Innovative Virtual Program will Help Demystify Tech and Support 20 Women-led Startups and Scaleups in Windsor-Essex, Chatham-Kent and Halton Region
MEDIA RELEASE via WEtech Alliance
March 22, 2022 – WEtech Alliance and Haltech in partnership with the Sitaran Group, are proud to launch Roadmap to MVP, a 10-week program to help women establish their minimal viable product (MVP).
“Developing the technology solution to show how your company solves a business problem can be a barrier for women and women identified founders,” says Shann McGrail, Executive Director at Haltech Regional Innovation Centre. “The lack of technical skill to self-develop a minimal viable product (MVP) can delay entry into the market or cost the founder more dollars up front to contract development skills leaving them short of funding to drive other needed activities of early stage startups”.
The 10-week program, facilitated by Reema Duggal, President of Sitaran Group and Co-Founder of Silicon Halton, will take women entrepreneurs through the fundamental steps, key strategies, tools and resources that can help them efficiently build their MVP. The workshops will focus on creating a vision for the solution, learning about the processes involved for solo and assisted development, and the available platforms to help women bring their ideas to an MVP to test in market.
“The program will touch on areas such as product development life cycle, product features and functions, development using low-code and no-code applications as well external providers and developers,” says Reema Duggal, President of Sitaran Group and Co-Founder of Silicon Halton. “This really is about building the confidence of women founders who might not have a technical background”.
The program will be the first of its kind to be delivered in the Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent region.
“We know that in order to start and grow more tech-focused businesses in the region, women entrepreneurs are looking for ways to build their technical knowledge and experience,” says Yvonne Pilon, President and CEO at WEtech Alliance. In fact, this was one of the key challenges highlighted in the recently released 2022 RISE Needs Assessment report by Workforce WindsorEssex.”
The 10-week program is free for women entrepreneurs who are currently developing or working on their MVP and who are dedicated and committed to its development and growth.
Applications for Roadmap to MVP will close on April 26th.
The Roadmap to MVP program is funded by the Government of Canada, through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario’s (FedDev Ontario) delivery of the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES) Ecosystem Fund in collaborations with RISE WindsorEssex.
For more information about the program and/or to apply, please click here.
Quotes:
“Developing the technology solution to show how your company solves a business problem can be a barrier for women and women identified founders. The lack of technical skill to self-develop a minimal viable product (MVP) can delay entry into the market or cost the founder more dollars up front to contract development skills leaving them short of funding to drive other needed activities of early stage startups.” – Shann McGrail, Executive Director at Haltech Regional Innovation Centre
“The program will touch on areas such as product development life cycle, product features and functions, development using low-code and no-code applications as well external providers and developers. This really is about building the confidence of women founders who might not have a technical background.” – Reema Duggal, President of Sitaran Group and Co-Founder of Silicon Halton
“We know that in order to start and grow more tech-focused businesses in the region, women entrepreneurs are looking for ways to build their technical knowledge and experience. In fact, this was one of the key challenges highlighted in the recently released 2022 RISE Needs Assessment report by Workforce WindsorEssex.”– Yvonne Pilon, President and CEO at WEtech Alliance
About:
About WEtech Alliance
WEtech Alliance is one of seventeen Regional Innovation Centres, funded by the Province of Ontario, serving the Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent regions. We provide entrepreneurs with business services, training, mentorship and strategic connections to help bring new ideas to market, scale to the next level and build a dynamic culture and a community of innovation. WEtech Alliance has served as the catalyst for technology and innovation in the Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent regions since 2011.
About Haltech Regional Innovation Centre
Through education, advisory services and strategic connections, Haltech enables start-up and scaleup technology innovators and entrepreneurs to accelerate their growth and navigate the path to profit. Haltech is a non-profit corporation supported by Ontario Government and our valued Corporate Sponsors.
About RISE WindsorEssex
RISE is a network of organizations that are empowering women in entrepreneurship in Windsor-Essex County, Ontario Canada. Founded by Invest WindsorEssex, through partnerships with the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Centre, the University of Windsor’s EPICentre, Workforce WindsorEssex, WEtech Alliance, Build-A-Dream and Windsor Essex Capital Angel Network (WECAN).
About Sitaran Group
The Sitaran Group helps companies build digital channels to find customers and sell products and services around the world. Our goal is to help de-mystify the world of technology for entrepreneurs – and build great solutions to take to market.
About the Government of Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES)
The Government of Canada’s WES is a greater than $6-billion investment that aims to increase women-owned businesses’ access to the financing, talent, networks and expertise they need to start up, scale up and access new markets. WES initiatives include the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund (WELF), the WES Ecosystem Fund and the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH). Find out more at ised.ca
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