Google introduces the inaugural class of the Google for Startups Accelerator Program; India Women Founders.

Google has announced the first class of 20 women-founded / co-founded startups, selected from close to 400 applications.

The program, designed specifically for women-founded startups, will place special emphasis on subjects like access to networks, access to capital, hiring challenges, mentorship and many others which, for a variety of social reasons and low representation, prove challenging for female founders. In addition to these, the curriculum will include workshops and support around AI/ML, Cloud, UX, Android, Web, Product Strategy and Growth, as well as provide access to a global community of women founders.

This program is part of a larger effort by Google towards improving the representation of women across different sections of India’s digitally-trained workforce - be it entrepreneurship, professionals looking to upskill or young graduates seeking a head start on their career - with the ultimate objective of making technology universally relevant and helpful.

Here’s a quick look at the first batch of the program and the problem areas they’re focussed on:

• Aspire for Her: Adding one million women to the workforce by 2025 by using the power of communities and networks.

• Brown Living: Making planet-positive living possible through its curated platform for all things sustainable & plastic free.

• CoLLearn Education: Helping people make full time careers in the field of their passion through our celebrity led live courses and mentorship programs in Sports and Finance.

• Commudle: A community platform to help businesses build & scale their developer programs. With us you can 10x your DevRel efficiency & 100x your community engagements.

• Dubverse : Video Dubbing powered by AI, in 30+ languages at lightning fast speed.

• Elda Health : A full-stack women's healthcare platform, that offers research-backed, scientifically and mindfully curated wellness solutions for women, starting with a focus on menopause.

• Fitbots: Helping CEOs connect and align teams with OKRs. We are an OKRs product with on demand OKR coaching.

• FreeStand : B2B Marketplace for FMCG Product Sampling.

• Jumping Minds: An anonymous, smart, & interactive community to talk, listen, & get clarity to lower your stress & feel better

• LXME: India's 1st Neobank for women, powering women to take charge of financial goals.

• MeMeraki: The first D2C ‘Culture-tech’ platform enabling traditional rural artisans from the remotest corners of India to be digital creators for the first time in the creator economy with Content enabling Commerce.

• Mishry: Building a world-class review-focussed ecosystem with a mission to remove product misinformation through authentic reviews and customer feedback.

• OPOD Audio : Vernacular audio app that provides contextual information on trending news and current affairs in just 30 secs.

• PickMyWork: India's largest digital distribution network that helps internet companies acquire customers through a pay-per-acquisition model.

• Rang De: A pioneering peer-to-peer lending platform that is revolutionizing credit access by connecting individual social investors to unbanked communities across India.

• Savage: Offering doctor-designed, complete care programs for PCOS, Hormonal Imbalance, Thyroid, Menopause, Weight & Gut Health.

• Sprint Studio: Immersive always-on, conversational research platform where brand custodians and researchers connect with consumers through interactive communities, live video connects and chat style surveys.

• The Bridge: India’s only sports media house fully focused on Indian sports. Deep coverage of Indian sports which goes beyond mainstream cricket.

• TrackNow: Connecting location services to solve problems in education, staff, logistics & supply chain.

• Tradyl: A digital platform for online businesses across the world to source in small quantities from India.