is no doubt her mother, who kept her family of four out of poverty after her husband passed away suddenly when Thereza was just ten. ?Too many women rely on men to make the major financial decisions, then find themselves lost if they become widowed or divorced,? Thereza says. ?It?s time they took control of their financial destiny!?
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