Here are the finalists pitching at Women Who Tech’s next Women Startup Challenge

These 10 women-led startups are heading to the final Women Startup Challenge pitch event.

We previously reported that D.C. is the #1 place to be for women in tech, so it’s only right that D.C.-based Women Who Tech is leading the charge on getting more women tech founders on the pitch stage.

Exactly 832 applications were submitted in areas pertaining to the challenge’s theme of solving big problems, Women Who Tech founder Allyson Kapin told Technical.ly. The organization recruited an online jury comprised of investors and serial tech entrepreneurs to review the applications, ultimately selecting 10 finalists to pitch at the next Women Startup Challenge in New York City on May 29 at Google. The startups will be vying for a $50, 000 equity-free cash grant and $280, 000 in Google Cloud services.

“Connecting women-led startups to investors and showcasing them center stage at major tech companies like Google is key to helping these startups raise more capital,” Kapin said. “We’ve seen the results from our Women Startup Challenge program – over $53M has been raised by the startups, 81 percent are still in business since we began in 2015, and 84 percent have raised investor funding.”

Startups will pitch their ventures to a panel of investors that includes Ellie Wheeler, partner at Greycroft, Esther Dyson executive founder of Wellville, Jen Wolf, partner and COO of Initialized Capital, Jenny Fielding, managing director of Techstars, Nashilu Mouen-Makoua, investor at First Round Capital and Nisha Dua, general partner at BBG Ventures.

Diversity pledges are useless. For the 2nd year in a row 2.2% of funding went to women-led startups. So we're changing the game. Join us for the Women Startup Challenge at Google and watch 10 badass women-led startups pitch investors for funding. https://t.co/f974hCbQiO

— Allyson Kapin (@WomenWhoTech) May 7, 2019

Here are the 2019 Women Startup Challenge finalists (with descriptions from Women Who Tech):

• Basepaws, a company that built the “23andMe” DNA solution for pets, focused on breed, health and nutrition.
• Ejenta, a startup leading the movement of remote health monitoring licensed from NASA AI technology.
• Elidah, developer of the wearable and non-invasive Elitone device. It works to stimulate pelvic floor muscles to help address the urinary incontinence experienced by 1 in 3 women.
• Farm Fare, creator of a customized platform linking farmers and food hubs to wholesale channels across regions, enabling wider distribution and access to hyper-local food.
• Good Call NYC, curator of a centralized 24/7 arrest support hotline to provide legal support for those detained in under a minute.
• i-Subz, developer of a platform that links substitute teachers with schools serving low-income students, facilitating immediate hiring and instant pay.
• LOOMIA, creator of a lightweight, thin “smart fabrics” that can be touch-sensitive, or emit heat or light in products like shoes, planes, automotives and wearables.
• Metalmark Innovations, creator of the Catalytic Converter technology that turns toxic exhausts into breathable air.
• Queen of Raw, a startup that built a marketplace based on blockchain and machine learning/artificial intelligence that enables companies to buy and sell unused textiles, profiting from waste and saving the environment.
• The Growcer, a company that designs and manufactures hydroponic container farms to facilitate the growth of produce in the most extreme conditions – from deserts to tundras – as a solution to food insecurity.

This pitch competition is not all that Women in Tech is doing. The organization recently expanded its startup challenge to Europe, where three women-led companies took home major cash prizes and awards.

Tickets for the NYC Women Startup Challenge on May 29 can be found here.