The 3rd APEC Women Connect Her Power Entrepreneurship Competition Announces 2022 Winners, Raising Profiles of Budding Women Entrepreneurs

BEIJING, Dec. 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The 3rd APEC Women Connect "Her Power" Entrepreneurship Competition came to an end on December 16 with a livestreamed ceremony. Over four months, the competition engaged over 1,000 participants interested in social commerce from countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Portugal, Spain, Thailand, Vietnam, The Philippines, Italy, Nigeria, Malawi, Venezuela, and China.

During the competition, more than 20 case studies on how to set up women-led businesses in social commerce were collected and a specific e-learning platform was launched on YouTube, offering more than 10 courses empowering women entrepreneurs in cross-border e-commerce, cross-border financing, tactics for boosting sales during livestreaming sessions, as well as eCommerce branding and marketing courses from Visa, Google, TOMATO Interactive (Bluemedia Group), JOYY Group, Tongdun, hooli, New Oriental, Myyshop.vip, Tuotuo Digital, and LinkMyy. Over four months, MyyBiz, a private Facebook group dedicated to this contest, also grew to over 1,400 followers interested in starting a career in social commerce.

This year, the competition consists of two tracks, Generation Z social media content creators competed for Rising Star Awards as Best Influence Creator or the Best Marketing Influencer Award, whereas Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) competed for The Ultimate Global Award. Contestants also experienced various digital solutions on MyyShop for free, including Myyshop.vip, which offers cutting-edge AI-powered product selection, quick online shop creation by single link, influencer analytics for cross-border business, and MyyAffiliate, an integrated cross-border marketing service on MyyShop.

The event was launched in September by APEC Women Connect, DHGATE Group, and MyyShop, it was also supported by a strong lineup of business partners, including Visa, TOMATO Interactive (Bluemedia Group), Vivo, JOYY Group, hooli, ToFuture Education Group, OPPLE Lighting, Shixiseng, FIIL, Evri, New Oriental, Tongdun, AGH, Rii, and Transjee. The APEC Women Connect Virtual Workshop and the third Her Power Entrepreneurship Competition Awards Ceremony 2022 on December 16 hosted honored guests from the public and private sectors. News and media generated across the event were reported and reposted by around 500 international media outlets, reaching an estimated audience of 700 million.

Nine contestants, from the 30 winners, gave speeches at the ceremony, sharing their stories to encourage more women to achieve their entrepreneurial dreams. In addition, winners from the past two contests also returned to the ceremony to present the awards, inspired more women, and spoke about their hopes for women empowerment.

Rising Star Award · Best Influence Creator

"As an international student studying in China, my family is not that rich, which means I have to earn my own tuition fees. I would like to thank this event for giving me the opportunity to continue my studies through MyyAffiliate and sharing products with my followers on multiple platforms," said Claire Martine from Malawi in Africa, as she was awarded third prize for Best Influencer Creator.

Zhihui Zhang and Milly James from Australia, an international couple won the runner-up prize.

"We will be very happy to encourage more women to represent themselves and show their value," said Zhang, representing the couple to receive the prize.

"Through this event, I find out, for the first time, how young women can realize entrepreneurship via e-commerce solutions, such as MyyShop, through sharing in this community and practical e-learning about online business supported by DHGATE," said Lisney Katalina, a participant from Venezuela who is currently pregnant, as she received her reward for Best Influence Creator.

Rising Star Award · Best Marketing Influencer

Rui Yu and Francisico Yamaguchi, a couple from the UK, received the third prize for Best Marketing Influencer. Rui told the audience that as an international student four years ago, she applied for over a hundred jobs every week and finally landed her first job. However, everything changed when the pandemic hit the country, and she later turned to MyyShop.

"MyyShop helped me with my own business and offered this new stream of income, allowing me to keep on learning and improving myself," she said while receiving the prize presented by Edison Sheng, director of business development at Tomato Interactive.

Like MyyShop for Rui and Francisico, MyyAffiliate has offered Tom Tran Tri and Phuong Hoang Tri a breakthrough during hard times when Covid-19 hit their restaurant and hotel business in Vietnam.

