Google's inaugural "Women Founders' Fund" awarded two Indian women founders, whose AI-focused startups aim to help businesses address some of the major challenges. $100,000 each in equity-free cash and committed mentorship was assured by Google for both founders.
Fundamento, co-founded by Megha Aggarwal, uses AI to automate manual customer support, aiming to improve client management and reduce frontline costs by up to 80 per cent.
MetaShop, founded by Sophiya Jagannathan in India, enables businesses to create photorealistic 3D assets using AI, resulting in a 10 times quicker and cost-effective solution.
In order to help female entrepreneurs leading AI-based startups in the Asia-Pacific region lead their businesses successfully and develop as leaders, Google offers funding, mentorship, and product support under their program ‘Women Founders’ Fund.
Mike Kim, Head of Google for Startups APAC stated, "We'll keep assisting female entrepreneurs in their advancement and maturation”. He further said that they are glad to provide support to startups using AI technology to create innovative solutions through the Women Founders' Fund. They hope that they can serve as an accelerator for these startups as they go global.
The Fundamento team has been putting in a lot of effort to create innovative AI solutions that deal with practical issues, especially in the travel and financial services industries, says Megha Aggarwal. Whereas Sophiya mentioned, that for sectors including e-commerce, gaming, real estate, and others, MetaShop is democratizing the creation of 3D content.
Google for Startups is set to launch a Founders Academy for female entrepreneurs in the first half of 2024.
