Welcoming the Google for Startups Accelerator: Women Founders Class of 2023

It’s no secret that women in tech face disproportionate adversity compared to their male counterparts, while on the road to success. In Canada and the United States, women account for nearly 50% of the workforce, but representation in the tech sector continues to lag behind. In fact, in 2001, only 21% of Canadian tech workers were women, and now, over 20 years later, that number sits at 24%, a meager 3% increase.

In 2020, we launched the Google for Startups Accelerator: Women Founders program to provide high-quality mentorship opportunities and support for women in the tech startup ecosystem. Since then, the program has supported 36 women-led startups across North America, who have collectively raised $73.46M USD since graduating from their cohorts. Now in its fourth year, the equity-free, 10-week intensive virtual accelerator program provides women-led startups the tools they need to prepare for the next phase of their growth journey.

Earlier this summer, we put out a call for applications for our 2023 accelerator. Today, we’re thrilled to announce the 11 North American startups joining our new class, including BorderlessHR, Monark, and NLPatent, three women-led startups from Canada.

Meet the new class:

• Aravenda (Fairfax, VA) is a comprehensive consignment shop software that is leading innovation in the fastest growing segment of retail through resales.
• BorderlessHR (Ottawa, ON) offers global talent solutions for small businesses, providing instant matches to pre-vetted talent and AI-powered interviewers, saving SMBs the cost and time spent hiring the right talent on time and within budget. Borderless HR also offers a free suite of HR products to help manage talent.
• Cobble (New York City, NY) is a platform that helps people reach collaborative agreement with others on ideas. Cobble offers a combination of decision-making tools, curated content and AI-driven social connections.
• Craftmerce (Delaware City, DE) is a B2B technology platform that links African artisans to mainstream retail partners by providing tools for distributed production, enterprise management, and financing.
• Dreami (Redwood City, Calif.) powers data-driven career development programs for the 36 million people in the US who face barriers to employment.
• Medijobs (New York City, NY) offers virtual recruiting for the healthcare industry.
• Monark (Calgary, AB) is a digital leadership development platform, preparing the next generation of leaders through on-demand personalized learning.
• NLPatent (Toronto, ON) is an AI-patent search and analytics platform that uses a fine-tuned large language model, built from the ground up, to understand the language of innovation.
• Rejoy Health (Mountain View, Calif.) is an AI-powered mobile application that uses computer vision technology to deliver at-home physical therapy, enabling individuals to effectively manage and alleviate chronic musculoskeletal conditions like back and joint pain.
• Shimmer (San Francisco, Calif.) is an ADHD coaching platform that connects adults with ADHD and expert ADHD coaches for behavioral coaching.
• Total Life (Jupiter, FL) reimagines aging for older adults through an easy, one-click platform that connects users with a Medicare covered healthcare provider.

Through data-driven insights, and leveraging the power of AI and ML, these women-led startups are leading innovation in the North American tech scene. We're excited and inspired by the work they are doing and we can’t wait to get started with them. The 2023 Google for Startups Accelerator: Women Founders program kicks off this September.