Tom said they later discovered MyyAffiliate as the perfect tool to earn money to pay loans. They simply introduced some products in the restaurant to social media users and earned commissions.

"MyyAffiliate is the best approach for us as we start a business because when we attempt to make a breakthrough, we don't need to take the whole shelf on our shoulders," Tom told the audience, indicating that the one-stop social commerce SaaS platform is really a blessing for someone who wants to start small with almost zero investment.

Noah Washington from the USA excelled among others in this sector and won the Best Marketing Influencer award. She emphasized the vital role DHGATE Group, APEC Women Connect and MyyShop has played in her life. "These platforms give me more confidence and courage to build my own career. I have seen many excellent women entrepreneurs whose inspiration has benefited me a lot," said Washington.

The Ultimate Global Award -Best Influencer

Natalie Larose Wright, a lifestyle and fashion lover based in the UK, won third prize, and told the audience that she was "so excited to win."

In particular, she thanked MyyShop for enabling her as a young mom to reconcile work and life and received her prize from Anna Davidson, a single parent and winner of the first Her Power Entrepreneurship competition. "Over several years, I am really, really into female empowerment. And you can find me on all the social channels. I provide lots of free training for women who can very straightforwardly create a business," said the winner of the 2020 event.

Nusaiba Labaran, from Nigeria, received the runner-up prize and shared her gratitude to MyyShop as the platform allowed her to have her own business.

"So here I call for global attention to support women here in Nigeria, helping us with digital tools," Dr. Febechukwu Miriam Iwuala, the winner of last year's competition, who is also from Africa, said when presenting the award to Labaran.

Insightscoop, as a team of women entrepreneurs from various cultures and races, won the top award for this year.

"I just think it's really amazing to be encouraging women to live their dreams and be independent and confident and make money," said Deborah Dea Shkreli from the UK, representing the team, referring to their social e-commerce business using MyyShop.

Diane Wang, founder, chairperson, and CEO of DHGATE Group presented the top prize to Insightscoop, which recognizes participants in the competition whose work and brilliance deliver truly outstanding results.

"As a committee member. I can tell you that the nominees this year were some of the most incredible, hard-working, and smart women and girls that I have the pleasure of knowing," she told the audience. Diane also expressed her appreciation for all the partners and participants for their collaboration in women empowerment and said that DHGATE, MyyShop, and APEC Women Connect will continue this course in the future to promote digital skills and e-learning among women to foster an inclusive economy.

About APEC Women Connect

Founded in 2016, APEC Women Connect is an APEC-endorsed program initiated by Ms. Diane Wang, the China Representative on APEC Business Advisory Council, Chair of APEC Women Leadership Forum, Co-Chair of WiBAC of B20 Indonesia, Founder, Chairperson and CEO of DHgate.com. APEC Women Connect aims to empower women, especially young women, to realize entrepreneurship via digital solutions, through inspirational sharing, practical learning, effective recognition, and awards. APEC Women Connect has been included in the annual recommendation to the APEC Economic Leaders for three consecutive years. It has also been included in the annual recommendation to G20 Leaders by B20 for two consecutive years.

About MyyShop

MyyShop, a cross-border e-commerce Software as a Service (SaaS) platform launched by DHgate in 2020, aims to help MSMEs, especially entry-level merchants and individuals with social influence, run their online stores as direct sellers and turn their impact into positive business. Committed to engaging everyone in global trade, MyyShop connects Chinese manufacturing capacity with private domain traffic to lower the barrier of opening and operating a cross-border e-commerce business, with its advantages in smart product recommendation, social commerce shop fast development, cross-border marketing services, and smart logistics. For more information, please visit MyyShop.com, Myyshop.vip and follow @MyyShopOfficial.

About DHgate

Founded in 2004, DHgate has become the leading B2B cross-border e-commerce marketplace in China. Through our global operations and offices, including in the USA and UK, we reach millions of people with trusted products and services. As of December 31, 2021, DHgate covering tens of millions of products in various categories served more than 46 million registered buyers from 223 countries and regions by connecting them to over 2.4 million sellers in China and other countries, with over 37 million live listings on the platform annually. For more information, please visit dhgate.com and follow @DHgate.com.

SOURCE DHGATE Group