BANGALORE, INDIA: The Anita Borg Institute (ABI), a non-profit organization focused on advancing women in computing, has announced the 4th edition of the Women Entrepreneur Quest (WEQ) 2014, which will be held during the 5th annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing India (GHCI) conference.
The annual conference, presented by the Anita Borg Institute and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM-India), will take place from 19-21 November, 2014.
WEQ is a contest designed to promote and showcase early-stage ventures with a technology component, founded or led by women entrepreneurs in all technologies. It focuses on talented women technologists in the founding or leadership team of early stage start-ups who have applied technology in innovative ways to solve meaningful business problems. Registration for the WEQ 2014 contest is open now; and will be closed on 2nd November.
The winner of the WEQ 2014 contest will be awarded a grand cash prize of Rs. 5,00,000. There are a host of other special awards for the top six finalists such as mentoring opportunities with entrepreneurs and VCs in the industry, free legal counseling for your business.
“We are extremely thrilled to initiate the 4th Edition of WEQ, which will bring together aspiring women entrepreneurs from across India,” said Geetha Kannan, India managing director of the Anita Borg Institute.
The WEQ contest will run through a two-level selection process. The selection committee will evaluate all the business plans received and select the best six start-ups based on several criteria including customer need being addressed, competitive business models and effective and innovative use of technology.
The six finalists will be mentored closely by the WEQ Committee, to prepare their pitches for the final Showcase & Award Presentation event. The finalists will make their pitches in person at the GHCI conference on 21 November, 2014 in front of a distinguished panel including VCs, entrepreneurs and mentors.