Babson WIN Lab Venture Accelerator
Created by the Frank & Eileen™ Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (F&E CWEL) at Babson College, the Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab provides women entrepreneurs and allies with an inspiring community and a rigorous, experiential process that catalyzes innovative thinking and enables them to successfully scale their businesses.
- 12 weeks of business curriculum, including Babson’s world-renowned ET&A pedagogy
- 1.5 hours of one-on-one coaching with a senior-level coach per month
- Milestone driven pathway to hold you accountable to the goals you established on day one
- Strategic guidance from Mastermind Experts who have decades of experience in the C-Suite and on boards of global companies
- Access to experts in a variety of industries and subject matter through office hours and workshop sessions
- An understanding of how to manage the gendered dynamics of the entrepreneurial process
- A cohort of women entrepreneurs and allies who are experiencing the entrepreneurial journey with you
WIN Lab is an industry-agnostic program designed for early-stage startups led by women entrepreneurs and allies who are looking to accelerate their growth. We consider you a good fit for the program if you:
- Are a student or alumnae of Babson, Olin, or Wellesley College
- Are a founder or co-founder.
- You have an early-stage venture that is positioned to scale. For pre-revenue companies we require that you have done customer discovery and that that your business has a strong go-to-market strategy. This program is also positioned to support revenue generating companies making up to $300k in revenue.
- Are interested in learning more about the various ways to find business growth including equity financing, bank loans, and crowdsourcing.
- Are looking to develop a robust peer community and network of advisors.
- Accountability: WIN Lab provides the structure and space for accountability, community, and consistent feedback. The 12-week program begins with you identifying the goals you’d like to reach by its end. From there, your progress against those goals will be tracked at monthly mastermind sessions where you will give updates to a group of experts and fellow entrepreneurs and receive feedback, guidance, and encouragement from the group.
- Peer Community: We know being a solo founder can be lonely. By joining this community, you will be part of a cohort of smart, ambitious, women entrepreneurs and allies of all gender identities who are going through the startup journey just like you and have a wide range of knowledge to share.
- Content Sessions: Learn the Babson way! You will attend weekly sessions discussing tactical business topics such as marketing, finance, and pitching that will impact your business growth, sessions are led by Babson faculty and industry experts.
- Mentors: It’s what you know, but also who you know! Entrepreneurs will have access to mentors in the WIN Lab network during the mastermind meetings, one-on-one business coaching sessions, and office hours.
The WIN Lab is valued at $5,000 per participant. We have secured sponsors to offset the cost of this program and are able to offer all participants a full scholarship.
All applicants must be current a Babson, Olin, or Wellesley Undergraduate/Graduate students or Babson College alumni. Current Babson Graduate students have the option to take this program for course credit as part of the WIN Intensity track. Participation is contingent upon acceptance into the program please contact Program Manager, Amari Dias at adias@babson.edu for details.
Hear from Our Founders!
WIN unites two crucial things for us. First, the quality of an accelerator built by Babson is unquestionable. Second, they understand the intersection of being an entrepreneur and a woman, helping us leverage our unique qualities and circumstances to achieve as much growth as any other entrepreneur, no matter what their gender.”
The WIN Lab was exactly what we needed at the stage of our company. We entered with a prototype and just a handful of users and by the end of the 12-weeks with the support of the WIN staff, mentors, and coaches we exited the program with over 150+ users, a product roadmap for the next 6 months, and ready to raise a small round of funding to fuel our growth! The Babson network never fails to connect me to the right people we need and WIN was the catalyst for those connections.”