About Women Who Tech (original) (raw)
We Break Down Barriers and Get More Women Startups Funded
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Women Who Tech is nonprofit organization building a culture and inclusive economy to accelerate women tech entrepreneurs and close the funding gap.
Women are founding innovative startups more than ever before, yet only 2% of investor funding in the US and 10% globally goes to startups founded by women. This is unacceptable!
We believe that if we're going to create products for the masses and build breakthrough technologies that truly solve big problems, we need to build up and fund diverse-led startups now. Providing funding and resources to the founders and companies who deeply understand the problems they’re working to solve will deliver strong financial returns, while transforming the world.
We Mobilize a Network of Women Startups and Investors
Investors say that they want to fund more women startups. Women startups want to pitch more investors for funding. Women Who Tech connects those dots through our diverse network of women founders and top investors.
If the tech sector wants to truly innovate, then investors will need to be more intentional about diversifying their portfolios and be more inclusive. It's time to tackle the gap in venture capital funding head on." - Allyson Kapin, founder of Women Who Tech
Our Program
Women Startup Challenge: Full Support Model with Mentoring, Partnerships, Resources, and Funding
Women Who Tech recruits women founders who are creating innovative tech products to solve big problems to the Women Startup Challenge, our nonprofit’s 8-week virtual program.
During each Women Startup Challenge program, we provide pitch coaching, mentoring, and resources to each cohort. We also connect startup founders to other investors to open up funding networks.
At the end of each program, we host a demo night at the biggest tech companies where founders pitch top VCs ranging from First Round Capital to Greycroft. Women Who Tech provides a $50K grant to the winning pitch. Startups also receive one-on-one mentoring with VCs from our investor network and in-kind services based on their needs.
During COVID-19, we transformed our Women Startup Challenges into the Women Who Tech Startup Grants Program to continue funding game-changing, women-led startups virtually during this pandemic. We award grant funding on rolling basis to women-led startups. In addition, our investment partners such as the W Fund, SteelSky Ventures, HearstLab, Citrine Angels, and other investors have evaluated startups for further investment.
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Our Impact
- 8000+ women-led startups, with 40% women of color.
- 84% of startup cohorts have raised VC funding.
- 81% are still in business.
- $200M+ raised by startup cohorts.
*Women Who Tech uses an inclusive definition of “woman” and “female”, and we welcome transwomen, genderqueer women, and non-binary people who identify, have identified, or have been identified as female or woman.
** Women Who Tech is fiscally sponsored by the Edward Charles Foundation.