Hi Beautiful,
Welcome to issue #1
One thing I've learnt over the last few years is that opportunities are rarely distributed equally.Funding opportunities, accelerator programs, speaking gigs, partnerships, mentors, networks are all out there. But access to them is a completely different story.
The reality is that the people who could often benefit most from these opportunities are the least likely to hear about them. Not because they aren't talented enough, ambitious enough, or working hard enough. They're simply not in the right rooms or connected to the right people.
We know that less than 1% of venture funding in Australia goes to female founders, but when you start looking at women who sit at the intersection of multiple forms of disadvantage, like women of colour or women with disability, the numbers literally don’t exist.
The gap is access.
I've lost count of the number of opportunities I only found out about by accident, weeks before they closed, or because somebody happened to forward me a link. That shouldn't be how it works.
So this newsletter is my small attempt to change that.
Each week I'll share opportunities, programs, grants, events, funding, and resources that might help you take the next step, because access to information shouldn't depend on who you know.
I'm glad you're here.
Take up space.
xx Storm
Things opening up. Apply, pitch, raise your hand.
FLIP NSW Diversity Pre-Accelerator
AU (NSW) | Free | Applications open June 2026 - A $4M NSW program backing up to 188 women founders over two years, with 50% of places reserved for regional NSW. Early-stage and pre-accelerator, no university affiliation needed, just an idea and the will to build it.
SACID Leading Through Inclusion 2026: speaker applications
AU | Event 28-29 July - If you've got a talk in you about inclusive design, intellectual disability, or lived experience in business, put your hand up. Presenter applications are open now.
WWDA advisory and co-design committees
AU | Rolling - Rolling co-design and advisory committees doing real federal advocacy work for women, gender diverse and non-binary people with lived experience. Register your interest so you're in the pool when one opens.
Explicit money. Grants, jobs, gigs.
Queensland Female Founders Co-Investment Fund
AU (QLD) | $50K-$200K matched 3:1 - Queensland matches your raise 3:1 up to $200K once you have a lead investor lined up. Priority groups include founders with disability, Indigenous founders and refugee founders.
FoundHer Elevate Grant: $30K for SA women founders
AU (SA) | Closes 31 July - $30,000 for South Australian women-led businesses with proven traction and a plan to go national or global. One grant, real money, plus access to the FoundHer network.
Awesome Foundation: $1,000 monthly micro-grants
Global | Rolling, monthly - $1K, no reports, no strings, paid in days. The smallest cheque to fund the smallest version of your thing.
Fable: paid accessibility testing
Global | Rolling - Paid per session to test products for accessibility. If you use assistive tech of any kind they want you on the panel, an easy way to turn your adaptation into income.
Where access meets culture, commerce, and capital.
Selena Gomez named a 2026 CNBC Changemaker
Global | Beauty + commerce + disability - Rare Beauty rolled into 1,500+ Ulta stores this year, and its fragrance bottle was designed with hand therapists for people with arthritis and lupus dexterity, conditions Selena lives with. Accessibility-first beauty is officially mass retail, with analysts now valuing the brand around $2.7B.
Proseek Bio raised $1.5M, oversubscribed
AU (Brisbane) | Woman founder | Women's health - Michelle Hill closed an oversubscribed seed round for an early ovarian cancer blood test. The exact kind of raise the system should be unblocking more of.
Laetitia Andrac just raised $770K for Understanding Zoe
AU | Neurodivergent, CALD woman founder - Laetitia raised pre-seed from Verge HealthTech Fund for Understanding Zoe, resources for families of autistic children. Her quote says it plainly: "as a neurodivergent, CALD and woman founder, this milestone sends a powerful signal that diverse lived experience and purpose-led innovation can attract meaningful investment." She's right.
State of Digital Accessibility Report 2025-2026
Global | The stat sheet to forward - The Seventh Annual report surveyed 1,622 professionals: 89% say accessibility gives a competitive advantage, 75% saw improved revenue, 86% reduced legal risk. The numbers to put in front of anyone who still calls accessibility a cost.
SeeMe 2026 Inclusivity Index
Global | Beauty benchmark - Data-driven ranking of 200+ beauty brands on representation and inclusion. Third year running, now industry standard. Rare Beauty, Haus Labs, and MAC topped this year. Useful if you're benchmarking your own brand, pitching to retailers, or arguing for a bigger inclusion budget.
Disability Debrief: "Spotlight or Substance?"
Global | Peter Torres Fremlin - Peter was at Zero Project 2026 and writes about what's actually missing from disability award circuits. Read this before you apply to any "inclusive" ranking or accept a spot on someone's curated list.
WebAIM's AIMee: AI chatbot for accessibility questions
Global | Free tool - First-stop for WCAG questions, policy drafts, and accessibility code reviews, and designed to be accessible itself. Treat it as a starting point, not a source of truth.
Accessibility is Hot is a monthly filter of opportunities, culture and ideas for ambitious women facing systemic barriers.
If this was useful, forward it. That's how we grow.
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