Fund Raising
Carin Luna-Ostaseski fulfilled a personal dream when she launched her own brand of Scotch, , which she funded using Kickstarter. If you've ever wondered how to create a successful campaign on this popular funding platform, look no further than her comprehensive guide.
SIA Scotch Whisky was successfully funded in November exceeding my goal of $39,000 for production of my first run. Many friends and strangers asked me how I did it? Well, here you go….
First off, I should say, my situation is quite unique. There are very few projects on Kickstarter for spirits brands. The challenge here is most people are used to pre-ordering a product they are funding, and they receive the product as a reward for their contribution.
The NextWomen and Astia are hosting the Global Pitch Competition in collaboration with the 2013 We Own It Summit June 27-28 in London.
In this interview Heather Boggini of PSDNetwork asks Simone for an overview of the pitch competition including who should apply; what to expect; and how each applicant and finalist benefits from the competition.
We absolutely love Elizabeth's comprehensive series on funding! Click here to view Part 3: Incubators & Acccelerators.
Not sure incubators and accelerators are the best way to fund your company?
I'm happy to report that you can gain some of the same experience and exposure through business plan competitions.
Prize money is growing exponentially for the hundreds of business plan competitions held every year. And the number of competitions is growing, too. The public and private sectors have now joined in what was once mostly the domain of universities, making for a dizzying array of options.
Kate Jackson, Founder & CEO at TableCrowd was given the Best Pitch award at The NextWomen's London Pitch Event last night.
TableCrowd is a real life social network where you can meet people over food for business networking, common interests, romance or friendship.
Jeff Lynn is Co-Founder and CEO of Seedrs, the world's fastest growing equity crowdfunding site, and was ranked number 55 in GQ magazine’s UK’s Most Influential Men earlier in the year.
Seedrs is the world’s first fully regulated online platform for investing in startups. It lets entrepreneurs seeking investment list their businesses on its website, and the public can invest modest (or large) amounts in the ones they think will succeed or maybe even be the next big thing - all through an entirely online process.
Since Seedrs launched in July last year, 21 highly promising startup businesses have secured the seed capital they were seeking and it was announced earlier this month that funding has just passed the £1 million mark. £700,000 was raised in the just the last 3 months, reflecting the rapid acceleration in growth that is underway.
One of the leading lights of the UK’s ‘Silicon Roundabout’ scene, Jeff is passionate about bringing the returns and excitement of investing in startups to a much wider audience, helping to bolster the UK’s economic recovery in the process. Jeff is American but adopted London as his home nearly a decade ago, and he believes that Britain is the best place in the world to build a high-growth, global business today.
Astia and The NextWomen
present the 2013 Global Pitch Competition in collaboration with the 2013 We Own It Summit.
This annual event seeks to showcase the most promising woman-led companies from around the world and will invite finalists to compete for cash prizes, global visibility and the chance to pitch in front of an international audience at the Fourth Annual We Own It Summit in London on June 27.
Applications are open until New Date: June 1, 2013! Click here to apply.
Spring was in the air
at last month's Own It Ventures Conference and Pitch Expo at the City
University of NY (CUNY) Graduate Center. The ground floor of the building was bustling at 8am with a busy yet
inviting atmosphere. Over 200 women filled the center, all entrepreneurs eager
to trade their start-up stories and secrets to success.
The day began with opening remarks by Own It Ventures Founder Melissa Cloeter and Julie Pilas, owner of The Elephant Nose Pet Store and the reigning Product Pitch Tank champ.
Taking to my reporter-for-a-day role, I made it a point to visit as many “pitch rooms” as I could. The judges in the Media pitch room were three women representing leading news outlets USA Today, Forbes and the Huffington Post. Laura Petrecca, USA Today Deputy Bureau Chief and Reporter, had mentioned that she was expecting to see a variety of women at various stages in their startups. Following up with Laura after the event, her response was both positive and inspired, “I walked away once again reminded of how creative entrepreneurs can be. It was also amazing to see that great ideas came from women of all ages. If someone has a viable idea – and the passion to pursue it – age shouldn’t be a deterrent.”
The NextWomen are running a Pitch Evening with Investors on April 30 2013 in London, hosted by our UK Editor Maila Reeves (pictured).
This event, sponsored by Orrick, aims to support women-led businesses
prepare and practice their investment pitches with a real panel of
investors.
The event will give women founders with little or no experience in fundraising a first review of their business plan by the experienced investors on the judging panel, gaining invaluable insights and feedback.
Up to 6 women-led startups will participate in an afternoon workshop to prepare for the evening pitches. Up to 20 guests will further join the event at 6pm.
Investor Panel Judges will listen to the pitches and take turns to ask questions and provide short feedback to each Pitchpreneur and convene with fellow judges to choose a winner.
The NextWomen Career Theme: Venture Capital.
For this month’s theme, we will be interviewing a number of women from around the globe who have reached the top of the world’s most prestigious and/or male dominated professions. This is the story of Lila Ibrahim, a partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.
Lila Ibrahim is currently an Operating Partner and Chief of Staff at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and works across the firm’s digital and greentech portfolios, leading KPCB's business development efforts, key partnerships and strategic initiatives for the firm and its portfolio companies..
Starting a business is an
undertaking fraught with risk, and for most of us entrepreneurs, or
entrepreneurs-to-be, we didn't take a class called "Starting a Business
101." The truth is, starting and growing a business is part science and
part art, but if there is "science" that can be learned, wouldn't you
want to avail yourself of those opportunities, especially if those
opportunities included capital?
Public and private sector opportunities exist for learning business basics and many are offered at little or even no cost. You certainly need not have a formalized business degree or an even more expensive MBA to make it as an entrepreneur. But it does help to have some familiarity with the fundamentals of starting and operating a business and that is exactly what these programs teach.
Best of all, there are programs designed to educate, mentor and even finance women.
Upcoming Events
27 Jun 2013 - 08:00 - 28 Jun 2013 - 17:00London, UK
Featured Female Hero
