She Loves Tech, an international non-profit committed to closing the funding gap for women entrepreneurs, has launched a US$10 million early-stage accelerator fund co-managed by Teja Ventures, reports Tech In Asia.
She Loves Tech Global Fund will fund up to US$100,000 in pre-seed and seed round of 100 women-led firms over three years. There are no specific requirements regarding the location or industry of startups.
As stated at Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH) 2021, Microsoft Asia will join hands with She Loves Tech in a multi-year partnership spanning 15 countries in Asia to contribute towards inclusive economic growth.
Also read: A woman among women: 27 female-led startups in SEA that are going places
Following the collaboration, Microsoft will support an Azure-powered digital platform to facilitate connections at scale between women entrepreneurs, VCs and angel investors worldwide.
As per a press statement, She Loves Tech startups will also get access to Microsoft’s cloud environment, technology tools and security solutions to pilot born-in-the-cloud innovations and “scale from idea to unicorn.”
In addition, Microsoft’s global ecosystem of industry experts will bring into the fold deep technical and co-selling expertise to support faster go-to-market and a community for mentoring, skilling and funding for startups.
Learning content on MS Learn and LinkedIn Learning will also be incorporated into She Loves Tech’s curriculum.
Launched in 2015 and based in China and Singapore, She Loves Tech is an acceleration and community platform for women in technology. It aims to unlock over US$1 billion in capital by 2030 for women-led businesses.
She Loves Tech holds an annual global competition catering to early-stage, female-founded startups in 50 countries. To date, its startups have raised more than US$250 million post-competition.
“By helping over 10,000 women entrepreneurs gain access to funding, a global network, and support from other women founders from around the world, we hope their success will indirectly contribute towards creating 100,000 jobs across local economies in Asia,” said Leanne Robers, co-founder of She Loves Tech.
Also read: Investing with gender lens: Proven strategy to achieve 2x+ in returns
The pandemic has further exacerbated the disparity in salaries and access to funding for female founders. Funding to female founders dropped 31 per cent last year, compared to a 16 per cent dip for ventures run solely by males, according to PitchBook. Women-led startups in Southeast Asia even attracted only 0.9 per cent of total capital raised in the region in 2020.
However, there is a global trend of investors who are betting on female founders, who took in US$46.3 billion in funding in 2019, according to data from PitchBook. That’s more than twice the number a year before and more than 15 times that in 2010.
—
Ready to meet new startups to invest in? We have more than hundreds of startups ready to connect with potential investors on our platform. Create or claim your Investor profile today and turn on e27 Connect to receive requests and fundraising information from them.
Image Credit: Microsoft
The post She Loves Tech earmarks US$10M for women-led firms, joins hand with Microsoft appeared first on e27.