An organization helping women scale their startups is hosting its grant competition for a second time this year to give founders more exposure.
Starting today, The Agora Initiative is accepting applications for its venture contest this November, where female entrepreneurs will pitch their businesses for the chance to win a $10,000 non-dilutive grant. That setup is intentional, per Lisa Throckmorton, a partner at the Agora Initiative and executive vice president of public relations for the digital marketing agency REQ.
“We’re not trying to take an equity stake in our founders,” Throckmorton told Technical.ly, “and it also allows us to be more focused on our founders’ needs as people, versus focus on their company’s performance.”
Applications for the competition are due Sept. 30.
“This program is really the carrot to get female founders to emerge from the woodwork.”
Lisa Throckmorton
Firms founded by women without a male cofounder still receive only a fraction of venture capital in the US. In 2024, female-only-founded companies earned 2.1% of total investment, per PitchBook data.
Three finalists will be selected for the Nov. 12 event at the global accelerator Halcyon’s Georgetown headquarters — mere months before its planned move into a new space by the first half of 2026.
The organization received 73 applications for its spring competition in May. The pool included 15 founders based in DC, 28 in Maryland and 22 in Virginia.
The requirements to participate in the fall competition are:
- Female founder based in DC, Maryland or Virginia
- Holds at least 25% equity and a C-suite role
- For-profit, venture-scale business
- Raised less than $1 million in investor capital
The $10,000 grant is accumulated from the Agora Initiative’s sponsors, Throckmorton said. That includes human resources management firm PairPEO, financial services firm Tarsus and banking giant JP Morgan.
Sponsors have provided more than capital, including helping founders get connected to financial advisors, she explained.
“It’s money, plus sponsors who really get it,” Throckmorton said, “and are really leaning in and helping our founders with their challenges and connectivity in the ecosystem.”
Selected founders will pitch in front of an investor committee with heavy representation from local firms, including ResilienceVC, K Street Capital and Citrine Angels.
Skye Lawrence, cofounder of the climate fintech platform Ampere, pitched in the competition and the spring and noted she made valuable connections with investors as a result.
“We’re not actively fundraising or anything right now, but it’s really great exposure to
tell investors in the community what we’re doing, how we’re thinking about it,” Lawrence said.
“Just being able to tell that story and let people know what we’re up to is key.”
Agora Initiative organizers do not plan to keep hosting grant competitions twice a year, per Throckmorton. Rather, they want to host other programming to help founders like the org’s semi-frequent breakfast clubs for founders to network and get advice.
“This program is really the carrot to get female founders to emerge from the woodwork,” she said, “so that we can learn about their companies and help them with fundraising and sales and operations and hiring, and the myriad of other ways that Agora and our community are seeking to help them.”
