BESTSELLER Foundation and 200 Million Artisans (200M) have launched Powered by Her: Women, Craft and the Case for Catalytic Capital in Bangladesh. The initiative will explore why women-led businesses in the creative manufacturing and handmade sector continue to face barriers when it comes to investment, visibility, and growth and what it takes to create stronger opportunities for women.
Over the next year, the project will engage directly with entrepreneurs, investors, community organisations, and other actors across Bangladesh. Together, they will contribute to the first large-scale study of how women can gain stronger access to the knowledge, networks, and capital needed to grow their businesses, creating new insights into the realities and opportunities facing women-led businesses.
“With Business of Handmade: Bangladesh Edition, we are making visible an economy that women have sustained for generations. Financial inclusion is not simply about access to capital. It is about recognising women’s enterprises, valuing their work, and expanding their agency to shape their own economic futures,” says Priya Krishnamoorthy, Founder and CEO of 200 Million Artisans.
Creativity can create an income
The initiative will culminate in a flagship event in 2027 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and ecosystem partners to discuss new ways of strengthening the country’s creative manufacturing and handmade sector.
“Creativity and ideas are already creating income and opportunities for these women, but we hope this initiative will bring practical insights that can lead to stronger businesses, new forms of investment, and better conditions for female entrepreneurs to grow and shape their own economic future,” says Line Boss, Impact Director at BESTSELLER Foundation.
About 200 Million Artisans
- 200 Million Artisans (200M) acts at the intersection of craft, capital, commerce, and culture across the Global South.
- Through its three platforms, Business of Handmade, Kula Conclave, and Kula Innovate, 200M connects craft-led enterprises, investors, and policymakers to bridge critical gaps in information, innovation, and capital, and to grow inclusive creative economies.
- Over five years, the approach has been validated through engagement with more than 600 enterprises, investors, buyers, and ecosystem actors.
- 200M also partners with local researchers, entrepreneurs, and institutions to co-create locally rooted insights, solutions, and infrastructure.
- 200M was founded by CEO Priya Krishnamoorthy.
- Learn more about 200 Million Artisans here.