The first business incubator to target women-owned tech firms will celebr=
ate
its official opening this fall, but it already has eight startups under i=
ts
wing. The San Francisco-based Women's Technology Cluster aids businesses
involved with multimedia, Internet or e-commerce ventures.
The cluster has definitely struck a cord. There have been 300 inquiries f=
rom
prospective applicants; the cluster's capacity is 20 startups, varying
somewhat by the size and operating needs of the companies. The cluster pl=
ans
to acquire two startups per month during the next year. "We're very
selective about the companies that come in. Our criteria is there needs t=
o
be a market opportunity. The company must have a woman founder, principal=
or
CEO. We need to see the potential for the company to grow into a large
company," said Margarita Quihuis, executive director of the cluster. "If =
we
are to fulfill our mission of increasing access to capital to women, we h=
ave
to see how they fit the venture capital model, and we want them to be
fundable."
The initial interest shows that there's clearly a market for an incubator
targeted specifically at women and technology. "There are a number of wom=
en
who are doing tech startups and statistically, women comprise the biggest
growth area of businesses in the U.S.," said Ms. Quihuis. The cluster is =
the
brainchild of former Cisco Systems Inc. marketing executive Catherine
Muther. She left Cisco and used a portion of her stock option profits to
start the nonprofit Three Guineas Fund, which made an initial $100,000 gr=
ant
to the cluster. The The Three Guineas Fund is a public grantmaking
foundation aimed toward creating opportunity for girls and women in
education and the workplace. "More than 30 percent of new women-owned
businesses are in the technology field," said Ms. Muther. "But accessing
capital continues to be a systematic problem for women entrepreneurs. The
Women's Technology Cluster is a model for breaking these structural and
cultural barriers by providing startups with a resource network of expert=
s,
business mentors and programs for attracting capital investments."
Major sponsors include the city and county of San Francisco and Pacific G=
as
& Electric Co. The cluster's advisory board includes Roberta Katz, former
legal counsel for Netscape Communications Corp. and now with the politica=
l
lobby group TechNet; San Francisco Supervisor Leslie Katz; George Orloff,
vice president and chief information officer for PG&E; Gwen Edwards,
president of Pac Bell Network Integration; and Angela Blackwell, CEO of
Policy Link. Long term, it's Ms. Muther's hope that the cluster will beco=
me
self-supporting and be able to give back to the community. Startups are
required to pledge a percentage of their future stock to the cluster.
Essentially, 2 percent of the founder's stock goes to a philanthropy fund.
In three to five years, an advisory board will be formed from incubator
graduates and the nonprofit sector to determine how funds will be
distributed to the community.
"Our goal is to get entrepreneurs thinking about philanthropy," said Ms.
Quihuis. The 22,000-square-foot cluster offers young companies reasonable
rent, shared services and costs, access to business specialists/mentors,
business management assistance, seminars and introductions to the investm=
ent
community. "Perhaps more importantly, the cluster provides an environment.
If you were an entrepreneur in a random office park, it would be difficul=
t.
I think of incubators as entrepreneurial universities," said Ms. Quihuis.
"You get to talk to one another and have the camaraderie. You very quickl=
y
get feedback from your peers."
Attorney Mona Lisa Wallace is CEO and co-founder of ShopEco.com Inc. Her
site will launch in October offering such products as organic coffee,
biodegradable baby diapers, nontoxic household detergents and hundreds of=
ot
her socially responsible goods. For her, locating at the cluster translat=
ed
into a minimal infrastructure and overhead with full access to the cluste=
r's
assets, leaving the company cash to build its technology and launch its
product. "Invaluable networking, capitalization and management consultin=
g
is around the corner in Margarita's warm and welcoming office. The
spiritual, moral and inspirational presence of talented, brilliant and ki=
nd
role models has kept me positive, motivated and informed. This may sound
hokey, but it's true," said Ms. Wallace.
Tushar J. Mehta
email: [email protected]
voicemail: (206) 405-2335