Breaking boundaries: top 5 women-led solutions
This past Tuesday, 11th February, marked the 10th anniversary of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (IDWGS). This annual day, adopted by the UN back in 2015, was established as an opportunity to celebrate past and existing women scientists, as well as push for greater female inclusion in this historically male-dominated field.
The gender gap in science doesn't just mean there are fewer women in science-based roles, it also means that women receive less support, particularly when it comes to building companies. In fact, the British Business Bank estimates that all-female founder teams still only receive about two per cent of total equity funding –?despite the fact that for every dollar of funding, female-founded startups generate around 78 cents on average, while male-founded startups only produce around 31 cents.
So as well as diversifying research and solutions and encouraging social progress, betting on women in science has also been shown to be a good business move. To celebrate IDWGS, we've taken a dive into the Springwise Database to compile five of our favourite women-led scientific solutions. Take a look.
The innovations
Turning CO2 into everyday products
US-based LanzaTech , led by CEO Dr Jennifer Holmgren , is leveraging the magic of fermentation to create ‘a circular economy where carbon can be infinitely reused’. The company does this by, in its own words, ‘retrofitting a brewery onto an emission source like a steel mill or a landfill site’. However, instead of converting sugar and yeast into beer, LanzaTech’s ‘breweries’ harness bacteria to convert CO2 and other forms of pollution into sustainable fuel and chemicals used in everyday products. Read more
You can also read our interview with LanzaTech Chief Science Officer, Dr Zara Summers, here.
Using dolls to teach girls to code
There is a big shortage of coders, with the global shortage of software engineers estimated to reach 85.2 million by 2030. Encouraging more women to enter the field could change that, which is why startup E-liza Dolls was founded by PhD student Eliza Kosoy . Wanting girls to learn coding without giving up their other interests, the company builds dolls with programmable computers that girls can code through an app. Read more
A plastic alternative made from onions
In a bid to reduce our reliance on polluting single-use packaging, textile designer Renuka Ramanujam developed?a plastic packaging alternative made from onion skins, after testing an onion-based fabric dye. Dubbed HUID , the circular material is strong and waterproof. And, onion skin contains antibacterial and antioxidant compounds that slow down the oxygenation process that causes food to go off, making the finished product especially useful for food packaging.?Read more
Extremophile bacteria boost crop yields
To help make crops more resilient in the face of climate change, Argentinian startup Puna Bio created a novel all-natural solution for improving crop yield using extremophile organisms.?Puna co-founder and CSO Elisa Violeta Bertini scoured locations including Utah’s Great Salt Lake and South America’s high desert for organisms that thrive in harsh environments, and Puna has patented a method for combining these microbes with seed stock, so farmers can buy and plant the treated seeds for more resilient crops. Read more
Turning pineapple waste into natural textiles
Dr Carmen Hijosa , the founder and chief creative & innovation officer of Ananas Anam Ltd , was inspired to create a natural, sustainable leather alternative after witnessing first-hand the environmental impact of mass leather production and chemical tanning. Realising that PVC would not be a viable alternative, Dr Hijosa founded Ananas Anam, which creates natural textiles using the fibres from discarded pineapple leaves.