BOOST announced OKTOWN as one of the selected champions in its Women Innovators program.

55 regional champions to participate in new BOOST cohort to promote gender equality in Europe and Central Asia

Thursday, May 5, 2022

UNDP's BOOST program for Europe and Central Asia, a regional program to accelerate innovation with social impact, funded and supported by Koç Holding and the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, has selected a total of 55 champions to participate in the Women Innovators program. The program deepens, connects, and unites innovators across the region with innovative ideas that harness the power of technology to support women and girls to thrive and advance in the digital economy.

BOOST: Women Innovators, launched in collaboration with public and private partners, is a region-wide open innovation competition in four key thematic areas: Women in Data, Women and Digital Access and Use, Women in the Digital Economy and STEM, and Women at the Driving Wheel of Tech Innovation. As digital transformation and new technologies drive us forward, the initiative aims to address the widening gender digital divide, which affects women's socioeconomic opportunities in many areas.

"The response to our call for innovation has been truly remarkable. The ingenuity and great potential for impact demonstrated in the innovations we received confirm our belief that our region is full of change makers and we must strengthen, bridge and connect them. We are grateful to our Evaluation Board, comprised of key partners and innovation experts, for selecting a promising new cohort to join the BOOST community. We look forward to seeing how these innovations will contribute to gender equality in our region," said Rickard Sjöstrand, UNDP's BOOST Programme Manager.

The competition, launched in February 2022, received nearly 300 applications from startups, small and medium-sized enterprises, non-profit organizations and academic institutions led by women from more than 20 countries and territories in Europe and Central Asia.

The program consists of two tracks:

Track 1 is for women-led organizations in Europe and Central Asia working on technological innovations to bridge the gender digital divide. Track 1 received 223 applications, of which 45 were selected (22 startups, 3 SMEs, 5 social enterprises, 10 non-profit organizations, and 2 academic institutions). Selected participants:

ACircPack; AppsMakers; Arrowstone Flowers; Art Pioneers; B&M Accounting Solution; BizBIR; University of Business and Technology; Center for Science and Innovation for Development; Connect-Ed Kazakhstan; COR - Don't Miss; Academy of Digital Innovation; Dreamups Innovation and Entrepreneurship Accelerator; Empress; Envicon; Female Algorithm; Film-U-Box and FilmStar Maker; ForSet; Gaia; Gyropolis; Girls Power Fund; Goguzo; Heide Folim; Her Guide; IdealHub Center for Innovation and Technology; Center for Innovation, Technology and Strategy; Izzy; Kloop Media; New Algorithm LLC; MediCare Box; MedPoint Technologies; MUGALIM - Online School for Teachers; OKTOWN; Onva; Outsourcing contact center "MyCall"; Safe YOU (Impact Innovation Institute); Space SyntaKs; Spica Technology; Tech4Impact; NENOVY; upway; VESNA; Virtual History; Virtual Team LLC; Visit the Village; Weincrypto

Track 2 is for women-led startups registered in Turkey that are working on innovations in any field. Track 2 received 65 applications, from which 10 were selected. Selected participants:

Arimars Teknoloji; Hub21; Mapla Biotechnology; Mimarlik Robot; Nuvio; Rebee mobile app; Searover Robotic and Software; Sumatrix Biotech; UXapply; Zetamatrix.

55 innovators from across Europe and Central Asia will join BOOST: Women Innovators to access world-class training and mentorship to develop, reimagine, and scale their impactful innovations - and compete for $10,000 in equity-free funding. The innovations will become part of a region-wide portfolio that will lay the groundwork for a better and more inclusive future.

Background:

BOOST is a regional program to accelerate innovation for sustainable impact, supported by UNDP in Europe and Central Asia. Initially launched in 2020 in response to the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, BOOST seeks to support social innovators across the region to accelerate the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

BOOST is funded and supported by partners from across the region and beyond, including Koç Holding and the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic. BOOST also collaborates with STEM4ALL, Startup Grind, KWORKS, ImpactAIM, and Digital X among an ever-growing list of partners to create an effective program for the new BOOST cohort.

Author.

Svitlana Bayeva

Head of Communications, Innovation Team

original on https://boostimpact.org/boost-announces-selected-champions-in-its-women-innovators-programme/