š Oct 6th - Women In Power Summit Ā· Tickets Now On Sale š„
By The Stack World
n 2022, women-led startups received just 2.2% of VC funding according to Crunchable Diversity data, and Black Women led-businesses received just 0.34%. In fact 83% of deals made in 2021 had absolutely no women at all on the founding teams.
British Business Bank data also shows that for every Ā£1 of funding distributed, all-male teams received 89p, mixed gender teams 10p ā for all women teams just 1p of every pound is attributable.
On the investment end, the number of women in Venture Capital is representative of just 12% of the entire industry.
Yet, despite these odds, female founders in the UK are helming business and driving innovation in bigger numbers than ever before. Which is why we are holding our second round of quarterly Pitch Night's, giving burgeoning entrepreneurial talent the opportunity to present their businesess to a room full of fellow founders, and importantly, some of the UKās leading VC and Angel Investors.
Enter Alexandria Angels, the London based investment company who will be in attendance this coming Pitch Night. Born out of the need to educate more women around investing and to remove the stigma that investment requires large capital. Operating under three objectives, Alexandria Angels wants to get more women on the cap tables, get more women funded and support first time investors.
Also joining the roster will be leaders of the investment space, Mandy Nyarko MBE Co-Founder of the Startup Discovery School, Mary Lin Co-Founder of Odin, Yvonne Bajela Partner at LocalGlobe, and Jasmin Thomas, angel and Founder of Ohana CBD.
The April 26th Pitch Night will see 6 Female-Founded and Co-Founded startups pitch their business ventures, in industries spanning sustainability, consumer product, AI and technology.
Here are the April Founders to knowā¦
Founder: Oria Mackenzie and Amelie Salas Company: Underdays
Underdays is a love letter to the body. Intent on disrupting the way people shop lingerie through delivering expressive, comfortable and ethical basics that make a difference to the wearers everyday life.
āWeāre putting womenās health back at the forefront of underwear design through listening to your biggest pain points and combining solutions-driven fabrics with innovative design,ā says the Founders.
Former colleagues at Farfetched, Salas and Mackenzie launched Underdays back in 2021 aiming to create the perfect thong and briefs. The result is three core products: The Everyday, The Lingerie and The Work out.
Founder: Georgia Granata and Eli Khrapko
Company: Wype
Wype believes everyone deserves to feel clean, which lead to the creation of an innovative product offering that keeps users and the planet pristine - simultaneously. Working to open up the conversation about below-the-waist wellness to close the door on outdated taboos.
This growing range is now two-years old, and has turned over £1m in just one year. Co-Founder Georgia Granta exited a career in fashion and luxury goods to pursue an MBA, and start a career in intimate hygiene.
Founders: Holly Simmons and Hugh Chichester
Company: Niya
Niya is a Social Mobility Network that is connecting underrepresented people to jobs, training and mentorship at global organisations and bridging the £9 trillion opportunity gap. The aim? Connect 100 million people to opportunities within this decade.
Already the company's global community spans over 40 countries and supports 1 million underrepresented people including refugees, women in STEM, and LGBTQI+.
Co-Founded by Holly Simmons who describes herself as an āimpact-driven innovatorā, Simmons' holds a background in Venture capital and start-up growth across Europe and Africa. Working alongside fellow founder Hugh Chichester, who believes: āNiya makes inclusion simple for global companies, enabling them to build diverse teams at scale.ā
Founder: Claudine Adeyemi
Company: Earlybird
Founded by Claudine Adeyemi, Earlybird builds easy to use digital solutions enabling employability and skills providers to spend more time in supporting participants and achieving better outcomes faster.
Adeyemi is a multi-award winning lawyer and social entrepreneur, having read law at University College London before she went on to practice at Mischon de Reya as an Associate specialising in Real Estate Litigation.
A serial entrepreneur, in 2014, Adeymi founded The Student Development Co, a non-profit organisation providing career support to young people from less privileged backgrounds.
Founder: Riham Satti
Company: MeVitae
āBuilding the workforce of tomorrow, today,ā that is the offering of startup MeVitae. Working to help companies understand their current workforces and leverage data-driven technology to attract, screen and retain top talent; ensuring companies build diverse and productive teams in the fairest way.
MeVitae offers services that plug seamlessly into existing Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) causing minimal disruption.
Founder, Riham Satti, completed a degree at Oxford University, with experience in academia paired with extensive understanding of the tech-start up ecosystem. Being a neuroscientist provides a fresh perspective into the science of HR and people, with her aim to improve decision making capacities.
Founder: Subuola Oyeleye
Company: Beauty Hut Africa
Founded by Subuola Oyeley, Beauty Hut is in the business of building the Sephora of Africa, identifying that African consumers have difficulty sourcing the beauty products they want and need. Whilst also recognising international beauty brands have a difficult time finding the right retail partners.
Enter Beauty Hut, the personal care retailer specialising in skincare, makeup, hair and fragrance products.
April 26th marks the first Stack World Pitch Night of 2023, with future dates in July, September and November. The evening is sponsored by Trip Drinks and Huckletree.
Get to know the founders shaping the future and taking part in the first of our quarterly Pitch Nights.
By The Stack World
The Stack catches up with co-founder Lucy Hall ahead of the LOANHOOD pop-up to talk About gen-Zās place in the rental space, the path to investment and the power of unlocking a communities economic power
From Goldman Sachs to running a nail-tech startup, Gina Farran is the founder and CEO of Glaize committed to finding āthe cure to the manicureā. And in just under three years, sheās found the solution