The event was launched in Mumbai which will be followed by roadshows across Bengaluru, NCR, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad for in order to attract applications.
Ajay Ramasubramaniam, Director (India), Zone Startups stated, “Our core belief has always been our ability to identify hi-tech, hi-potential start-ups very early-on, and back them all the way. empoWer has given a totally new dimension to this. The genuine benefit from the program that our first cohort has vouched for, coupled with success from the cohort, has helped us to expand the program beyond just an accelerator.”
empoWer is India’s first tech accelerator for women entrepreneurs that provides mentorship, industry connects, peer network, investor meets through a 6-week program.
Starting 2017, empoWer expands itself to become an ecosystem for nurturing women entrepreneurship through a conference, accelerator, skilling bootcamp, peer community and access to funding, as a year round initiative.
Shortlisted participants will get access to mentoring, workshops, case studies of successful women led startups, industry connect, peer network, investor connect and business development opportunities. Also, they will be entitled to takeaways worth $117 thousand.
Zone Startups India is now gearing up for the launch of empoWer 2017 in Bangalore on 8th September. The Launch event will feature a panel discussion on the topic “Women Leaders: Innovating, Inspiring & Transforming.”
The initiative that was first launched in 2016, is backed by the Department of Science & Technology (Government of India), Microsoft, Capital First, PayU, ICICI Bank, Social Alpha (a Tata Trusts initiative), Cherie Blair Foundation, Amazon and FlexiLoans.