Female Founders Chosen for Cohort’s Women in Tech initiative

Women in Tech initiative

Congratulations to Amanda Fay, Stephanie Khalil and Louise Teo, the winners of the Women in tech initiative!

Cohort Innovation Space, the Queensland Government’s coworking, innovation and laboratory space at Lumina has announced three participants for a Women in Tech Initiative.

Backed by the Queensland Government, through Economic Development Queensland (EDQ), the initiative aims to strengthen participation of women in the innovation ecosystem, who face challenges regarding starting and scaling their business and accessing funding and investors.

One of three successful participants, Amanda Fay founded The Pitch Portal, an integrated tech platform that helps founders and entrepreneurs find skilled support during the critical growth stage of business. In twelve months, the platform has attracted over 1000 experts and almost 400 businesses seeking skills, with 90% connections and 15% resulting arrangements valued between $10k to $100k+.

“Over the last twelve months, the proprietary technology has been built and rolled out in Australia as a means of testing and refining each tool, feature and channel. We have verified market interest, demonstrated traction and tested revenue successfully” Ms Fay said.

“This opportunity to connect to others within the ecosystem is invaluable for ongoing product development, testing and deployment. It will open the door to relevant peer support, programs and a community that will personally help me navigate what can be an isolating journey.”

CoSpaces General Manager Ariana Margetts, who manage Cohort, said they received a strong number of applicants for the program showing the demand for support for women in technology is quite compelling.

“We’re pleased to welcome Amanda, Louise and Stephanie into the program and support them to grow their start-up businesses and launch new products by providing 6 months’ coworking space, peer-learning support, mentorship and education,” Ms Margetts said.

The three participants are:

• Amanda Fay, founder of The Pitch Portal, thepitchportal.com
• Stephanie Khalil, founder of OnRoute, theonrouteapp.com
• Louise Teo, founder of The Medical Start up, themedicalstartup.com

The successful applicants receive:

• An unlimited coworking membership for six months (valued at $2,700 + GST each)
• Three 1-hour mentoring sessions with a business coach
• Entry into the 2021 Starters Club, a set of peer learning workshops with likeminded founders (valued at $240 + GST each)
• Access to Cohort’s Partner Perks including credits from AWS, Airwallex, Hubspot, Stripe and Miro
• End of program business lunch with a prominent female founder

The Women in Tech Initiative adds to the existing suite of business support programs that Cohort Innovation Space already offers, including the Founders Club, the LuminaX Accelerator and Start up Grind series.