Dana Callender, Preston James and Ashley Jennnings, founders of DivInc in Austin. Photo by John Davidson.

Diversity in tech is one of the most pressing issues facing Austin’s technology industry and the technology industry as a whole.

Getting more women and minorities involved in the technology industry is a key to innovation and growth of the overall ecosystem, said Preston James, one of the founding members of DivInc, a 12-week accelerator program promoting diversity. The other founding partners are Ashley Jennings and Dana Callender.

The accelerator is looking for early-stage tech startups or tech-enabled startups run by women or ethnically diverse founders.

“We are looking for those with a good attitude, who are persistent and really want to build a highly scalable business,” James said.

DivInc held its first cohort last fall with nine startup companies that culminated with a Demo Day at Google Fiber. The startups can be from anywhere as long as they commit to being in Austin for 12 weeks, James said. In the last cohort, two of the companies came from Houston and one from San Antonio, he said.

The startups in the original cohort have done well. Just last week, ConfirmX, one of the DivInc member startups based in Austin, launched in cities throughout Texas.

DivInc’s Spring cohort will run from April to June. It is based at Galvanize in downtown Austin. The deadline to apply is Friday.

“We welcome all to come experience the energy, the joy and the journey of building a successful startup business,” James said. “And DivInc is here to help them be successful and set them on a path for greater things.”