WE-Escalate is a six-month acceleration program launched by Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre with the objective of empowering women-led startups in the life sciences ecosystem of Karnataka. The program is designed to help women innovators validate their technologies, accelerate product development, and enable faster deployment of solutions into real-world markets.
The initiative focuses on nurturing early-stage women entrepreneurs while also supporting growth-stage startups to scale their ventures. It aims to strengthen inclusivity within the Karnataka startup ecosystem by creating a sustainable and collaborative environment that promotes innovation, diversity, and gender equity. Through structured acceleration, participants gain access to expert mentorship, market access opportunities, and guidance on commercialization and intellectual property strategy.
The program covers priority sectors including Health Tech, Agri Tech, Food Tech, Climate Tech, and Industry 5.0. Selected startups benefit from ecosystem support tailored to life sciences innovation, with a special emphasis on customer validation, deployment readiness, and scaling strategies. Top-performing startups under the program are eligible for a deployment grant, awarded to the best three applicants.