For Women, By Women

Last year, female founders received 2.2 percent of the $130 billion in venture money invested in the United States, according to PitchBook and All Raise. That works out to $2.9 billion; for a sense of scale, a single startup, Katerra — which is in the construction business — raised $865 million last year, or about 30 percent of everything that went to female founders. 

The main barrier facing women-led startups today is not more tools or training, but a straight up need for capital. So what would Chicago’s startup scene look like if more women controlled the money? What is it like for female entrepreneurs in Chicago, particularly ones building products for women? What is needed to make capital more equitable? 

We’ll hear from a panel of women entrepreneurs who’ve built businesses for women: Ita Ekpoudom, Partner, GingerBread Capital; PartySlate CEO Julie Roth Novack; The Mom Project CEO Allison Robinson; and Founder & CEO Glam ST Agustina Sartori. Moderating will be Coco Meers, the co-founder of Equilibria and the founder of Pretty Quick, which she sold to Groupon.

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