Blackbox, the Silicon Valley accelerator dedicated to leveling the playing field for global startups, recently announced their first-ever program comprised exclusively of women founders. Blackbox Connect Female Founders Edition is committed to helping women gain access to Silicon Valley resources and funding networks, and is powered by Google for Entrepreneurs. Since its inception, Blackbox has dedicated itself to maintaining diversity by ensuring that 50 percent of their program startups are founded by women. The nonprofit Blackbox has hosted hundreds of companies from 50 countries over the past three years with 90 percent funded, and all deeply embedded in a growing network of successful entrepreneurs.
One participant in the Blackbox Connect program, Tatiana Birgisson, founder of Mati Energy, just won Google for Entrepreneurs Demo Day. The other entrepreneurs chosen hail from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Lebanon, Poland, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States. The businesses bring innovations in a variety of industries, including art education, enlightened dating, eyewear, fashion, healthy eating, location-based e-commerce, mental health, native advertising, and wearables.
The full list of female founders and their companies are available on the Blackbox website.
“There are many underrepresented women founders in both the U.S. and abroad that could benefit from more support,” said Fadi Bishara, founder of Blackbox. “Silicon Valley does not have a monopoly on talent, but access to the valley’s rich resources are critical to an entrepreneur’s success. Blackbox creates that access and helps startups learn, collaborate and grow. Along with Google for Entrepreneurs, we are thrilled to have the privilege of welcoming such talented female entrepreneurs to Blackbox.”
“Through our efforts like the #40Forward initiative, we’ve seen how access to funding and mentor networks is critical to the growth of any business, especially female-led startups,” said Bridgette Beam, head of women’s outreach at Google for Entrepreneurs. “The women joining us in the Blackbox Connect Female Founders Edition represent some of the most promising female entrepreneurs from around the world, and we’re excited to help them connect to the best of Silicon Valley and support them in building high growth businesses.”
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