Babson University

Babson College, an institution of higher education, is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds™. The College is a dynamic living and learning laboratory where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society, while at the same time evolving our methods and advancing our programs.

In 2013, Babson College’s Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (CWEL) launched the Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab, a nine-month program for women entrepreneurs that accelerates their entrepreneurial paths, from ideation to launch and growth. The WIN Lab challenges the traditional venture accelerator model by providing a gender-balanced, sector-agnostic alternative that considers and develops the unique skills and experiences of a diverse group of women.

WIN Lab was originally designed to serve Babson College students and alumnae; however, based on the success of the first year, WIN Lab leaders expanded the program to include a more diverse group of motivated women entrepreneurs from the Boston region. The WIN Lab was relocated from Babson’s campus in Wellesley to downtown Boston, and entered into an exciting partnership with the City of Boston and its Women on Main initiative.. This year the WIN Lab welcomed five “Women on Main Fellows”, non-Babson entrepreneurs, to the Lab. The 2014-2015 cohort includes 25 participants: one undergraduate, 16 MBAs, three alumnae, and five Boston-based women entrepreneurs.

The Mission of the partnership between the WIN Lab and the City of Boston’s Women on Main initiative is to educate, inspire and empower women to transform their entrepreneurial potential into entrepreneurial impact by building companies in a wide range of sectors. Our main objectives are to: disrupt the dominant accelerator models that may unconsciously exclude high-potential women entrepreneurs, while creating a more inclusive narrative and optic of entrepreneurial success; increase participants’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy to create and grow high-potential ventures; explicitly address gendered elements of the entrepreneurial process at the individual level; generate vital discussions about the value of diverse startup teams in the success of early-stage companies; and contribute to a more diverse entrepreneurial ecosystem through partnerships with existing entrepreneurship initiatives in the Greater Boston area.

The WIN Lab / Women on Main partnership measures its impact by evaluating factors that speak to the success of WIN Lab participants, the creation of new ventures, and the growth of Boston’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. We believe diverse groups engender the success of their individual members, which is why it is not surprising that all of the current WIN Lab participants have launched businesses, including the five Women on Main entrepreneurs. This year’s cohort comprises women from eight different countries, launching businesses in 10 different sectors. There are four women who are mothers; one with a PhD. Additionally, WIN Lab participants have raised over $150,000 in angel investments; one WIN Lab venture won the Care.com business plan competition; another business was just named one of Inc.’s Coolest College Startups of 2015.