Women starting up differently & other female founder news: Jan 2022
This monthly series showcases some of the best news for female founders.
Skim the news below to learn about the latest news, funding, opportunities and thought leadership for female founders.
The Alice Anderson Fund names the first five women-led startup recipients. “The Victorian Fund’s inaugural round has seen it make $727,167 in direct investments – along with more than $2.3 million in co-contributions from private investors – to startups led by female entrepreneurs.” Read more about the fund on the Launch Vic website. Read more about the first startups in Startup Daily.
Femstreet highlights of 2021 including 10+ female-led IPOs. “The global IPO volumes rose 64% this year [2021] and it has been a historic year for female-led IPOs with almost $59B sold off through Q3 already.” IPOs include: Bumble, Vimeo, FIGS, Nubank, Leafly, 23andMe, NextDoor, The Honest Company, Rent the Runway, Doğan Holding’s and Mytheresa. Read more of Femstreets 2021 highlights here.
‘I don’t like the unicorn label’: For some start-ups, $1 billion is not as cool as it once was. “Startup founders who once had to beg for money to grow their nascent businesses are the beneficiary of this cornucopia of capital, with the top flight of founders being able to take their pick of investors in Australia and overseas.” The article features insights from Startmate, Galileo, Afterwork, Woo Woo, and Dovetail. Read more in The Sydney Morning Herald.
These Aussie millionaires had an unconventional path to success. “While the pandemic has disrupted many industries, some have been doing better than others - especially those in the tech sector, the booming industry behind many of Australia's newest millionaires and fastest growing companies.” See what Atto guest speaker and founder of Adore Beauty Kate Morris has to share: “I didn't really have much money to get started so ended up borrowing $12,000 dollars from my boyfriend's dad. If you had said to me back in the garage, "Hey in 20 years' time you are going to be listed on the ASX and have a team of over 200 people" I would have thought you were mad.” Read more in the ABC.
Code Like a Girl founder Ally Watson awarded Order of Australia Medal. “Watson, a software engineer who spent years working as a lone-female-developer, was recognised for her work in promoting diversity and opportunities for women in tech, her dedication to education and training for women and her advocacy for promoting coding and software development among women.” Read more in Women’s Agenda.
An exceptional year for female founders still means a silver of VC funding. “US startups founded solely by women raised nearly $6.4 billion of venture funding in 2021, 83% higher than the total raised in 2020, according to PitchBook data.” Read more from PitchBook.
How one female-founded company is on a mission to revolutionise child care. “Brella, an on-demand, app-enabled child care model designed with families' needs in mind, announced the news of its $5 million series seed round earlier this week. Brella is on a mission to reinvent the child care industry by challenging the status quo and offering high-quality, flexible full-service care to meet the dynamic demands of modern life.” Read more in Forbes.
Genetics startup Eugene lands $3.2M for expansion. The Melbourne company plans to double its staff in the next year and offer its tests internationally. Read more in The Australian.
The 2022 global support ecosystem for women entrepreneurs and investors: A robust infrastructure of 500+ organizations who believe women & diversity in the venture world is smart business. The list includes: Academies & Accelerators, Women-Led Funds, Funds backing Women-Led, Investor Training Programs, Women Investor Networks, Entrepreneur Networks and Co-working Spaces. View the full list on Medium from Joshua Henderson.