Deadline: 31 May 2020
Applications are now open for the 10th Women Startup Challenge, cohosted by Google. Women Who Tech is on a mission to help fund and empower women founders building products to solve the biggest issues facing this world.
Launched in partnership with Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist and Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the Women Startup Challenge will showcase 10 of the best early stage, women-led startups who will pitch their companies at Google in NYC to some of the biggest investors on September 22.
Prizes
- Grand Prize winner will receive a $50,000 cash grant (equity free).
- The W Fund is committing a $25,000 investment (after the fund completes its first close) and pending final due diligence on the chosen startup.
- All finalists will also receive pro-bono services, and participate in our Investor Mentoring Day where founders will meet one-on-one with several different investors.
Criteria for Applicants
- Your startup product and mission must be tech focused across any vertical.
- Your venture must be at the prototype stage, or have already launched. You may not apply if you are only in the concept stage.
- Your startup must incorporate technology into the approach of your product, which allows the company to rapidly and massively scale in a manner that traditional, independent small businesses cannot.
- Fast growing with degrees of innovation.
- You cannot have raised more than $4.1M from combined sources.
- You are a technical founder or you have a technical cofounder.
- You must be a woman-led startup, defined as having at least one woman founder or co-founder on the team.
- All ideas must be original work or an improvement upon an existing idea without infringements.
Note:
- If you don’t have a technical Cofounder, please email Women Who Tech and tell them more about your setup.
- Women Who Tech uses an inclusive definition of “woman” and “female”, and they welcome transwomen, genderqueer women, and non-binary people who identify, have identified, or have been identified as female or woman.
- Using tech (i.e. hosting a blog, selling products on your website, or using social media in your marketing) does not qualify as using tech to scale on a mass level nationally and globally.
Rules for Applicants
- Your startup must be located within North America.
- The (co)founder pitching at the Women Startup Challenge must be a woman. Reminder: Women Who Tech uses an inclusive definition of “woman” and “female”, and they welcome all women, including ciswomen, transwomen, genderqueer women, and non-binary people who identify, have identified, or have been identified as female or woman.
- All applications must be submitted in English, and all pitches must be given in English.
- Applications will only be accepted online through the application portal.
- No applicant may reach out to judges, sponsors, and/or partners in advance of the Women Startup Challenge advocating for their startup. Anyone who does will be disqualified. If you have any conflicts of interest, please reach out to the Women Who Tech team prior to submitting your application.
- Prior Women Startup Challenge finalists are not eligible to apply unless they have a new startup and new product. Finalists from the Women Startup Challenge Podcast are, however, eligible to apply for the in-person Women Startup Challenge.
- Women Who Tech reserves the right to select and reject winners at any time, and may add finalists to any round of the competition to give more entrepreneurs access to the Women Startup Challenge.
- The Women Startup Challenge will take place at Google in June 2020, and the Investor Mentoring Day will take place the day following the Women Startup Challenge in NYC. All finalists are required to be present, in person, for both events.
- All finalists must pay their own travel and accommodations to the Women Startup Challenge in New York City, NY.
Note: Agencies or consulting businesses are not eligible unless you have created a product that fits the above criteria.
COVID-19 Note: Women Who Tech is prepared to move the date or host virtually, as needed, and will keep all applicants updated.
For more information, visit https://womenwhotech.com/women-startup-challenge/2020-nyc