FourthWave: Empowering Women-Led Tech Businesses
FourthWave: Empowering Women in Tech
While the tech sector has been male-dominated for a long time, the tide is turning with the growth of women-led technology firms. These enterprises contribute significantly to the industry, yet they still face numerous hurdles such as limited funding, mentorship, and networking resources. Aiding in this shift is FourthWave, a non-profit business accelerator from Sacramento.
FourthWave stands as a beacon, empowering women-led technology firms by providing them with leadership development, mentorship, and funding opportunities without the obligation of an equity share. The accelerator's mission is to foster a nurturing, educational atmosphere that propels female founders towards sustainable and successful business ventures.
Inclusive Empowerment
The accelerator warmly welcomes tech firms with at least one woman or woman-identified founder. FourthWave champions an inclusive atmosphere that boosts and empowers women entrepreneurs. The organization remains steadfast in eliminating barriers and fostering parity within the tech industry.
Program Location
FourthWave's 2023 program will be virtually held with an optional in-person meet-up in Sacramento if possible. The organization is committed to employing best practices in creating an interactive, supportive, and educational environment in a virtual setting. By leveraging technology, FourthWave aims to broaden its reach and offer more opportunities for women founders.
Equity
As a non-profit, FourthWave offers leadership development, mentorship, and funding access without claiming an equity share. Their primary objective is to cultivate a supportive and educational space that propels women founders to create sustainable and successful businesses.
FourthWave's Unique Strategy
FourthWave's accelerator equally focuses on enhancing leadership skills, building solid startup business principles, and gearing for external funding. FourthWave champions a fresh perspective on leadership, encouraging women founders to not just look at what they do but how they do it. The organization categorizes leadership mindsets into three: To Me, By Me, and Through Me. With FourthWave's tools and practices, women entrepreneurs are enabled to operate effectively in the By Me and Through Me mindsets.
Developing Solid Business Fundamentals
Female founders participate in business assessments alongside FourthWave's business coaches to prepare for funding. The process covers everything from recognizing unmet needs, market size, revenue potential, investment return, technical strategy, product development risk, to intellectual property and go-to-market strategies. This groundwork lays the foundation for the final stage: securing funding!
Preparing for External Funding
Securing funding requires more than just an impressive pitch deck. FourthWave assists women founders to identify potential gaps, find funding sources suitable for their businesses, offer feedback on investor messaging, and opportunities to pitch to prospective investors.
Learn More and Apply
Ready to learn more and/or apply, click here. Explore the FourthWave website for more information. The application deadline is June 9, 2023.
About Rich Foreman
Rich Foreman is the founder of KidneyLuv which develops solutions for patients with Chronic Kidney Disease Patients (CKD). He is also the COO of IGH Naturals. Previously, as founding CTO, Rich led the team that developed the CordicoShield / CordicoFire Wellness App. Cordico was honored with the Sacramento Innovation Award in 2021. After achieving a 7 digit ARR, Cordico was acquired by Lexipol in 2020. Rich has a BS in Industrial Engineering from the University of Washington, an MPA from Troy State University and was an officer in the U.S. Navy.
Rich co-authored his book, "Tap into the Mobile Economy." Rich's blog was listed in Top 20 Marketing Mobile Blogs of 2014. He has been featured on KCRA3, NEWS10, 1170 Tech AM PowerDrive, Business Radio Money 105.5, SiliconIndia, the Sacramento Business Journal, and the Sacramento Bee. Rich is also the Founding Director of the Sacramento Chapter of Startup Grind and served a term as Utility Commissioner for the City of Folsom. Rich is a regular contributor to TechWire.net and StartupSac.com. Rich was the Co-founder of Apptology which was named Small Business of the Year in 2014 by the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber.
