Boston-based startup accelerator MassChallenge has revealed two partnerships that will promote female entrepreneurship and help assist midcareer job changes in the startup ecosystem.

On Tuesday, MassChallenge announced a partnership with Startup Institute that it hopes will benefit early-stage companies and help growing startups add skilled employees. Days earlier, the accelerator program said it will partner with Women’s iLab to promote female entrepreneurship and encourage the creation of more startups led by women, while also sponsoring seats in the 2015 MassChallenge program.

“Dedicated seats for women-owned startups, and those with gender-equal leadership, in the world’s largest accelerator is our first big initiative to help the next generation of female entrepreneurs get their ideas off of the ground,” Katrina Melesciuc, a cofounder of Women’s iLab, said in a statement.

Scott Bailey, MassChallenge Boston managing director, said that after he met the team at the Women’s iLab, they began working together to make sure that MassChallenge was addressing the needs of the female entrepreneurs coming through the program. “They are going to help us recruit great startups with women founders,” he said, “and we are going to add programming to better support those women.”

The partnership between MassChallenge and Startup Institute, which teaches skills to job seekers looking to join early-stage companies, benefits both organizations, said Allan Telio, vice president and program director of Startup Institute Boston.

“This is about helping our startups deal with one of the biggest problems they have, which is talent,” Bailey said of the connection with Startup Institute. A more formal relationship will make it easier to bring together the high-potential, entrepreneurial students from Startup Institute with MassChallenge companies and startups.

Both MassChallenge and Startup Institute are in the midst of international expansion initiatives. With programs operating in the United Kingdom and Israel, MassChallenge plans to open in 10 cities throughout the world in the next five years. Startup Institute, which also operates in London, has a branch in Berlin as well.

From: www.betaboston.com