Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) Collegiate Accelerator 2025: Call for Applications
The goal of the multimodal, cohort-based WBENC Collegiate Accelerator (CA) is to support collegiate female founders in their entrepreneurial endeavors.
Through a focused curriculum, individualized mentoring, peer-to-peer connections, and exposure to a network of more than 5,500 women business owners, procurement professionals, and partner organizations, accepted student founders will gain knowledge about how to manage growth for early-stage ventures at the 2025 WBENC National Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Program Benefits
The 2025 CA cohort will include collegiate female entrepreneurs or recent graduates who will take part in a hybrid, growth-based accelerator program that will help new female entrepreneurs navigate their initial stages of firm ownership. Access to customized training programs and involvement in the CA Mentorship Program, which pairs student entrepreneurs with seasoned women-owned enterprises and top corporations as mentors in a 2:1 mentorship model, are two benefits of the Collegiate Accelerator.
The CA cohort will travel to New Orleans, Louisiana, for the in-person 2025 WBENC National Conference, which is the biggest gathering for women entrepreneurs. Cohort members will compete in the unique Collegiate Accelerator Pitch Competition during the WBENC National Conference, which will give micro seed capital grants to the best pitch performances and provide them with important brand exposure in front of over 5,000 people.
Benefits
- Through the support of WBENC Collegiate Accelerator Corporate sponsors, all travel, lodging, and registration expenses will be covered for the CA cohort participants to attend the 2025 WBENC National Conference along with a provided stipend for F&B and incidentals.
Eligibility
- Applicant must be enrolled full-time or part-time in a recognized College or University, or has graduated within the past 12 months (as of Dec 2023).
- Applicant must be an owner, founder, or controlling shareholder of the participating business venture; (1) female founder per venture will be accepted.
- Applicant’s business venture must have been in operation for at least six (6) months, but does not have to be revenue generating.
- Applicant must commit to attend all Collegiate Accelerator program dates including the virtual and in-person session dates listed, in order to be considered for the program. Inability to attend and participate in the entire program will result in ineligibility.
February 17, 2025 is the deadline.
To apply, click here.
