Announcing the Women Innovators Incubator
Read more about the program in the Icelandic news on MBL and Viðskiptiblaðið.
WomenTechIceland and Huawei have launched The Women Innovators incubator program with the aim of specifically supporting women to gain a foothold into the world of technology. The program ends in May of next year and will yield one idea a one million ISK prize.
The program aims to motivate women to recognize and explore the potential of their ideas, whether or not they possess technical skills and business skills. No prior experience with an incubator is required to participate in the program. All that is required is having an idea that could create positive change and a curiosity to learn how to use technology, business tools and collaboration to bring these great ideas to life.
In addition to the one million ISK prize, the winning idea will be awarded the resources to help the project launch from idea to business. The program will open for applications in February.
The Women Innovators incubator program is a part of a year-long partnership between WomenTechIceland, Huawei and Women in Technology Huawei that was launched last spring. The incubator program is different from existing platforms in the innovation ecosystem in that it provides both a discussion forum that can help women understand the challenges and recognize the opportunities, while simultaneously offering a learning platform that women can leverage to gain a working understanding of technology and business.
They have already held two events as a part of the incubator program and the third is scheduled on Saturday 13 November which will be a workshop called “How to turn your ideas into projects for positive change“. The workshop will be led by Guðrún Ragnarsdóttir, co-founder of Strategía. Attendees will get an overview of the various tools and frameworks to use in moving from idea to project. Attendance is free but space is limited so registration is required.
“There is a notable lack of women-led projects and companies across the Iceland Innovation sector, from the percentage of projects receiving grant funding to those getting venture capital to the number of women in leadership positions, particularly in Tech. Likewise, while more and more women are studying computer science and related fields, many engineering and development teams still seem to have very few, if any, women. There are also women who leave these fields for a number or reasons including work culture, childcare, burnout, and to pursue other interests outside of tech. In tandem, we see discussions amongst foreigners living in Iceland that entering and advancing in Tech seems harder, even when the person has existing experience in the tech sector. With this incubator series we want to both uncover some answers to these trends, see how we can help eliminate barriers while providing a new platform for women to launch their ideas. “ – Valenttina Griffin, co-founder WomenTechIceland.
“As a global ICT leader, Huawei has a responsibility to work towards reducing the gender gap in the tech industry. We believe our global reach enables us to have a positive impact around the world and our partnership with WomenTechIceland and this incubator program is one initiative that contributes towards this objective. We know that women are severely underrepresented in the tech world, and we need to have stronger dialogue around the ways to reverse the status quo, including but not limited to, empowering women to enter and remain in tech, and the conditions for a more inclusive environment where they can progress and thrive. We hope that this program will attract a diverse group of women here in Iceland that are excited to take a step into the tech world and take their ideas on to the next level.“ – Beatriz Garcia Martinez, public affairs manager at Huawei Iceland.
About WomenTechIceland
WomenTechIceland is a non-profit organization founded by Paula Gould and Valenttina Griffin. Originally started in 2017 as a Facebook group focused on creating a more inclusive hub for women in the local tech community, it has grown to become a leading touch point for events, news and discussions around the interests, issues and opportunities central to women in technology in Iceland. Through its international network, WomenTechIceland amplifies and connects expert voices and emerging innovators from Iceland's strong and growing community of women in tech with people across the global tech community.