The digital behemoth Google has introduced the "Google for Startups Women Founders Fund," a unique programme designed to assist female-founded businesses in the Asia-Pacific region. This action is being taken at a time when women have historically faced challenges while trying to grow their businesses in the area.
The fund will provide a total of $100,000 in equity-free capital to six female-founded businesses in 2023; the fund will first focus on South Korea, Japan, and India before expanding to other Asia-Pacific markets.
The Google for Startups Women Founders Fund will be managed by Mike Kim, the company's CEO of Asia-Pacific and the person in charge of Google for Startups, the startup assistance section. In a special interview with Forbes Asia, Kim emphasised the fund's significance, not just for the financial boost it offers but also for elevating women entrepreneurs to a global level and drawing the interest of venture capitalists worldwide in search of possible investing possibilities.
The Google for Startups Founders Funds initiative is part of Google's programme, which was introduced in 2020 with the goal of supporting underrepresented founders and increasing equity among all entrepreneurs. The project includes funds for Latino founders in the United States and funds that support Black entrepreneurs in Brazil, Europe, Africa, and the United States.
The first startups the Google for Startups Women Founders Fund will target are those in the rapidly emerging field of artificial intelligence. Kim underlines how important it is to ensure that women and people of underrepresented races are actively involved in AI development in order to minimise algorithmic discrimination. AI systems have shown unfair biases towards particular groups, such as turning down loans for creditworthy women, which highlights the necessity for diverse engagement in the industry.
Google has also supported female-led AI companies in Asia, such Seoul-based AI For Pet, which is well-known for its smartphone app that provides eye and skin condition identification for dogs and cats using AI algorithms. Another example is Latona, a Tokyo-based business that provides AI-powered hardware and software for digitization and automation.
By investing in and supporting women-led firms, Google hopes to help local startup ecosystems and ultimately contribute to a stronger overall economy. Moreover, it is expected that this move will increase the usage of TensorFlow and Google Cloud products.
Google has proven its commitment to diversity in the IT industry and to supporting women entrepreneurs in the Asia-Pacific region with the launch of the Google for Startups Women Founders Fund.
