• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, March 4, 2014

Women might rule when it comes to shopping, but they also kick butt in technology. Some will get backing from Google this year in a new program developed to foster female-led technology companies. The program, #40Forward, will dole out $1 million in aggregate to companies that have pledged to increase female participation by 25% during the next year.

Women-led tech companies achieve 35% higher return on investment -- and when venture-backed, bring in 12% more revenue than male-owned tech companies, per Google. I'm sure that's what Yahoo hoped for when the board of directors appointed Marissa Mayer to CEO.

Yahoo's $1 billion investment in product investment in 2013 could have only come from the top. Former Google engineer Mayer, who joined Yahoo in 2012, has been working to reimagine Yahoo's core businesses in search, media, video and communications. The 10-K SEC filing states that for Yahoo, "search remains one of our biggest areas of focus," and in 2013 the company enhanced search to create a better, more user-centered experience by introducing new ad formats.

For example, Yahoo acquired Aviate in Q4 2013, which will be critical to the future of search, especially contextual mobile search, according to an SEC filing. Some 79% of Yahoo's revenue in 2013 came from display and search advertising. 

There are many search agencies with women at the top, such as Performics CEO Daina Middleton, PM Digital President Suzy Sandberg, President and CEO Marketing Mojo Janet Driscoll Miller, Search Monitor CEO Lori Weiman, aimClear CEO Laura Weintraub, and KEO Marketing President and CEO Sheila Kloefkorn, to name a few.

The #40Forward program will not focus on established businesses such as Yahoo. The company wants to foster growth for startups. Studies show diverse teams create better products and run more successful companies. The university experience teaches us that diversity in subjects can broaden our understanding of a topic or concept. The more experiences you have, the easier it becomes to see how completely different topics relate to one another. "We also know that women are highly efficient with capital, running companies on two-thirds the funds of their male counterparts, yet receiving roughly 4% of venture capital," per Google.

The selected organizations from around the world include co-working center for digital startups 1871, London-based Campus for Mums, and Israel-based The Junction.

"Happy Young Women" photo from Shutterstock.