Meet Innovative Founders who shine: intro to "get to even" Ad Astra Ventures Founder Bootcamp Cohort

Startup founders from medical devises to consumer products to SAAS B2B and B2C converge to embrace business growth from a position of strength and awareness of product-market fit, investor relations & leadership

Female founders play a huge role in economic growth in their communities, nationally and globally; A McKinsey Global Institute study found that advancing women's equality could add $12 trillion to the global economy by 2025. Female founders also outperform their male counterparts by 63%, a study by First Round Capital.

Ad Astra Ventures is a micro VC whose north star is equality; we invest for equality because we have seen first-hand that it’s in short supply. Our investment takes many forms—time, money, experience, relationships, heart—all in an effort to close the gap and get to even. We seek to help female founders become aware of their strengths & unique skillsets to leverage efficient startup growth. We aim to inspire confidence in female founders by connecting them to a like-minded tribe of fierce female leaders, from their own bootcamp cohorts to the mentor-investors who are part of our programs.

The Ad Astra Ventures bootcamp is a high-energy, intensive virtual experience over the span of 4 curriculum days with pre- and post- work and meetings. The partners at Ad Astra Ventures, Allison Long Pettine, Vidya Dinamani, and Silvia Mah, become champions of focused cohorts within the bootcamp to deep dive into personal journey maps and founder strengths. Investor-mentors have time with founders to do investor simulations that broaden the awareness of the founder's way of communicating their value prop and scale to investors.

So ... I want you to MEET OUR FOUNDERS of the Dec 2020 AAV Founders Bootcamp

HEALTH TECH Cohort - Championed by Silvia Mah

Health Tech cohort startups range from consumer products to women's health solutions:

1. YuFlu | Founder & CEO Dawn Verdugo | San Diego, CA
2. Yomassage | Co-founders Tiffany Ryan & Katherine Parker | Portland, OR
3. Arm Hug | Founder & CEO Hennesys Disla | Brooklyn, NY
4. Lactation Lab | Founder & CEO Dr. Stephanie Canale | Santa Monica, CA

LEARN MORE about the Health Tech Cohort:

Dawn Verdugo is an experienced epidemiologist specializing in pathogen surveillance & discovery and is the CEO of yuFlu Inc., designer of an end-to-end pathogen testing solution (including COVID-19) for sm(ALL) businesses.

yuFlu's platform allows improved efficiency in testing workflows by managing the distribution of tests across local labs, preventing major backlogs & accelerating test results.

Katherine Parker & Tiffany Ryan, Co-Founders of Yomassage?, believe that everyone deserves access to 'therapeutic touch'.

YoMassage combines principles of yoga (the focus on breath and looking within) with the hands-on touch experience of massage. Combined, the two practices offer gentle stretching and mindfulness that result in relaxation and healing.

Dr. Stephanie Canale is Founder and Physician Entrepreneur at Lactation Lab, a company helping nursing mothers understand the quality of their breastmilk.

Read about Stephanie's motivation for starting Lactation Lab in this recent Forbes.com article: https://lnkd.in/dJieBQm

Hennesys Disla is Founder and CEO of ArmHug, an e-commerce medical supply kit company that delivers custom supplies for blood draw procedures to nurses and phlebotomists in New York City.

Much as a result of COVID-19, currently approximately 57% of patients are turned away from medical labs due to risk of infection. ArmHug is equipping mobile phlebotomists with supplies that allow for a 53% easier blood draw in patients' homes.

CONSUMER PRODUCT Cohort - Championed by Allison Long Pettine

Consumer Product cohort startups range from women's health products to economic development to home tech:

1. FLR-PLN | Founder & CEO Adia Dightman | Atlanta, GA
2. The Most | Founder & CEO Dawn Myers | Washington, DC
3. Lady Suite | Founder & CEO Therese Clark | Los Angeles, CA
4. Inirv | Founder & CEO Akshita Iyer | Durham, NC

LEARN MORE about the Health Tech Cohort:

Adia Dightman is a Co-Founder of FLR-PLN. An Atlanta based retail concept, FLR-PLN is on a mission to change retail while blending culture.

Adia and her co-founder created FLR-PLN to advocate and showcase their love for emerging brands and to provide those brands with a platform to share and sell their products.

Dawn Myers is the Founder and CEO of THE MOST, a consumer products company making tech-enabled, renewable-based tools for natural hair care.

THE MOST is using tech and physical product development to change the way women with textured hair - and Black women in particular - interact with their world.

