As a female founder, I’ve faced numerous challenges particularly in regard to getting investors to fund us. There is a gap in venture funding in Australia, and it’s getting worse. It seems as if Australian investors in particular are struggling at how to fund female founders equitably. Right now we get around 1.2% of funding,… Read more »
The annual Cartier Women’s Initiative (CWI), which supports early-stage women-run companies focusing on social and environmental impact, has selected three Australian startup founder among its 33 finalists. The program provides financial, social, and human capital support and this year expanded its Oceania focus as a new standalone regional award, which Cartier CEO Cyrille Vigneron said… Read more »
Nine female entrepreneurs participated in the first We Are Emersyn Female Founders Pitch Competition in Perth last week. Emersyn is an accelerator platform that helps women entrepreneurs launch, build, and grow businesses. It offers educational programs, mentors, advisors, and a supportive community to help female founders succeed. Megan Del Borrello founded We Are Emersyn in… Read more »
Victorian startup agency LaunchVic’s ongoing support for female founders is continuing with a new grants program for organisations to run pre-accelerator programs for women entrepreneurs. Grants of up to $300,000 are available to support programs offering women founders with the advice, support and networks required to build a minimum viable product and find their first… Read more »
Mining billionaires Andrew and Nicola Forrest are backing female founders in the latest Startmate accelerator program in a bid to close the funding gap for women. The Forrests have signed a strategic partnership deal with Startmate through their private investment vehicle Tattarang. The Summer23 cohort includes Raj Bagri from Kapture, who is working on decarbonising… Read more »
Asia Pacific’s agrifood tech event, AgriFutures evokeᴬᴳ⋅, is fast approaching. We take a sneak peek at the startups that will be vying for investor attention with some of the most innovative ideas in farming and sustainability today. From February 21 to 22, the 2023 evokeᴬᴳ⋅ Down to Earth event will bring together local and global investors,… Read more »
Melbourne urbantech analytics platform Neighbourlytics has raised $1.3 million in a pre-Series A. The round was led by Californian VC ALIAVIA Ventures, which backs female founders in enterprise and consumer tech companies, supported by LaunchVic’s angel sidecar fund, the Alice Anderson Fund. The fresh capital brings the total raised by Neighbourlytics to $3.5 million with existing investors… Read more »
Atto, the Melbourne accelerator that helps female founders launch tech companies, has had another busy year assisting more than 115 women build tech-enabled businesses. You can read about Atto’s year in review here. But to round out the year, after its latest cohort of 10 startups emerged from the program, founder Kate Kendell and her… Read more »
Lift Women, the country’s first female-focused crowdfunding platform, has scored investment from LaunchVic’s sidecar VC for female entrepreneurs, the Alice Anderson Fund. The Alice Anderson Fund co-invests with other venture funds, with Lift Woman attracting the backing of two global executives from major insurance companies, including Gordon Watson, CEO of AXA Asia, as part of… Read more »
Deloitte Tech Fast 50 startup Evrima, which helps pharmaceutical companies run clinical trials for new drugs, has raised $3 million. The round was led by the Sydney arm of alternative investments firm Artesian, supported by BridgeLane Capital and Wavemaker Partners. It’s the first investment via Artesian’s new $100 million Female Leaders VC Fund, which is… Read more »
SBE Australia, the not-for-profit startup accelerator and advisory group for women-led businesses, has opened nominations and entries for the 2022 Impact Awards for female entrepreneurs. Nominations are only open until June 15, with entries closing on July 3. The finalists will be announced on July 19 and the awards announced at a gala dinner in Sydney… Read more »
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean has confirmed he’ll allocate $10 million towards a venture capital fund to support female founders as part of the 2022-23 state budget later this month. The fund will be named in honour of pioneering Sydney fashion designer, businesswoman and philanthropist Carla Zampatti, a founding member of Chief Executive Women. Kean said… Read more »
Auckland-based VC Icehouse Ventures has raised its first NZ$5 million towards a $20m target to invest in women-led startups. The new ArcAngels Fund II is Aotearoa’s largest fund investing exclusively in female-founded and led ventures. Theresa Gattung, Chair of Global Women and the Kiwi lead for women entrepreneur initiative SheEO, is a cornerstone investor in… Read more »
The Australian arm of New Zealand equity crowdfunding startup PledgeMe is back with a new name, Microwd, new owners and a new focus to back female-led startups. While the Kiwi side of the decade-old CSF venture continues, the seperate Australian business has been acquired by investment software company Finley Capital Partners, which has appointed Megan… Read more »
Women-in-tech focused startup accelerator SBE Australia has announced the 10 startups led by female founders taking part in its new Global Tech program kicking off this week The program is designed for high-growth, women-led companies who are ready to scale internationally. The 2022 Global Cohort is: Anna Wright, Co-founder & CEO, Bindi Maps, smart cities… Read more »
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