NSW FLIP Offers Free Nine-Week Program for Women Founders

The New South Wales (NSW) offers FLIP Pre-Accelerator Intensive nine-week program designed to help women across NSW turn early-stage ideas, community-led solutions, and emerging business concepts into more clearly defined ventures. The free program is aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs develop solutions to address real-world challenges or seeking to build their capabilities as founders. The program’s structure embraces women entrepreneurs at various stages of their careers, from exploring ideas to developing solutions to particular problems.

Through a structured combination of learning, mentoring, practical exercises, and founder development, FLIP enables participants to test and validate their business ideas, understand their target markets, strengthen leadership capabilities, and build greater confidence in pursuing their entrepreneurial goals. Participants also gain practical exposure to pitching, business development, problem-solving, and communicating their ideas effectively.

Key Highlights:

• Free nine-week FLIP program supports women founders across NSW
• Women gain skills in startup finance, customer validation, networking, and pitching
• Weekly coaching builds leadership, resilience, and entrepreneurial confidence

This initiative is open to women founders from NSW who meet the eligibility criteria, regardless of their university affiliation. The program is entirely sponsored by the NSW Government Diversity Pre-Accelerator Program, delivered together with the MacDougall Foundation.

Start-up financing is one of the integral elements of the FLIP Pre-Accelerator Intensive, allowing participants to gain practical knowledge regarding aspects that form the basis of building a business. At the initial stage of development, knowledge regarding the financial aspects of the entrepreneurial activity can be crucial for decision-making.

The FLIP model is a well-structured framework where women can work through these early stages while developing their entrepreneurial capabilities. The participants can develop skills and knowledge as well as leadership qualities and confidence as budding entrepreneurs.  Participants gain skills in communicating, storytelling, and pitching, and are thus able to better express their ideas to clients, partners, investors, and others.

Customer validation plays an integral part in the process, allowing participants to validate whether or not their ideas meet a real customer need or solve a defined problem. Instead of coming up with a concept through a series of assumptions, participants are advised to look at the needs and experiences of the customers they are trying to reach. It allows entrepreneurs to make well-informed decisions about creating a product or service before spending time and effort on the development.

FLIP also teaches participants to build resilience and adaptability. Through a mix of formal training sessions and weekly pod coaching, participants benefit from both structured learning as well as consistent peer interactions, making it easier for them to learn and grow as founders. Since the FLIP model helps women before the traditional accelerator phase, it has opened up avenues for more women to enter into the world of entrepreneurship. The program is therefore appropriate for women leaders who envision ideas for businesses and communities increasing their confidence and entrepreneurial ability.