Yahoo! Small Business Awards Grants to Women Entrepreneurs

Back in March, Yahoo! Small Business and Carolyn Kepcher (entrepreneur and former star of NBC’s "The Apprentice") announced "Seeds for Success," a new grant program for women entrepreneurs. Out of more than 5,500 submissions, Yahoo! and Kepcher selected three finalists. Each of the finalists will receive $20,000 business grants, $5,000 in web site and online marketing consulting from Yahoo! Small Business partners Exclusive Concepts, Fast Pivot, and EYStudios, and one-on-one mentoring from leading business experts.

The three grant recipients are:

• Karla Duncan, pediatric speech pathologist and founder and president of Head2Toe Publications, a developer of toys and educational materials for special needs children;
• Abby Port, founder and CEO of Red Koala, which will offer customizable art for home décor on its Yahoo! Small Business site;
• Dana Rubinstein, co-founder of Dapple, which will produce earth-friendly and baby-safe cleaning supplies for babies’ hands, toys, and feeding equipment such as bottles and sippy cups.

Earlier this week, Kepcher wrote a blog post for Yahoo! Anecdotal, the Yahoo! corporate blog, where she shared her thoughts on why the Seeds for Success program is important to her. Her post also gives an overview of the program’s fifteen mentors, and the finalists they’ll be working with. Read Carolyn Kepcher’s post to Yahoo! Anecdotal.

And, don’t forget to stop by the Seeds for Success web site, where you can follow along as Duncan, Port, and Rubinstein use their business grants, consulting services, and mentors’ advice to accelerate their businesses. Whoever progresses her business the most over the next six months will win the $10,000 grand prize. What these entrepreneurs learn along the way could help you grow your business, too!

Melissa Chaika Sobel and Jennifer Farwell
Yahoo! Small Business