From: betaboston.com

The City of Boston has announced a new program, Women Entrepreneurs Boston, with the mission of narrowing a gap in funding and opportunities available to women-led businesses.

WE BOS will debut at Boston’s first ever Women Entrepreneurs Week, beginning October 12, and will feature events and programming, the city announcedMonday.

“We know that women led businesses continue to face challenges including limited funding, challenges in scaling, and finding mentors and networks to support them as they grow,” Mayor Martin J. Walsh said in a statement.

A recent Babson College survey of US venture capital firms found that only six percent included a female partner. The study also revealed a stark gap in funding available to startups that included women executives, or were led by women, and those that didn’t: Young companies with female CEOs received less than three percent of investments.

In providing a networking space for women venture capitalists and entrepreneurs WE BOS joins existing efforts like Innovation
Women, which connects conference and event organizers with qualified women speakers, and Women on Main, a city initiative launched by Mayor Thomas M. Menino in 2013, that provided mentoring and networking opportunities.

WE BOS will be led by Kara Miller, who built out Women on Main. WE BOS has twin goals, she said: To increase the number of women entrepreneurs in Boston and support existing entrepreneurs.

Groves says the 10-person startup is planning to move from Waltham into downtown Boston soon.