Accelerator for women-led mobile startups rises in New York

A new accelerator seeking to carve out a niche by fostering women-led startups in mobile technology is seeking applications.

Among Women Innovate Mobile‘s criteria are companies that are focused on technology with a woman co-founder and a mobile application.

Those accepted into the New York City program will get $18,000, mobile marketing and design support, as well as office space. There is also a mentoring network of investors and entrepreneurs as well as a network that includes startup support groups such as Golden Seeds, Women 2.0 and Angel Capital Association, among others.

In an email, Kelly Kehoey, one of the co-founders of the accelerator, said the company wants to change what she describes as the current stereotypes of women entrepreneurs as focusing on women-oriented businesses.

“My view is there is a lot of focus on women entrepreneurs who are in the fashion/beauty space, [with the] assumption being women only create products for women and create products they like. [The] other assumption [is] that women create small businesses, i.e. — don’t want to scale.”

The issue of the relatively low number of women-led startups in technology is fraught with debate between why there aren’t more and those who say it’s about choice, not gender.

Although the accelerator is not specifically seeking out mobile apps targeting healthcare, Kehoey said in an email that it hopes to get a diverse selection of companies. “My hope is that we have a diversity of mobile applications, so mobile health applications would be amazing.”

The deadline for applicants is Feb. 1, 2012.

Investment in apps and IT for healthcare has been particularly buoyant as much of it has been aimed at improving efficiencies and reducing costs, among the biggest priorities for the healthcare industry. Software and apps that facilitate integration between computers and mobile devices have been a significant focus.