The first cohort of companies in its VentureWomen program has the Entrepreneurship Practice and Innovation Centre (EPICentre) excited.

Over six weeks, founders will attend workshops, receive one-on-one mentoring, and learn a collaborative, hands-on approach to business model validation. EPIC VentureWomen is designed to identify and break down systemic barriers for females in technology and entrepreneurship.

It provides participants with more than $2,000 worth of programming, as well as access to customer discovery and prototype development grants up to $2,500.

The inaugural startups all count women among their founders:

• Ground Culture, an edible landscaping and gardening education business that aims to empower people with the skills and resources to grow their own food;
• Beaux, a smartphone app where beauty and barbershop clients can easily find, book, and pay for local artists in one unified eco-system;
• Vectorgaze, a company that uses innovative real-time rendering to provide animations and motion graphics with live and immediate feedback; and
• Xpress Career LMS, a one-stop career development hub providing personalized coaching with defined learning paths, mentorship, and performance management tools for any job seeker.

Members of the group will present their progress on the Final Pitch Day, March 30, when the top team will have the opportunity to win a $3,000 cash prize. Read more on the EPICentre website.