2026 US Women in Tech Accelerator

About the Program

The 2026 US Women in Tech Accelerator, in collaboration with Standard Chartered Foundation (the Foundation), was designed to empower 10-12 women-led, impact-creating, tech-enabled startups to scale their solutions, create jobs, and drive economic mobility nationwide.

Problem Statement

Despite growing awareness of the funding gap for women founders, all-women founding teams have received an average of only 2.4% of venture capital funding over the past 30 years, highlighting barriers to innovation, economic growth, and equitable access to resources. The 2026 US Women in Tech Accelerator is designed to help address these gaps by supporting early-stage founders as they strengthen their businesses and prepare for growth.

Who Should Apply?

Eligible startups must: 

• Be a legally registered, US-based, for-profit business with fewer than ten employees.

• Be led by at least one full-time founder who identifies as a woman, including cisgender, transgender, and non-binary individuals.

• Be revenue-generating with less than USD 100K in annual revenue.

• Have meaningful customer or business validation (not limited to revenue; it can also be successful pilot studies, number of users, and/or strategic partnerships).

• Have a minimum viable product (MVP) and raised less than USD 1.5M in equity.

• Be tech-based or tech-enabled and address one economic mobility and/or access to essential services in the following areas:

  • Increase access to affordable, high-quality healthcare, wellness resources, and critical medicines.

  • Equip and connect care workers to provide higher-quality care and increase access to care. 

  • Amplify and strengthen community-integrated solutions.

  • Create innovations in education that expand access and increase quality.

  • Broaden accessibility to essential services for marginalized and under-resourced communities.

  • Reduce barriers to employment and career advancement by creating new pathways, offering training and upskilling opportunities, and building professional networks.

  • Empower individuals, families, and underserved communities to increase financial literacy, build financial resilience, and long-term stability by improving access to essential financial services. 

  • Advance economic mobility for low-income or other underserved communities by building generational wealth through career advancement, home ownership, and/or savings and investment opportunities. 

  • Create access to essential services that unlock economic opportunity.