On October 26, prospective entrepreneurs of the NYU community gathered at the Leslie eLab near Washington Square Park for a morning dedicated to the recognition and empowerment of women and underrepresented minorities in fintech startups. Powered by Quesnay, and hosted by the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute and the Tandon School of Engineering’s Convergence of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) Institute, the event “Female Founders in Tech” welcomed an enthusiastic group of aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators for a mix of breakfast, opportunity, and networking.
Following a round of morning treats and introductory chats, Desiree Frieson, Program Manager of the Blackstone LaunchPad at NYU, kicked off the event by introducing the J-Term Startup Sprint, a two-week intensive program from January 8 to January 19 to help all NYU students – from undergrads, grad students, to postdocs – get funding for an idea, experiment with a team, learn from customers’ projects, and receive expert coaching on their ventures along their startup journey. A detailed schedule of the J-Term Startup Sprint with additional information on teams can be found here. Applications for the J-Sprint are due on November 20 by 5pm.
Madhumita Sawant, CIE institute presenting on CIE’s projects.
After the room quickly collaborated on startup ideas for the J-Term Sprint, Madhumita Sawant, an Inclusive Innovation Fellow, then presented on the recent projects undertaken by the CIE Institute. The presentation illustrated the CIE Institute’s efforts to encourage women and underrepresented minorities interested in entrepreneurship by improving the diversity within science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields at NYU. Ms. Sawant cited that women leaders and women participants together comprise more than 50% of the entire NSF I-Corps 2017 Cohort – a promising statistic that signifies a positive shift from the status quo.
Nataly and Sungjee expressing their concern over lack of diversity in Entrepreneurship
Thereafter, Nataly Sabharwal and Sungjee Yoo, Engagement Manager and Innovation Consultant at Quesnay, respectively, shared amazing and unparalleled opportunities for NYU entrepreneurs. Both Nataly and Sungjee initially expressed their concern over the distinct lack of representation and startup funding among women, citing that only 2% of VC Funding went to women entrepreneurs in FinTech. As a step to overcome such biases by bridging the startup ecosystem with the corporate world, Quesnay launched the “Female Founders in Tech Competition 2017” – an event aimed to see more female-founded and female-led companies, like Ellevest and Coverwallet, succeed at making positive industry impacts. The winners of the competition receive guidance on business development, mentorship from industry experts, dedicated blogpost, social media promotion, as well as prizes worth up to $10,000. The talk concluded with Nataly and Sungjee detailing the application process, with specific tips on applying in the future. The first round of finalists will be announced on November 15.
The event was followed by an interactive Q&A session, which allowed the participants to further discuss women entrepreneurs in tech. The women founders in attendance shared their personal and professional experiences in startups, and several of the challenges they faced as women entrepreneurs – such as securing funding. Others in attendance shared new insights from research that gave new thought and perception on the importance of women in entrepreneurship.
Overall, “Female Founders in Tech” concluded on a high note, leaving everyone inspired to create and dedicated to build a better environment and future for women and minority entrepreneurs.