Power Shifts & Progress
This week: Trump’s impact on women-led startups, femtech funding in Europe, $100K pitch competition, and upcoming events, including Shark Night in Boston and the Fintech Feminists Book Tour @ Harvard.
This is WWV Labs’ weekly newsletter: Her Hustle, a place to learn all about the new and the next in female entrepreneurship, and we’re here to help you dive into it. We highlight all the fierce women who are building startups—from those launching from dorm rooms and balancing classes to recent grads and seasoned professionals turning their bold visions into reality.
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🚀 Female Founder News
With Trump back in office, Jesse Draper of Halogen Ventures calls on VCs to double down on supporting female founders, as the administration’s deprioritization of diversity could create even more obstacles for female founders.
Black women business leaders are reacting to Trump's re-election with both resilience and realism, as leaders express concerns about potential setbacks in equity and funding, particularly for Black women-led businesses.
Venture funding for female founders is stabilizing after a sharp drop, with women-led startups now securing a growing share of capital.
Female-led BBG Ventures has closed a $60M fund to support diverse founders, reaffirming its commitment to backing female entrepreneurs and expanding its focus to include founders of all backgrounds.
Five fierce female founders selected to compete for a $100,000 investment at HearstLab's "Shark Tank"-style pitch competition in Atlanta.
Nicole Gibson's startup, InTruth, is pioneering AI wearable tech that helps users understand their emotions, with a public launch set for next year.
The persistent health data gap for women presents a massive opportunity for femtech founders to leverage AI and fill critical gaps in research, driving innovations that can transform women’s healthcare.
European femtech startups have hit a record high in venture funding this year, raising €339.4 million so far, showing the rising investor appetite for app-based solutions in women's health.
🥳 Upcoming Events
November 13 | 🦈 Boston Shark Night (Boston)
November 14 | 🤑 Fintech Feminists Book Tour (Boston)
🍣 Free sushi dinner!
November 17 | 🗣️ Harvard Law Entrepreneurship Project Visionaries & Ventures Convention (Boston)
🎟️ Students can use the promo code STUDENT30 for a 70% off discount.
November 18 | 👩💻 Foundess x Harvard Undergraduate Women in Entrepreneurship: Womxn Co-Building + Networking Night (Boston)
November 22 | 🏈 Harvard-Yale Entrepreneurial Mixer (Boston)
🔥 Highlights from LinkedIn
Harvard Undergraduate Women in Entrepreneurship and Girls into VC brought together 200 extraordinary female students interested in entrepreneurship and venture capital under the theme "Build Something."
Zebo Furqatzoda won 2nd place at the Harvard Undergraduate Women in Entrepreneurship Summit Pitch Competition with an exciting neurotech solution.
Pear VC launched FFC x AI, a new cohort focused on female technical AI builders, to address the low number of women in AI startups—attracting over 500 applicants and fostering an incredible community of 40 talented founders ready to innovate in AI.
Nebraska has officially declared November 19 as Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, joining 30 other states in recognizing the power of female founders.
✨ Female Student Founders Spotlight
Names: Betty Zhao & Farida Abdelmoneum
Schools: Boston University’25, Carnegie Mellon alumni
Majors: Finance & Strategy, Statistics/Machine Learning
Startup: Epoch Labs Inc.
Sector: Computer Vision & AI
Description of Startup: Epoch Labs Inc. integrates advanced AI technology into compact stereo cameras, creating a personalized tennis experience that accelerates athlete growth and development. Unlike existing solutions, our camera requires no professional or multi-camera setup and provides comprehensive analytics, including technique recommendations, match strategies, and injury prevention insights. Designed to complement athletes' training routines or empower players without access to coaches, our camera brings professional-level support and feedback to every user.
Biggest Startup Achievement: Our most significant milestone to date has been the successful launch of our pilot program, which has allowed us to partner with key institutions ranging from colleges to country clubs. We currently have two established partners actively participating in the pilot and are in advanced discussions with several Division I universities to expand our network. These partnerships are paving the way for broader adoption and validation of our solution within high-performance tennis programs.
Biggest Startup Learning Moment: Our most significant learning moment was discovering our true value proposition and product-market fit. Initially, as an engineer, I was focused on building a technically innovative smart tennis ball machine based on my patents. However, after conducting customer interviews, we realized this wasn't a sellable product. We pivoted to developing a portable smart tennis camera based on customer feedback. This experience taught us the importance of setting aside our biases and truly listening to what customers want.
Advice for Female Students Interested in Entrepreneurship: If you have an idea, jump in and start talking to customers immediately. Conduct interviews, gather feedback, and be agile—ready to adapt and refine your concept. Don’t be afraid to fail; failure is a valuable learning experience that can set you up for future success. The key is to stay open, flexible, and committed to understanding what your customers truly need.
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👩💻 Opportunities
💁♀️ Are you a female student or recent graduate who wants to work at a startup? Apply to WWV Labs Fellowship Program to find ad hoc projects, term-time internships, summer internships, or full-time employment opportunities at startups!
Join our community of over 300 fellows from Harvard, MIT, Stanford, UPenn, UC Berkeley, and other top universities today!
Swsh, a shared photo album app that lets friends easily reconnect after parties, events, and trips, is hiring students in Greek Life to supercharge their growth on campuses. Join a fast-paced Gen-Z startup, gain hands-on growth experience, access exclusive entrepreneurial events, and earn competitive pay. If interested, fill out this form.
🌍 Cherry VC, one of Europe's leading VC firms, is interested in supporting WWV Labs fellows with opportunities at European startups. If you have EU or UK citizenship and are interested, please email wwvlabs@gmail.com.
📲 Pitch your innovative Web3 project at the Pitch n' Slay Ladies Hour event during DevCon 24 in Bangkok for a chance to win up to $5,000 in grants!
👩💻 Palantir's Semester at Palantir internship is now accepting applications for Spring 2025—offering students the chance to take a semester off to work on real-world technical challenges in data-driven solutions, empowering major institutions while gaining invaluable industry experience.
💻 Resources
🛂 If you're an international student founder aiming to work in the U.S. on your startup or join a startup team, Alcorn Immigration Law offers personalized guidance to secure the right visas and green cards to help bring your entrepreneurial dreams to life—reach out to Sophie and mention you were referred by Daniela Andrade, WWV Labs!
🛜 Yale startup Series is launching a private beta for their new social network that helps turn entrepreneurial dreams into actionable steps—sign up now to be among the first 1000 beta testers and shape this exciting platform!
✍️ We are gauging interest to see how many female students subscribed to our newsletter would be interested in connecting with a female founder, female investor, or male ally founder/investor during drop-in office hour sessions through WWV Labs. If you’re interested in this opportunity, please fill out this interest form!
🤝 Let’s Connect
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💁♀️ Connect with me on LinkedIn for daily insights on women in entrepreneurship.
📈 Partner with WWV Labs if you are a startup interested in hiring top female talent.
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I hope you enjoyed this newsletter, Hustlers!
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Love,
Daniela