Y Combinator Backs Women Who Code’s Efforts to Change the Face of Tech
The International 501c3 That Empowers Women in Technology Will Participate in Three Month Growth and Funding Round
San Francisco, June 2, 2016, Women Who Code (WWCode), a non-profit organization that works to empower career aged women to excel in technology careers around the world, has been chosen for the Y Combinator’s Summer 2016 Program. Y Combinator will inject funding into the organization and provide strategic guidance and counseling from top people in the tech industry over the course of an intensive three month program.
Acceptance into Y Combinator is a recognized milestone that indicates the potential viability of Silicon Valley startups. Some of the biggest companies in the industry have participated in this program including Stripe, Airbnb, Heroku and Zenpayroll.
Jessica Livingston, the Founder of Y Combinator said, We were very impressed with both how quickly they're growing (from 25k-50k members in a year) and the success stories they’ve had so far. We hope to help WWCode scale the most impactful parts of their program so they can create more female role models in tech and empower even more people around the world.
Since receiving 501c3 status in June of 2014, Women Who Code has experienced explosive growth, with local Networks launching in over 60 cities and 20 countries across the globe. They are responsible for more than 3,000 free technical events each year, and in 2015 they gave away over $500,000 in educational scholarships and technical event tickets to their members.
Alaina Percival, CEO, and Zassmin Montes de Oca, Chief Maker, will participate in the Y Combinator S16 program on behalf of the organization. Alaina noted It is a chance to further expand WWCode’s impact by connecting with some of the top institutions and players in the industry.
About Women Who Code
Women Who Code is an international non-profit dedicated to inspiring women to excel in technology careers. Our goal is to empower women with the skills needed for professional advancement, and provide environments for networking and mentorship. The organization executes more than 3,000 events around the world each year, has garnered a membership exceeding 50,000, and has a presence in 20 countries. Help us to empower even more women to advance in tech with the training and community they need to succeed by supporting our #WWCode networks. Learn more at womenwhocode.com.