SheStarts secures $500,000 government grant to help female-led startups go global

BlueChilli’s female-led startup accelerator SheStarts is looking to help its alumni network go global as it opens applications for its second cohort, after receiving a recent $500,000 funding boost from the Australian government.

Launched in October last year with a $1 million fund from BlueChilli, SheStarts bills itself as the the country’s only venture-backed national tech accelerator that is designed specifically to support female entrepreneurs.

The first SheStarts cohort graduated in August this year having launched startups across range of industries including agritech, consumer technology and fintech, and this next intake will welcome 10 female-led startups from across Australia who have a startup idea that they want to make a reality.

“We specialise in helping pre-product, idea-stage female entrepreneurs, who are mostly solo founders with no tech co-founder, to take an idea out of their head and into the market,” SheStarts director and BlueChilli’s head of diversity and impact Nicola Hazell tells StartupSmart.

SheStarts’ second intake will be backed with $500,000 in funding from the federal government as part of the $1.57 million in incubator grants it announced last week to help Australian startups enter global markets. Read more

Angela Castles - Smart Company -  19 Oct 2017