Female founders: igniting success in tech

We know that there is a gap that we need to bridge when to comes to female founders, diversity, and inclusion.

It is vital to champion founders from underrepresented groups, especially in the tech startup ecosystem, as traditionally the tech space is majority made up of white males. According to ‘The Business of Tech Q4 2022 Diversity Report’, created by Dave Sobel, which examined diversity development in tech leadership, 88.92% of the tech industry’s leaders were white men.

Also, a new report from The Treasury Committee found that only 2% of funding goes toward female-founded and ethnic minority businesses.

In honour of female-founded startups and women in technology, Startups Magazine is hosting an event in Brighton, at Platf9rm, on 29^th September at 6pm.

The event will feature a keynote from Clare Griffiths, an award-winning entrepreneurship educator, startup adviser, and social entrepreneur who has over 20 years of experience offering business support and advice to startups and small businesses from a range of industries in London and the South East.

She is a strong advocate for female founders and women in business, and is dedicated to developing effective ways to achieve gender equity within society – something which she studied at Master’s degree level at the Institute of Social Studies in Holland.

In 2018, Clare founded Thrive, an impact-led business on a mission to enable female founders, freelancers and changemakers gain the knowledge, clarity, and community they need to grow a resilient, small business. She achieves her mission by designing and delivering powerful learning and networking opportunities for the Thrive community.

When she is not working, Clare loves to travel with her family, experiment in the kitchen and garden, walk her dogs on the South Downs, and dabble in electronic music production.

The event will then breakout in three dedicated roundtables:

Roundtable 1: Scaling a tech startup during an economic crisis with Polly Lavarello

Polly Lavarello is a global leading business coach and marketing expert for women business owners. With more than 15 years of experience, Polly prides herself on making marketing simple. She is on a mission to help women entrepreneurs scale successful, sustainable businesses that enable them to have the financial and time freedom that she herself used to crave.

Polly champions neurodiversity and is a staunch believer that it is a superpower, not a disability. Having autism and ADHD herself, along with two neurodiverse children, Polly wants to change the associated stigma and show women, and the next generation, that nothing can hold you back from being who you want to be and creating the career you dream of having.

Roundtable 2: How to build a tech startup without a technical background with Lucia Desperati

Lucia Desperati is a versatile problem-solver, seamlessly blending tech innovation and creativity. With nearly a decade of experience, Lucia has developed skills ranging from project management, software development, creative direction, and production. Operating remotely, Lucia has engaged with clients globally, from the US to Europe and beyond.

Without being bound by traditional education, Lucia’s eclectic foundation was built at the Art Institute, followed by studies in Law and Business, and further enriched through several specialised certificates in the fields of creative arts, marketing, and coding. This cross-disciplinary approach allows her to weave together logic, creativity, and technology to find innovative solutions for both people and businesses.

Currently, Lucia wears multiple hats: from freelancing and working with Hey Lilo to actively developing Yocory, a platform aimed at streamlining how business owners and freelancers manage their projects.

Driven by the mission to work smarter and save time, Lucia is always seeking the best way to apply frameworks, workflows, and tech to problem-solving.

Roundtable 3: Top tips for getting the most out of your product design with Jess Tyrrell

Jess Tyrrell is a consultant helping creative industries, agencies, and tech startups to scale. She relishes in working in high performing teams with a purpose, designing products, organisations, services, and business models with users at the centre.

She was previously Managing Director of Beyond's Europe studios, a design and technology agency making world class digital products. She believes in the power of technology to improve people’s lives, and in agile design processes that harness the knowledge of people right across an organisation.

If you’d like to join Startups Magazine at Platf9rm in Brighton for an evening of inspiration and motivation, you can get your ticket here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/female-founders-igniting-success-in-tech-tickets-667528524787