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Women Founders


Empowering women founders
with enhanced startup support

Women tech founders drive innovation, the tech ecosystem and the global economy. However, they also encounter disproportionate barriers to business growth compared to their male counterparts.

That’s why women-identifying founders that come to the DMZ receive additional opportunities and specialized support to support their growth – on top of the standard programming that all founders get.

Added benefits that women founders in DMZ programs can tap into include:

  • A strong peer support group of other women tech founders, mentors, and industry leaders and additional hands-on support from DMZ staff
  • Introductions to funders dedicated to women founders and partnership opportunities
  • Amplified company exposure and heightened visibility through marketing and PR opportunities
  • Access to exclusive cutting-edge content, workshops, resources, discounts, events and more

The above benefits vary by program.

Our programs

Women founders receive special support across DMZ programs

LAUNCHPAD

Establish my business idea

brain

An exclusive online platform and community built to support emerging women entrepreneurs.

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PRE-INCUBATOR

Build and refine my prototype

hammer

A 16-week program helping founders build an MVP and launch their business. Women founders receive an additional layer of programming.

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INCUBATOR

Launch and scale my product

rocket ship

An 18-month program helping high-potential startups gain market traction. Women founders receive an additional layer of programming.

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Experts-in-Residence

Experts-in-Residence (EiRs) are the DMZ’s in-house subject-matter experts that advise founders on sales process, revenue growth, product design, pitch coaching and more. These EiRs work with startups in our Women Founders program:

Akeel Ahmad

Financial Strategy and Modeling

Alex Thibault

Business Strategy

Ali Kiassat

Sales and Business Development

Andrea Matheson

Scaling

Andreas Souvaliotis

Business Strategy

Andrew Ricchetti

AI, Analytics, Data Science

Anthony Lau

Product, Sales

Berjesty Kozanoglu

User Experience Design

Christian Grunt

Fundraising

David Ceolin

Sales & Growth

Eugene Bomba

Capital raising

Frank Erschen

Pitching

Gina Bowen

Marketing

Hackim Farrell

Cybersecurity, Product

Harry MacInnis

Finance & Strategy

Jodi Echakowitz

Public Relations

Kareem Arafat

Senior tech executive

Karen Hogg

Customer Success

Liane Coulahan

Marketing

Martin Croteau

Strategy

Michael McCarthy

Business Strategy

Monica Abramov

Product, Retail Strategy and Marketing

Naveed Ahmad

CEO Coaching

Nihad Kamal

Marketing

Phillip Gales

Operations

Raheel Khursheed

Co-founder, Laminar Global

Rick Hill

Technology

Ryan Nahas

Sales and Growth

Shawn Compton

Technology

Sultan Mehrabi

Strategy

Trailblazer Partners



Changemaker Partners



Team

Emily Smiley

Director, Partnerships & Investor Relations

Juliesa Adolphus

Partner Stewardship Lead

Justine Clark

Programs Lead

Sherif El Tawil

Sr. Director, Programs & Global Operations

Testimonials

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