20 Women-led Startups to Get Google Advantage in First Round of Accelerator Program in India

By Vijay Anand

For CNBCTV

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The inaugural batch of the accelerator will accept up to 20 women-founded/co-founded startups, including those at the minimum viable product stage, and “support them through a three-month programme”. The programme will focus on areas like access to networks, to capital, hiring challenges, mentorship and many others.

Technology giant Google on Tuesday announced that it was setting up ‘Startups India Accelerator — Indian women founder’ with an aim to ensure equal representation of women at the helm of startups.

India, with at least 100 unicorns — 22 of them joining the club in 2022 — is the world’s third largest startup incubator, behind the United States and China. These startups span a wide range of sectors — e-commerce, healthtech, fintech, etc.

In a press release, Google said only 15 percent of Indian unicorns have one more women founders and that the Accelerator is an attempt to correct the balance.