Five Canadian startups are among the 12 chosen to participate in Google for Startups Accelerator for Women Founders inaugural cohort.
The Women Founders accelerator is open to tech startups in the seed to Series A stages, with headquarters in Canada or the U.S. The program is designed for companies with women founders, or members of the core founding team. The inaugural cohort is set to run virtually from September 28th to December 4th.
The announcement of the initial companies comes less than three months after Google announced its plan to launch a new accelerator program focused on women founders. Among the selected companies is one from Vancouver.
Zennea Technologies has developed a medical device for chronic snoring and mild obstructive sleep apnea. Zennea uses neuro-stimulation technology that externally activates cranial nerves to contract the main dilator muscles of the tongue and reduce upper airway restrictions.
It will be the first clinically proven medical device approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use when a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine would not be prescribed.
Zennea was co-founded by SFU alumni Rachel Chase, Nell Du and Oliver Luo. The three-year old company has received seed funding from Creative Destruction Lab and San Francisco’s SOSV Hax.