BMO Harris Bank and 1871 today announced a nationwide call to apply for WMN•FINtech, a mentoring program for women-led startups and the latest evolution of the BMO Harris / 1871 Innovation Program. This marks the first time BMO and 1871 have partnered on a women’s-focused program. Applications will be accepted through May 11.
A significant gender gap persists in the startup and tech community. Only 20 percent of global startups raising their first funding round in 2019 had a female founder.1 BMO and 1871 created WMN•FINtech to help address this gap and give more women entrepreneurs the opportunity to bring cutting-edge technology and products forward.
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The program is designed for startups that have created services or solutions for the financial sector, offer insights and advice to customers or help identify customer needs. WMN•FINtech will provide selected startups with:
- A three-month mentoring program with guidance from industry experts at BMO Harris Bank
- A four-month membership and working space at 1871, the number one private business incubator in the world2
- Curriculum focused on teaching enterprise sales cycles, vendor management, information security and risk and regulatory requirements
- The opportunity to pitch venture capital investors for feedback, mentoring, continued connections and/or funding
Participants will also have access to 1871’s new “PYROS” initiative, a 13-week series of workshops, seminars and one-to-one mentoring built for founders to help them gain and grow customers and investor traction. PYROS will offer WMN•FINtech participants with a path to scale financial technology or service business.
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