VC Funding
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.
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.
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.
For over ten years, United States based
Springboard Enterprises has promoted and supported women entrepreneurs who want
to grow their companies BIG. “'We know that entrepreneurs often have a very
short time to attract the attention of those strategic connections that can
catapult their businesses forward.'”
“'We believe in most cases it's about how you pitch and who you meet.'”
Springboard's record is impressive with over 500 women participating in accelerator programs, generating billions of dollars in annual revenue, creating thousands of new jobs, and....
Last November (2012) Tel Aviv was ranked second (after Silicon Valley)
on the world’s top startup system report published by Startup Genome.
What makes Tel Aviv so innovative?
In the last two years we have witnessed a tremendous development of a Start Up Eco-System in the city. Tel Aviv brings together people from various regions – Russia, Europe, Middle East and Asia. Each one comes from a different culture and brings to the table a different point of view.
The NextWomen Africa Theme.
Saskia Reus-Makkink is Head of Investor Relations and Mentoring at VC4Africa.biz, the largest online platform for investors and entrepreneurs in Africa. Before joining VC4Africa Saskia worked for The Boston Consulting Group and Canon in various strategic and marketing roles. She set up her own company to support entrepreneurs in Africa and got involved in VC4Africa from the start. She is now also part of the Advisory Board for the Dutch government and NGOs with regard to doing business in developing countries.
We spoke to Saskia about her interest in African entrepreneurship; about the switch from a corporate career; and the success stories VC4Africa has helped to facilitate.
Guest article by Mike Lebus, co-founder of Angel Investment Network. Part of The NextWomen Africa Theme.
Africa has received a lot of interest from VC’s in the last few years as it continues to develop. The ever growing number of accelerators, tech hubs and angel networks appearing across Africa are further proof that entrepreneurship is flourishing in the region. The tech, web, mobile and telecommunications sectors in particular are showing tremendous growth and are attracting a lot of interest from venture capitalists.
Here is a list of 15 venture capital firms (some home-grown and some foreign) looking to take advantage of the opportunities Africa has to offer.
The NextWomen Grand Finale is the spectacular culmination of all The NextWomen Pitch events that were held throughout the Netherlands in 2012.
At the Grand Finale, all winners and runners-up from this year's Netherlands events will present to a stellar panel of investors, business experts and entrepreneurs. The winner will be awarded 'Best Startup Pitch 2012'.
During a festive lunch, we will announce 'The Top 100 Female Business Heroes', based on research, a survey, turnover, number of employees, and equity.
The event is invitation-only but we are offering a limited number of audience tickets to entrepreneurs, investors, experts and professionals. Click here to purchase yours.
Upcoming Events
27 Jun 2013 - 08:00 - 28 Jun 2013 - 17:00London, UK
Featured Female Hero
