Female Founders Alliance announced the second class of women and non-binary entrepreneurs admitted to its “Ready Set Raise” accelerator today.
The Seattle-based program consists of six weeks of in-person and remote classes aimed at helping founders secure funding for their big ideas, and was designed to target gender inequities in venture capital funding — about 2 percent of venture funding went to companies founded by women in 2018.
Founder Leslie Feinzaig was inspired to create the group in 2016 after she struggled to gain venture backing for her own Seattle startup.
Now, Microsoft for Startups is partnering with Female Founders Alliance to run the program.
“Currently, the fundraising process is a very challenging experience for women and non-binary CEOs because existing networks are hard to break into,” Feinzaig said in an email to Built In. “We designed this program to be a best-in-class accelerator to support founders who haven’t fundraised before.”
Of the 400 founders who applied to this year’s program, just eight were chosen. Give InKind, a social platform similar to GoFundMe that provides coordinated care to those experiencing crises, represents Seattle in the program.
Laura Malcolm, founder and CEO of Give InKind, said she was attracted to the accelerator because of its focus and location.
“Most of the other accelerators you have to pack up for eight weeks or 12 weeks and go to the Bay, and I am a bootstrapped founder with two small children at home, so it makes it very difficult to pack up and go somewhere,” Malcolm said, adding: “The small size of the cohort and incredible mentors and coaches and investors is a really special opportunity.”
Malcolm founded Give InKind in 2016, inspired after experiencing a stillbirth. Malcolm carried the child for eight months, and had no idea anything was wrong until the baby was born. In the aftermath, she said it was difficult for her and her husband to communicate their needs to family in other cities.
“We sat there with 75 floral bouquets and questions about where can we order dinner,” she said.
Give InKind released in beta mode in January, and Malcolm said the platform is now growing at a rate of 25 percent month over month. She said the firm has helped “tens of thousands” of people create care calendars — organizing childcare, pet care, drives to the doctor’s office —write wish lists and crowdfund for those experiencing illness, job loss, a new baby and more.
The firm receives a percent of revenue from gift card purchases made through the platform — gift cards offer massages, transportation, cleaning and other services — as well as for orders for Give InKind’s customized gift basket.
By the end of this year, Give InKind also plans to launch membership tiers, which Malcolm expects to eventually be its main revenue driver. The firm will offer tiers for health care providers and churches — allowing a hospital to unite all patient users under a single branded umbrella, for example — and a tier for consumers, which could automatically generate thank you notes or only allow approved people to sign up to watch children or pets.
The firm is currently raising money for its pre-seed round, and hopes to have raised enough for its seed round by the end of “Ready Set Raise.”
“When things happen in life and it’s time to pick up the stock for a friend whose sick, or send something to a friend undergoing cancer treatment, or having a new baby, that tends to be women’s work,” Malcolm said. “There’s a lack of understanding of the problem that we’re solving.
She added that underrepresentation in the world of venture capital — an industry centered around throwing money at problems — means investors sometimes don’t appreciate the nuances of the challenges companies like hers are taking on: “When you have a mom at home with a broken leg and three kids, all the money in the world isn’t going to get kids to school,” Malcolm said.
Female Founders Alliance said it looked for companies involved in a variety of sectors and geographies.
Other startups involved in “Ready Set Raise” include:
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Echo Echo: an artificial intelligence tool that helps podcasters prioritize and collaborate.
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Honistly: a firm that offers auto warranties and is intended to minimize the financial impact of short-term car repairs needs.
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Juicebox It: a mobile application that offers sex education and relationship coaching.
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Panty Drop: a subscription service that mails users underwear of all sizes every three months.
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The Labz: a collaborative platform that uses blockchain to immediately protect and memorialize creative content development.
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Tougher: which offers workwear for women in the trades.
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Wheyward Spirit: a firm that partners with dairies to use their extra whey to create a sustainable spirit.
On October 17, each company will showcase their business model to a large industry crowd, national media and industry influencers on a Demo Night.
