Teens Awarded Seed Funding for Best Mobile Apps That Are #MadewithCode at Technovation, Global Tech Entrepreneurship Program for Young Women

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, young women from three countries are celebrating their entrepreneurial success after being awarded seed funding for the development of mobile apps at Technovation, a global technology entrepreneurship program for young women funded by Google as part of Made with Code.

Teams in middle school, high school and university divisions were awarded a share of $20,000 in seed funding at the Technovation World Pitch event at Intel^® headquarters last night. This year, more than 3,500 young women from 45 countries enrolled in Technovation. Through an intensive three-month curriculum, Technovation students learned fundamentals of computer science and leadership skills while developing mobile apps to address problems in their communities.

Following are details of the winning teams' apps:

• High School Winners—Top honors and $10,000 in seed funding went to a high school team from the Eastern European country Moldova for their mobile app, ApaPura. The teenage girls developed ApaPura to help people locate wells with drinkable water in their community, where poor water quality and contamination cause health issues. 
• University Winners—Students from Calgary, Alberta were awarded $5,000 seed funding for their Crop2Community app that connects consumers with local food producers.
• Middle School Winners—Girls from New York City received $5,000 in seed funding for FieldTripper, an app to simplify school field trip logistics for everyone involved.

"Despite the tremendous career opportunities available for graduates, less than 1% of high school girls are interested in pursuing computer science as a college major," said Samantha Quist, senior director of Technovation. "Yet with support from female mentors and a technology entrepreneurship program exclusively for girls, 70% of Technovation alumnae have gone on to study programming when given the opportunity. Technovation is all about empowering young women to be innovators and leaders, and we are excited to be part of Made with Code — an initiative designed to inspire millions of girls to code."

About Technovation

Backed by Google and developed by science and engineering education non-profit Iridescent, Technovation is a global technology entrepreneurship program for young women. Technovation features an innovative, open curriculum combining computer science and leadership, facilitated by hundreds of volunteers and mentors. Learn more about Technovation at http://technovationchallenge.org.

Contact:

Karen Mahon, 408-394-6140

SOURCE Technovation