SHE-QONOMI: Committed to Inclusivity, Accessibility & Sustainability, Podcasts & Data Powered By HER

Global Women's Multi-Lingual/ Multi-Podcast Platform Powered By The Voices of HER. Built with Love & Kindness. Listen |LEARN| EARN.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL, UNITED STATES, March 30, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- SHEQONOMI celebrates five years since $150,000 Islamic Development Bank Grand Prize that seeded a global women's multi-lingual/multi platform podcast ecosystem. Launched from a kitchen table during the COVID-19 pandemic and backed by five sovereign nations, SHEQONOMI now reaches 195 countries in 65+ languages — rewarding women and girls for every minute of learning. Audio Education For All.

AT A GLANCE
· #1 of 5,000+ Global Applications
· $150,000 IsDB Grand Prize — Funded Innovation No. ZZZ2662
· 5 Sovereign Nations · 195 Countries · 65+ Languages
· 1 Billion+ Social Impressions
· Available on iOS, Android & KaiOS

The Global COVID Innovation Competition Grant That Changed Everything

On March 7, 2021, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) awarded SHEQONOMI its $150,000 Grand Prize — selecting it number one from more than 5,000 global applications submitted to the bank's COVID-19 Innovation Challenge. That single act of institutional belief, made on behalf of five sovereign nations — led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, the People's Republic of Bangladesh, and the Republic of Indonesia — set in motion what is now the largest dedicated multi-platform women's podcast ecosystem powered by the voices of women and girls.

Funded Innovation No. ZZZ2662, signed March 7, 2021, was more than a line item on a grant register. It was a declaration that women's voices are infrastructure; that audio technology built for the next billion users is not a niche market but the market itself; and that capital deployed with humanity as its North Star produces returns no balance sheet can fully capture. Five years on, that $150,000 seed has grown into 5,000+ women-led podcasts across 65 languages, a reach spanning all 195 countries, and more than one billion social impressions — with every listener rewarded for time invested in learning, as SHEQONOMI firmly established itself as the world's largest women's multilingual, multi-platform podcast ecosystem. Everyone can LISTEN | LEARN| EARN.

Built With Love & Kindness. Powered by the Voices of Women & Girls. Rewarding All Who Listen.

SHEQONOMI is the world's first and only rewards-focused, multi-centric podcast app — with a strong focus on Women's Health & Sports. It is also the world's first Arabic podcast multi-platform designed by and for women and girls, available on iOS, Android, and KaiOS, the operating system that powers affordable handsets across emerging markets with over 500,000 already on KaiOS since the beginning of the Pandemic. We have been witnessing over "450,000%" increase in usage in China alone, an uptick in South Africa, Singapore, Vietnam, Nigeria, and low-cost mobile phone users based on our Google Analytics. It is fantastic to witness new narratives by HER for HER," shares Anu Bhardwaj.

Aside from focusing on women-centric podcasts, there is a strong focus on sustainability. SHEQONOMI uses 28–31% less energy than industry giants Spotify and Apple Podcasts, placing it in alignment with 2035 Net Zero targets. In a sector that has rarely centred sustainability alongside scale, SHEQONOMI treats environmental responsibility as a founding principle, not an afterthought. The platform's core proposition is simple and radical in equal measure: every woman and girl who listens, learns, or creates earns rewards for her time. In communities where women's economic participation has long been constrained, that micro-incentive is not a product feature — it is a structural intervention.

"SHEQONOMI has been entirely self-funded since its founding during the COVID-19 pandemic — built from a kitchen table, backed by a generous grant from the Islamic Development Bank, mentored by the SDG Impact Accelerator, supported by UNDP Bangladesh — by a mother and daughter who believed that rewarding women and girls for every minute of learning was not just a smart and timely pandemic-proof business model in times of famine, disease, and war. It was and continues to be a moral obligation for humanity." - Anu & Arya Bhardwaj

The Visionaries Behind the Platform

Anu Bhardwaj, Founder & CEO of SHEQONOMI, is a Fulbright Scholar to the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, Vital Voices Fellow, Executive Producer of The State of Women Film & Founder of The State of Women Institute, a US 501c3. As Co-Chair of UN Blockchain for Impact, she has spent decades building at the intersection of capital, women's empowerment, and technology. Between 2010 and 2013, she led US Department of Commerce Private Equity and Venture Capital Trade Missions to the Nordics, Saudi Arabia, and the broader Middle East, representing more than $175 billion in PE/VC interests alongside the International Trade Administration and US Embassies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.

Co-Founder Arya Bhardwaj brought the same fearlessness to SHEQONOMI that she has demonstrated since childhood. At seven, she co-founded Krypto 4 Kids, launching the world's first kids' cryptocurrency 'play' wallet and building a live Bitcoin mining rig on stage at the Inaugural Blockchain on the Beach event hosted by Qrypto Queens at the Montage Laguna Beach Resort before the COVID-19 Pandemic. At eight, Miss Arya Bhardwaj addressed the United Nations Blockchain for Impact Summit as its youngest-ever speaker, sharing the stage with the UN Under-Secretary-General and ambassadors from Monaco, the Marshall Islands, and Uganda. A White House Nominated Changemaker, Arya donated her entire college fund to co-found SHEQONOMI — a worthy investment that contributed directly to the IsDB Grand Prize win. The future, she believes, belongs to those who go all in - especially with kindness and generosity.

Officially Registered in the State of Qatar at the Qatar Financial Centre: SHEQONOMI MENA

In October 2025, SHEQONOMI MENA LLC (QFC No. 03944) was officially registered by the Qatar Financial Centre, immediately after Web Summit Qatar 2025, cementing the company's expansion across the Gulf Cooperation Council — the very region where SHEQONOMI first took root. What began as a seed of sovereign belief from Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the UAE has grown into an officially recognised presence headquartered in Doha, Qatar, and positioned to serve the next billion women and girls across the Arab World and beyond.

About SHEQONOMI

SHEQONOMI (sheqonomi.com · sheqonomi.com/ar) is the world's first and only rewards-focused, multi-centric podcast app — powered by the voices of women and girls globally. The world's largest Women's Health & Sports Podcast multi-lingual, multi-platform built for both low cost mobile devices and smart phones. In 2025, we created a dedicated Listen Learn and Earn Arabic version designed by women and girls, which we will be LIVE soon. Available already on iOS, Android, and KaiOS. The world's greenest podcast app — using 28–31% less energy than Spotify or Apple Podcasts, aligned with 2035 Net Zero targets. 195 countries. 65+ languages. Listen. Learn. Earn.

MEDIA & PRESS CONTACT
Anu Bhardwaj, Founder & CEO · anu@sheqonomi.com · yallapra@georgetown.edu · +1 858-736-7460
IsDB Grant Ref: Funded Innovation No. ZZZ2662 · March 7, 2021 · isdb.org
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SHEQONOMI
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