The term “women supporting women” has been a much talked about phrase, especially in the entertainment industry. In the tech world, it is a different story entirely. Opportunities abound for everyone but as fewer women are available in the STEM courses and less hold top positions in tech companies, the amount of “women helping women” is low compared to other sectors. As another big opportunity, the second round of YCombinator application for 2019 is open, FAVE WOMEN has good news for women in tech.
YCombinator (YC) is the world’s best startup accelerator that works with startups on their ideas and helps founders deal with investors and acquirers. Much more than the usual startup accelerator, YC funds startups in batches (you can apply here).
In the last few years, quite a number of technology startups across Africa have received an influx of capital. However, a majority of these companies have been founded by men. This can be attributed to a lot of reasons ranging from societal expectation to the availability of opportunities and a greater network of men who have a wider and deeper connection than the other gender. There is an incredible funding gap for women entrepreneurs in Africa. According to annual reports by Partech Ventures, over $1.204 billion has been raised by African startups since 2015, yet women-led or co-founded companies only comprise single-digit percentages of that amount. If we want more women to build high-growth venture-backed businesses, then more of them have to win the YC lottery and get its stamp of credibility. In 2015, YC admitted its first batch of Nigerian startups. Since then, over 30 startups have been accepted into the programme. Yet, only 3 of these companies – Buycoins, Schoolable, and Tress – have had female co-founders and only 1 – Tress – has had a female CEO. This trend is disturbing.
From research done by Future Africa, it was discovered that the percentage of women who apply to YC is roughly the same as the percentage of women who get funded. Therefore, if more African women-led companies apply, more African women-led companies will be accepted into YC. In spite of the challenging application process for YC, help and support has continually been handed out but only a few are designed to help the female gender. The good news is that FAVE WOMEN is working to resolve some of the challenges that abound for the female gender in the society such as not enough access to friendly YC alumni or not understanding what YC is looking out for in the startups they choose to work with alongside many other challenges. One of the ways FAVE WOMEN is doing this is by working with some amazing YC alumni to make it easier for African female founders leading tech startups to get into YC. By doing this, they hope to build a future where more women can lead to high growth venture-backed technology companies.
BENEFITS
Over a 3 week period, FAVE WOMEN will help connect applicants to a number of YC alumni who will review your YC applications to ensure they meet YC criteria and – if they wish – directly refer your company to YC to increase your chances of getting in.
APPLICATION PROCESS
An African woman leading a technology startup with
- A live technology-driven product or service
- a technical co-founder
- any level of traction
To apply for this, fill this form with some information about yourself and your business
DEADLINE
The deadline for this opportunity is August 14th, apply here!
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Source:
Future Africa
Featured Image Source: Tech Crunch