Helping to support and increase the number of women founders working in clean tech is something Dominion Energy Innovation Center is taking seriously.
A $50,000 prize just awarded to DEIC through the U.S Small Business Administration will help achieve that.
The incubator was one of 84 winners nationwide in SBA’s annual Growth Accelerator Fund Competition and one of two winners from Virginia. The other is FedTech Startup Studio in Arlington.
DEIC Director Adam Sledd said the awards were based on proposals for innovative ideas that inclusively support entrepreneurs. DEIC submitted a proposal on increasing the number of women-led businesses.
“Climate tech is one of the greatest business opportunities in generations, and we want to ensure that all types of entrepreneurs are provided the resources and opportunities they need to succeed,” he said.
Sledd said the money will help DEIC build new programming.
“I’m hoping we’ll get a job description out soon for someone to help us develop new programming around this [commitment to support women entrepreneurs] to unlock new opportunities.”
Though specific plans and details on how to accomplish the goal are still underway, Sledd said DEIC’s goal is to see more women-led clean tech startups through its programming.
“We want to create programming that’s going to be specific to identifying more diverse founders, specifically women clean tech founders,” he said. “As a company, [Dominion] puts a lot of effort into DEI programming.”
DEIC, based in Ashland, is a non-profit business incubator that launched in 2009. It supports entrepreneurs by providing startups with mentors, resources and collaborative workspace to help accelerate their growth. DEIC also connects new companies with potential partners like Dominion Energy to help land customers.
The organization just wrapped up its 2021 accelerator cohort.
“We don’t know yet how many of the eight are going to wind up with pilots with Dominion, but I think there is a good chance four of eight are doing business with Dominion at the end of the year,” Sledd said.
He said he’d like to see participation from more female-led startups in upcoming accelerators. This, Sledd said, likely means developing support for these founders long before entrepreneurs arrive at DEIC.
“Our accelerator program tends to be later stage,” he said. “I call what we do more of a deployment accelerator. What we’re generally trying to do is pick companies that have already gone through another program like an ICAP, Lighthouse Labs, 757 or RAMP.”
Sledd added, “They’ve already gone through one of those programs and are ready to do more commercialization when they come to us. If we’re at the end of the funnel, that means there aren’t enough companies being started by women at the top of the funnel.”
The SBA award can help implement new ways to support women founders at the top of the funnel, “to make sure they’re going on the journey the right way,” Sledd said.
He said this will happen through a combination of marketing, mentoring and programming aimed specifically at women founders.