Funding Founders Forward: Fueling Women-Led Innovation

Let’s make things tangible - how do we challenge the status quo with actions?

Beyond The Billion returned to Austin earlier this year in partnership with Dell Technologies, Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network, Dell For Startups, and Intel, to convene some of America’s leaders in both venture capital and entrepreneurship to kick off SXSW and International Women’s Day.

Against the backdrop of a decline in VC funding to all-women founding teams in 2023, funders and founders convened to discuss key strategies to continue to address what needs to be done.

In this episode, we feature esteemed speakers from the panel, including Dr. Molly Morse of Mango Materials, Dr. Lana Feng of Huma AI, Lisa Song Sutton of The Veteran Fund, and Lizanne Atherly of Beyond The Billion, who generously shared their journey — the highs, lows, and the lessons learned along the way.

Key takeaways from the Funding Founders Forward panel:

Are your investment strategies contributing to the growth of women entrepreneurs?
Who are your stakeholders and their stakeholders?
Are you assertive enough?
Do you understand your clients' needs?

Full Recap: https://beyondthebillion.com/dell-austin2024/

About Beyond The Billion

Led by Co-Founders and Managing Partners Shelly Porges and Sarah Chen-Spellings, Beyond the Billion (BTB) mobilized over US $1billion in its first nine months from their original 86 Fund Partners who today number 123 including Texas-based True Wealth Ventures, Ajim Capital, and the Artemis Fund.

Within the first two years, BTB’s Fund Partners around the world invested over US $638million into almost 800 women-founded companies (WFCs), with fourteen of those now having been identified as unicorns, including a notable few with Austin roots: Everly Health and Canva. As importantly, a subset of those almost 800 deals (479) went on to raise almost US $4billion, demonstrating the catalytic effect of breaking the funding barrier for so many early-stage WFCs.