#StartupRadar - #8
Attention startups and their supporters! Check out the opportunities below which might be of interest to you. Please feel free to add links to other opportunities for potential inclusion in a future update and/or tag contacts who might find the information helpful in the comments below. Enjoy! #startup #entrepreneur #startups #entrepreneurs #femalefounders #diversity #founders #angels #investors
1. Apply to Women Who Tech's European Health Innovation Challenge by August 1!
Women Who Tech has opened applications for the European leg of its Health Innovation Challenge. The competition will select 10 early-stage startups developing healthtech solutions to compete for a $50,000 grant. Eligible startups can be based in either Europe or the U.S., but must have at least one woman founder as well as a presence in Europe. Read more in this Forbes article and apply here.
2. Apply to Female Founders in InsurTech competition by July 22!
Startups with a woman founder or C-suite leader that have solutions applicable to the insurance industry have the opportunity to pitch at InsureTech Connect (the world’s largest gathering of insurance leaders and innovators), obtain partnerships and intros to industry leaders, mentorship, cash prizes, and exposure. The competition is powered by Quesnay, and you can learn more about it here.
3. Apply to appear on Meet the Drapers!
Meet the Drapers is a reality show in Silicon Valley on a worldwide hunt for the next billion dollar idea. In each episode, budding entrepreneurs are given an opportunity to pitch their businesses to the Draper family and millions of viewers who can invest in their company. To be considered, apply online here.
4. Apply for an "Ask Me Anything" session with a female All Raise VC at TechCrunch Disrupt SF by July 19!
~100 female founders will be given the opportunity to meet with a leading VC for 30 minutes. They are targeting U.S.-based women founders who have raised at least $250,000 in a Seed, A or B round. All Raise gives special consideration to founders from underrepresented groups (e.g. Black, Latinx or LGBTQIA women). Learn more in the TechCrunch article here and apply here.
5. Sign up for Laconia Capital's Office Hours!
Laconia Capital leads investments in companies that make existing markets and workflows more efficient. They write $500k - $1million checks at the seed stage to B2B software companies in the NY, Boston, Philly and DC areas. No warm intros needed! If you fit the above description and would like to chat with them, you can learn more about them here and sign up for their office hours here.
6. Apply to SoGal's Global Pitch Competition for Diverse Entrepreneurs by August 1!
SoGal's mission is to close the diversity gap in entrepreneurship. Their SoGal Global Pitch Competition & Startup Bootcamp for diverse founders is hosted in 25+ cities across 5 continents around the world and culminates in a final global pitch competition and 3-day immersive educational bootcamp in Silicon Valley. You can apply to pitch to local investors in one of their 20-30 regional pitch rounds around the globe. The top 1-3 finalists from each city will be invited to travel to Silicon Valley (accommodations provided) for guaranteed facetime in front of top-tier investors, educational programming, mentorship, press exposure, and a chance to compete and win seed funding. Apply for their competition here.
Looking for extra inspiration? Check out the recent news below...
Founders making waves...
- Online luxury reseller The RealReal, founded by CEO Julie Wainwright, raised $300 million in its U.S. initial public offering, pricing its shares above a targeted range.
- Tamara Mellon, co-founded by former Jimmy Choo co-founder Tamara Mellon and Jill Layfield in 2016, announced a $50 million Series C round of financing.
- Forerunner just led a $3.5 million round for Homeroom, a software platform for after-school enrichment programs, founded by former Stanford classmates Cassandra Espinoza Stewart and Christina Walker.
- Suzy Batiz, worth an estimated $240 million, is one of the wealthiest self-made women in the country as a result of her founding Poo-Pourri. Revenues reached $63 million last year and are on track to hit $100 million this year.
Fund activity...
- Bill Gates, chair of Breakthrough Energy Ventures, said that the $1 billion fund plans to raise another $1 billion to $1.5 billion late next year. The fund's investments include startups working on fusion, solid-state batteries, carbon-free steel production, sustainable proteins and much more.
- TPG Capital, the $108 billion private equity giant, is taking a minority stake in Harlem Capital and becoming a limited partner in its first pooled fund. They are also creating a "Harlem Council" inside the firm to offer resources and investing expertise. Harlem Capital plans to back 1,000 young companies with diverse founders over the next two decades.
Interesting podcasts...
Good luck to everyone on their startup journey!
Alicia Syrett is the Founder/CEO of Pantegrion Capital, an angel investment vehicle focused on seed and early stage investments, and The Point 25 Initiative. She is a recurring panelist on CNBC and MSNBC, a 2019 Fellow at The Economic Club of New York, a Contributor for Inc., and an Instructor at Columbia University. She serves on the Board of the NY Tech Alliance and was named as one of LinkedIn's Top Voices in Startups & Entrepreneurship in 2018, one of the “30 Women in Venture Capital to Watch in 2018” by Business Insider, one of the “25 Angel Investors in New York You Need to Know” by AlleyWatch, and one of Virgin’s “Five Next Generation Leaders Emerging from Tech.” Prior to founding Pantegrion, she was the first employee and CAO of a multi-billion dollar private equity firm. She tweets @AliciaSyrett.