Therese Clark is Founder and CEO at Lady Suite, an independent feminine wellness brand focused on clean, effective skincare designed for a woman’s most sensitive, intimate skin to combat common struggles.

After her mother unknowingly left the stove on, Akshita Iyer came up with the idea for Inirv, a company providing a smart stove kit allowing for "easier, smarter, safer cooking."

Inirv was featured on Season 9 of Shark Tank and while no deal was made during that appearance, they've continued to grow and are currently shipping product!

In addition to selling online, Lady Suite is carried by retailers across the U.S. including at nationwide chains like Credo, Free People, and Milk + Honey.

TECH/SAAS SOLUTIONS Cohort - Championed by Vidya Dinamani

Tech/SAAS solutions cohort startups range from women's economic development platforms to entertainment tech:

1. Goomi | Founder & CEO Mika Leah | Los Angeles, CA
2. GetSett | Founder & CEO Deema Adada | San Francisco, CA
3. Symba | Founder & CEO Ahva Sadeghi | Chicago, IL
4. Apiari | Co-founder & CEO Yi-Hsian Godfrey | New York, NY
5. RushTix | Founder & CEO Jill Paiz-Bourque | San Francisco, CA

LEARN MORE about the Health Tech Cohort:

As a young heart disease survivor, a national ambassador for, and Board of Directors member of, the American Heart Association, Mika Leah is a warrior for wellness and the CEO of Goomi Group.

Goomi is providing health & happiness to companies and organizations across America to revolutionize the way we implement wellness into the workplace. Gooomi is creating profound change in our communities, overcoming the everyday excuses, and inspiring people to stretch body and mind.

With 15 years of experience in the logistics industry, Deema Adada founded GetSett to tackle the problem of declining throughput coupled with the growing demand for product-based companies.

GetSett is a dynamic platform that quickly and efficiently manages inventory at the most critical juncture for the entire supply chain: the dock door.

Ahva Sadeghi is a Co-Founder and the CEO of Symba, the leading remote internship platform. Symba aims to connect companies with the best talent and helps them manage internship experiences remotely.

Symba was featured in a list of "Rising Start Ups to Watch with Diverse Founders" by Forbes.com earlier this year. Read the full list here: https://lnkd.in/gTNST63

With her friend and fellow Co-Founder, Yi-Hsian Godfrey co-founded Apiari to allow busy families to find, book, and manage providers in minutes.

Apiari is a household concierge app that matches busy individuals to a curated list of vetted and experienced childcare providers (nannies, sitters, tutors) based on their specific needs.

Co-Founder and CEO Jill Paiz-Bourque is building the biggest comedy club on the planet.

Like many companies in 2020, RushTix pivoted as a result of COVID-19 and determined that live streaming comedy was more lucrative than in the pre-pandemic days when it was hosted in brick-and-mortar venues because online is more scalable as a result of not being limited by the physical capacity of a venue.

DRUMROLL PLEASE ...

THESE are the female founders whom we are HONORED to welcome to the Ad Astra Ventures tribe of fierce female founders - our December "get to even" Founders Bootcamp:

HEALTH TECH Cohort - Championed by Silvia Mah

1. YuFlu | Founder & CEO Dawn Verdugo | San Diego, CA
2. Yomassage | Co-founders Tiffany Ryan & Katherine Parker | Portland, OR
3. Arm Hub | Founder & CEO Hennesys Disla | Brooklyn, NY
4. Lactation Lab | Founder & CEO Dr. Stephanie Canale | Santa Monica, CA

CONSUMER PRODUCT Cohort - Championed by Allison Long Pettine

1. FLR-PLN | Founder & CEO Adia Dightman | Atlanta, GA
2. The Most | Founder & CEO Dawn Myers | Washington, DC
3. Lady Suite | Founder & CEO Therese Clark | Los Angeles, CA
4. Inirv | Founder & CEO Akshita Iyer | Durham, NC

TECH/SAAS SOLUTIONS Cohort - Championed by Vidya Dinamani

1. Goomi | Founder & CEO Mika Leah | Los Angeles, CA
2. GetSett | Founder & CEO Deema Adada | San Francisco, CA
3. Symba | Founder & CEO Ahva Sadeghi | Chicago, IL
4. Apiari | Co-founder & CEO Yi-Hsian Godfrey | New York, NY
5. RushTix | Founder & CEO Jill Paiz-Bourque | San Francisco, CA