In a ground-breaking move, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and the Government of Telangana, India have joined hands for an exchange, considered to be rewarding for women entrepreneurs of both nations.

The business exchange, known as CyberTech Women Entrepreneurs program, is an opportunity for women entrepreneurs to provide access and business pathways for women-led technology businesses in Australia and India. 

The accelerator program is part of the Australia-India Bilateral Cyber and Critical Technology Partnership (AICCTP), supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Cyber Affairs team.

Deepthi Ravula, chief executive officer of WE Hub, said, “For over a decade, start-ups, especially women entrepreneurs in tech, have expressed a lack of opportunities and financial support to optimally scale up their businesses globally.” 

The program will host six women-led Indian start-ups and six women-led Australian start-ups primarily in the areas of cybersecurity and critical technologies. 

The program aims to support the launch of above mentioned shortlisted start-ups in the other nation with further soft-landing support in the respective markets for three months beyond the program. 

Entries so far have included women entrepreneurs working in artificial intelligence, blockchain, quantum computing, next-generation telecommunications, the internet of things, synthetic biology, genomics and genetic engineering, low-emission alternative fuels, autonomous vehicles, drones, swarming and collaborative robotics, and big data.

“This exchange program will be integral to building an ongoing bilateral start-up-scale-up exchange initiative to support and enrich the start-up ecosystem for female entrepreneurs in cyberspace and critical technology across the two nations,” said Irfan Malik, CEO, inQ Innovation Global.

He added that his team has been working with DFAT since March to devise a program that offers an all-inclusive scale-up ecosystem crucial for women-led tech start-ups and thanks the Telangana Government, and ecosystem partners for the chance to curate this outcome-driven program.