The Havas Hustle initiative has been expanded to startups and entrepreneurs.
The first Havas Hustle gave more than 100 hours of free support to more than 200 people from the advertising and marketing industry with their side hustles when the pandemic hit in 2020.
This year, the hustle aims to help level the gender playing field by helping women entrepreneurs and founders.
Host/Havas CEO Laura Aldington says women are under-represented in the startup sector. Research found that women-led businesses accounted for 22% of all registered start-ups in 2020.
Havas Village Australia (Host/Havas, Havas Media, Red Havas and One Green Bean) will provide access to free advice and support via a one-hour online meeting.
Havas Media Group CEO Virginia Hyland says the initiative helps women entrepreneurs gain confidence:
“The Australian Government’s Department of Industry recently found that women entrepreneurs face hurdles including difficulty accessing supportive networks and information, and lack confidence in either themselves or their business ideas, we can help with that," says Hyland.
More than 40 of the most senior leaders from across the Village have committed to take part, offering advice across strategy, creative, media, design, PR, social, influencer, experiential, innovation, UX, CX, tech consulting, experience design, production, digital, SEO, ecommerce, retail/shopper, sponsorship, brand partnerships, data and analytics, management, commercial and contractual matters, finance and HR.
All applicants will have access to an online speaker series on the most requested topics, including contributions from CEOs Laura Aldington, Virginia Hyland and Simone Gupta (Havas PR Australia).
Four women entrepreneurs with businesses at a market-ready stage will also be selected to join the new incubator initiative.
This will provide further specialist backing over a three-month period, including six mentoring sessions with the CEOs as well as incremental resources to further support their businesses.
The Havas Hustle team includes:
- Laura Aldington CEO, Host/Havas
- Simone Gupta CEO, Havas PR Australia
- Virginia Hyland CEO, Havas Media Group
- Anthony Freedman chairman, Havas Group ANZ
- Thierry Lalchere chief people officer, Havas Group ANZ
- Michaela Aguilar head of customer experience & analytics, Havas Media Group
- Olly Taylor chief strategy officer, Havas Creative Group
- Ian Gerrard head of CX and CRM, Host/Havas
- Al Ferrier head of integrated production, Havas Creative Group
Registrations are open.
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