An increasing number of female-led startups have signed up for the $60,000 Kickstarter Challenge to earn funding and expert guidance for their businesses.
For the fourth year, the Australian government-funded Accelerator for Enterprising Women has launched the Kickstarter Challenge to search for the top business ideas among women aged 18 and over.
The competition aims to support women entrepreneurs looking to take their business ideas to the next stage.
This year, a panel of expert judges will select finalists in five categories, including community impact, environment and sustainability, health, wellbeing and the care economy, technology, and education as a new category.
The winner will take home $30,000 and the four runners-up will win $7500 each. The competition also offers exclusive mentoring sessions, brand and media training, social media and graphic design support.
During this first month of launch, the Kickstarter Challenge has recorded a fourfold increase in entries compared to last year.
“We are seeing a growing trend of women embracing apps, AI, and innovation to make our communities better places,” said Accelerator for Enterprising Women spokesperson Fleur Anderson.
“Some of the ingenious app ideas this year aim to prevent child deaths in hot cars, get immediate help for domestic violence victims, help busy families organise their lives and even connect with a community network of EV charging stations in people’s driveways.”
Anderson cited the latest data from Cut Through Venture that teams headed up by female founders attracted less than 0.5 per cent of capital in the last quarter.
“The fact that only 0.5 per cent of capital was directed to female founders in the last quarter is deeply disappointing, and is a sign that there remains a lot more work to be done to tear down the barriers to their success,” she stated.
The Kickstarter Challenge will receive submissions until October 1. Finalists will pitch to the judges at the grand final event at Parliament House in Canberra on November 20.
