KOCHI:
Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) is organising a virtual competition in association with She Loves Tech to create a pan-India network for entrepreneurs, firms and investors to promote technology for women and women in technology.
The competition aims at boosting businesses led by women and any entrepreneur with a technology that is dedicated to improve the lives of women globally.
KSUM has invited applications from startups at http://www.startupmission.in/shelovestech for She Loves Tech India 2020 preliminary round – The National Grand Challenge– scheduled to be held on October 31. October 3 is the last date for submitting applications. Ten best startups from the applicants will pitch virtually on The National Grand Challenge and the winner will get the opportunity to pitch in the global finals.
Preceding the preliminaries will be a Mentorship round on October 26 and an Investor Café for two days subsequently. The mentorship round will be for the top 30 startups from the applications received, which will help them prepare pitch decks and polish them to be prepared for the National Grand Challenge.
The October 28 Investor Café is organised by KSUM, which will be a one to one virtual meet with the Investor and startups who are looking for financial support to take their business to the next level. The 30 startups shortlisted for the mentoring round will participate for the Investor Café.
Amongst the 30, 10 startups will get a chance to compete in the National Grant Challenge and the winner (One Startup) can attend a boot camp and get access to the International Conference, all virtual. There, the startup will get five minutes to pitch on stage and another three minutes for Q&A.
The competition is essentially meant for:
01 STARTUP STAGE -STARTUPS SEEKING SEED, ANGEL OR SERIES A ROUND FUNDING (RAISED UNDER US$5M) WITH AT LEAST A MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT.
02 GENDER LENS -Technology startup fulfilling ONE of the following gender lens:
· Female founder
· Majority female users
· Majority female consumers
· Technology impacting women positively
The competition seeks to promote the use of science and innovation to invent useful things or solve problems by women or for women. This extends beyond digital, information or internet-based technology, covering everything from hardtech to the creation of tech products and tech solutions to existing problems.