Grey, the global banking platform empowering digital nomads and businesses with borderless financial solutions, has announced the winners of its 2025 UpGreyed Her initiative — an equity-free grant program supporting women-led businesses worldwide. This year, Grey awarded a total of $9,500 to four outstanding women entrepreneurs, marking the expansion of the program from its African roots to a truly global platform.
“Financial inclusion goes beyond access to banking; it means providing the resources entrepreneurs need to scale and create lasting impact,” said Femi Aghedo, co-founder of Grey. “By taking UpGreyed Her global, we are reinforcing our commitment to building a financial ecosystem where women founders can thrive across borders — just like our banking solutions.”
Launched on International Women’s Day (March 8, 2025), the program received nearly 2,000 applications from women-led businesses across multiple continents — a significant increase from the Africa-focused program last year. The initiative specifically targeted growth-stage companies in diverse sectors, including traditionally male-dominated industries and innovation-driven fields such as agritech, climatetech, and femtech.
After a thorough selection process and virtual pitch presentations from finalists, Grey awarded grants to four exceptional women-led businesses:
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Grand Prize ($4,000): Patricia Zanella, EcoCiclo (Brazil) — Developing Brazil’s first 100% biodegradable sanitary pads from locally sourced materials to tackle menstrual poverty in indigenous and rural communities.
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First Runner-Up ($2,000): Sarah Olagoke, Tersley Foods Ltd (Nigeria) — Empowering women to manage reproductive health challenges like PCOS through functional foods and community support.
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Second Runner-Up ($2,000): Arinola Okeowo, Ultra Farms Ltd (Nigeria) — Enhancing food access by reducing post-harvest losses and connecting smallholder farmers to better market opportunities.
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Third Runner-Up ($1,500): Elizabeth Oladepo, 07 Foods Ltd (Nigeria) — Promoting food security through sustainable processing and equipping women and youth with practical agribusiness skills.
Patricia Zanella, a former human rights advocate turned entrepreneur, expressed her gratitude:
“This grant validates our vision for sustainable menstrual products that create both environmental and social impact. With Grey’s support, we will scale production and expand to reach more vulnerable communities across Brazil. I’m proud to be part of a global network of women who are building, scaling, and breaking barriers.”
Applications were evaluated by a distinguished panel of women leaders from across the globe, assessing innovation, scalability, social impact, leadership, revenue potential, and business viability. This year’s judges included:
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Tinu Phillips Odufuye — Head of Business Development, FCMB Asset Management, Nigeria
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Sarah Achebe — Head of Finance, Grey, Nigeria
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Natasha Mahtani — Relational Intelligence Coach & Women’s Advancement Advocate, India
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Maite Lourenço — General Partner, YA Ventures & Founder, Black Rocks Startups, Brazil
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Anmol Bharti — Senior AML Analyst, Grey, India
“Funding women isn’t charity — it’s smart economics,” said Tinu Phillips Odufuye in her keynote address at the awards ceremony. “UpGreyed Her empowers women-led businesses not just to dream, but to scale and shape the world. Because upgrading her is, in fact, upgrading the world.”
The 2025 UpGreyed Her initiative was delivered in partnership with WIMBIZ, a leading organization dedicated to advancing women’s professional development and entrepreneurship.
Grey will open applications for UpGreyed Her 2026 in March next year, with plans to increase funding amounts and expand the number of recipients.
About Grey:
Grey leads the way in secure, convenient global banking solutions tailored for individuals and businesses. Licensed by FINTRAC (Canada) and FinCEN (USA), Grey focuses on emerging markets, offering multi-currency accounts, currency exchange, payment transfers to over 170 countries, and virtual card access.
