Google Launches Accelerator in North America to Support Women Founders

In collaboration with Ashley Francisco, Head of Startup Developer Ecosystems — Canada

At the end of 2019, 20% of newly funded startups globally reported having a woman founder or co-founder. Despite these numbers doubling since 2009, women entrepreneurs remain severely underrepresented and continue to struggle to raise as much capital as their male counterparts. In fact, a recent study showed that women founders own just 48 cents in equity for every dollar men own.

At Google, we remain dedicated to leveling the playing field for all founders across the globe, including providing accessible programming specifically designed for women entrepreneurs. As the world shifts to digital, we have launched a series of adapted programs — including an online community events series, a virtual Residency program and a 12-week immersion program that provide skill-building and mentorship for women founders in Europe, and a web series “Founded” from Google’s Women Techmakers focused on highlighting women entrepreneurs solving some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

To further scale our investment in women founders, we are pleased to announce that we will be launching a virtual Google for Startups Accelerator for Women Founders based in the US and Canada.

As part of the Google for Startups Accelerator, selected women and women-identified founders will outline the main challenges facing their startups, and be paired with relevant experts from Google and the industry to solve these challenges.

To ensure that the program meets the needs of our audience, we have built a strong roster of women leaders, from Google and the wider tech community, to deliver workshops, talks, and 1:1 mentoring sessions. In addition, alumni from the program will be invited to join our global Google for Startups Women community — a peer-led community of women entrepreneurs from around the world.

We are committed to supporting the startup community in North America, and we’re thrilled to bring this additional offering to the US and Canadian startup ecosystems. Our focus is to create opportunities for all founders, and in this program we’ll use the best of Google’s people, network and advanced technologies to help women founders build and scale successful businesses, bridging the gap between men and women in the startup ecosystem.

Applications for the Google for Startups Accelerator for Women Founders open today until July 22 and the cohort will kick off on September 28.

For more information and to apply visit g.co/womenfoundersaccelerator.

Jason Scott currently serves as the Head of Startup Developer Ecosystems, US — managing Google’s regional Accelerators and startup developer engagement programs across the United States.

Ashley Francisco works as the Head of Startup Developer Ecosystems, Canada — bringing the best of Google’s people, product, programs and technology to startup teams across the country.