The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and the Government of Telangana, India, have joined hands to launch the CyberTech Women Entrepreneurs programme to promote and reward women entrepreneurs in both nations. The exchange programme will provide women-led technology businesses from India and Australia with more access and pathways for growth. The accelerator programme is part of the Australia-India Bilateral Cyber and Critical Technology Partnership (AICCTP), which is supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Cyber Affairs Team.
The programme will host six women-led Indian startups and six women-led Australian startups which are working primarily in the areas of cybersecurity and critical technologies. The shortlisted startups will get the support to make a soft-landing in the other nation and their respective markets for the period of the programme, and for three months beyond it. So far, the entries for this programme include women entrepreneurs working in fields like artificial intelligence, blockchain, quantum computing, next generation telecommunications, the internet, synthetic biology, genomics and genetic engineering, low-emission alternative fuels, autonomous vehicles, drones, swarming and collaborative robotics, and big data.
“For over a decade, startups, especially women entrepreneurs in tech, have expressed a lack of opportunities and financial support to optimally scale up their businesses globally,” said Deepthi Ravula, the CEO of WE Hub. “This exchange programme will be integral to building an ongoing bilateral startup-scale-up exchange initiative to support and enrich the startup ecosystem for female entrepreneurs in cyberspace and critical technology across the two nations,” said Irfan Malik, CEO, InQ Innovation global.
*Image used for representative purpose.