A women's founder community at SURF Incubator, Seattle

A women's founder community in Seattle: Built for every kind of ambition.

Bootstrapped, purpose-led, venture-backed, or still an idea. SWELL is built for all of it, with expert networks, practical education and support that works with your path and pace.

The next wave starts here.

Join The SWELL Read our story →

The moment

The barriers to building a business are lower than ever.

AI is collapsing the cost, time, and skill required to start. Women are stepping into that opportunity in record numbers. Building is no longer the bottleneck; being found, funded, and taken seriously still is. Swell exists to turn that leverage into real businesses women own.

≈ 50%
of new U.S. businesses are now started by women 1
1 in 4
women plan to start a business this year 2
38% → 82%
jump in AI adoption among women entrepreneurs in a single year 3
20–40%
lower cost to build and ship an early-stage product with AI 4

Shaped by what founders told us

The support founders have been asking for.

Community

“Building a business can feel really lonely.”

Build your business with community around you.

Swell is a welcoming home base where founders work, connect, and grow side by side. Built for women founders, open to anyone aligned with the mission.

Choice

“I want to grow a business on my own terms.”

Support for the business you want to build.

Swell is built for bootstrapped founders, purpose-led ventures, and angel or VC-backed startups alike. Members get access to expert networks, practical education, and founder support that honors their path, pace, and choices.

Care

“I need support that respects my caregiving reality.”

Programming designed for real life.

We make room for rest, health, family, and the realities of life alongside building a business. Care includes caregiving for others and care for yourself.

How to join

Ways to be part of it.

We have only 50 spots as First Wave founding members. Join the women building and shaping this community from the start.

Thursday Drop-in

Free

Every Thursday, 9:30–11:30am, at SURF Incubator. Bring your laptop, bring your kids if you need to. Meet the room, stay the whole day if you want, and work alongside other founders. No commitment, no pitch.

Come to a drop-in

The First Wave

$100 a month

A dedicated community built for women founders and open to anyone aligned with the mission, Monday through Friday, 8:30am-5pm. More than workspace: weekly programming, peer circles, advisor hours, coaching, and real momentum.

The first 50 members get a personalized mini surfboard on The First Wave Wall

Join the First Wave

Advisors

Advisors who have run your play.

Advice works best when it comes from someone who has been where you are. SWELL advisors are organized around the tracks our members actually work in, so you can find a founder or operator who understands your business.

AI runs through all of it. Whether you are building agents or deploying them to automate repetitive operational tasks and financial modeling, you will get advisors who understand the tools reshaping every industry.

Not on the list? Come anyway. About half the growth in women-owned businesses is happening outside traditional categories, and several of our tracks started with one founder asking.

Explore all advisors

Not sure where you fit? You fit.

Most founders sit in two tracks at once, and plenty sit in none. Tell us what you're building and we'll point you at the right people.

Join SWELL

What to expect from us

So you know what you're signing up for.

We focus on your goals, whatever they are. If raising capital turns out to be your path, we'll happily point you to the people who do that best.
AI is one of the things we teach, alongside the fundamentals. It's a tool, and we treat it like one.
Every session leaves you with something you can use, not just new contacts.
We work alongside the rest of Seattle's community, and we'll send you to them whenever they're the better fit.

Sources