The WMed Innovation Center will focus on female entrepreneurs as the recipient of a $50,000 Growth Accelerator Award from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The $50,000 award is part of $3 million the SBA allocated across 39 states and territories to 60 accelerators and incubators to support startups and entrepreneurs researching and developing STEM-related innovations, company formation and awareness and education on the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs.
Sandra Cochrane, assistant dean of the Innovation Center, said WMed’s Innovation Center will use the award money in 2020 to double the number of SBIR and STTR workshops it offers and will implement a woman-to-woman mentoring program, offering more support for female entrepreneurs.
WMed’s Innovation Center also plans to host a Women in Tech event in 2020 to celebrate women, who are traditionally underrepresented in tech, Cochrane said.
“Primarily the reason a grant like this is important anywhere in the country, but especially here in Southwest Michigan, is that women are underrepresented in technology,” Cochrane said. “The amount of investment women get in their companies is far less than the amount men get. Not only are their fewer women, but they’re getting less money.”
There are fewer women in investment occupations, and even fewer women are venture capitalists, angel investors and bankers, Cochrane said.
“To me the importance of this grant is to try to raise awareness that women are underrepresented and to offer opportunities that will help women advance and become more successful in this high-tech world, especially when it comes to entrepreneurship.”
Cochrane said she is excited about the opportunities that come along with the grant, including the mentoring program. She said she expects to put a call out for more female mentors.
“I think there is some gender-learned behavior that a lot of women are unaware of, and if we can make women aware of that and give them tools to address it, they can choose when to use those tools and when not to,” Cochrane said. “Women can learn some behaviors that can help level the playing field.”
“Michigan has ranked at the top of the nation for the growth of women-owned firms since 2014,” said Constance Logan, the SBA’s Michigan district director. “This SBA Growth Accelerator award to support WMed Innovation Center’s efforts will help the growing number of Michigan women entrepreneurs with starting and expanding their businesses and further help the state’s economy by supporting innovation and job creation.”
WMed’s Innovation Center was one of two Michigan accelerators that received funding. The other Michigan awardee was TechTown Detroit.
In all, approximately 200 accelerators and incubators applied and their applications were judged by expert panels with entrepreneurial, investment, startup, economic development and academic backgrounds from the public and private sector. Each applicant submitted a brief presentation deck and an optional two-minute video outlining the organizations’ overall approach, experience working with the targeted entrepreneur group and key evaluation metrics for the proposed plan.