Two months after it all began, Female Founders Alliance’s inagural “Ready Set Raise” accelerator program for women entrepreneurs came to an end last night, with the cohort presenting during a closing party at the Pacific Science Center IMAX Theater.
Local entrepreneur Leslie Feinzaig started the Female Founders Alliance in 2016 after she struggled to gain venture backing for her own startup. The eight Ready Set Raise participants come from across the country and have spent the last week in Seattle, following several weeks of online classes aimed at securing funding for their big ideas.
So who are these fresh-faced startups, and what are they up to?
Resume: Product Manager at Amazon, Operations Manager at Convoy, Partner at Kwontified.
From: Seattle, Washington
In a nutshell: Business intelligence for the retail industry.
Tell us more: Chanlogic is a B2B software-as-a-service platform to help small businesses start, manage and grow on e-commerce channels like Amazon, eBay and Walmart. The platform includes tools to manage inventory, fulfill orders and optimize ad campaigns and product listings.
Resume: Extensive experience as an attorney and associate general counsel.
From: New York, New York
In a nutshell: Lawyers can share their work, save time and make a little money on the side.
Tell us more: Researching and drafting documents from scratch on a literal case-by-case basis is an arduous process that can overwhelm the resources of smaller law firms. EsqMe allows lawyers to share and buy access to litigation and transactional legal documents and access a research database of over seven million cases, allowing them to focus their time on more important aspects of their work.
Resume: Commissioning Engineer at liquid natural gas projects in Texas and Australia, Partner at Wedge Technologies, a Canadian wind turbine company.
From: Houston, Texas
In a nutshell: Augmented reality delivers technical information for industrial construction firms.
Tell us more: FutureSight AR aims to replace the pens, paper and Excel spreadsheets traditionally used to plan industrial construction projects with augmented reality. The technology allows companies to deliver the data they need as a digital overlay, helping to expedite the construction process.
Resume: Twenty-five years at IBM, including a period as CTO for Central, East and West Africa, a master inventor with over 40 patents issued and pending, the first African-American woman to gain a PhD in electrical engineering, focusing on computer engineering.
From: Raleigh, North Carolina
In a nutshell: Remittances made easy.
Tell us more: Built using blockchain technology, geeRemit is an app that members of immigrant communities in the developed world can use to send remittances to family and friends back home. Johnson was inspired to build the app following a period spent living in Kenya and traveling throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, where she saw firsthand how high fees and limited access to banking facilities made fund transfers difficult.
Resume: Partner at Intellectual Ventures, and division one champion equestrian athlete.
From: Seattle, Washington
In a nutshell: Using cameras to monitor animal health.
Tell us more: MagicAi combines machine learning, computer vision and commodity cameras to remotely monitor the health of pets and livestock, all without the need for wearable devices. The company aims to reduce disease transmission and resource consumption, boost food supplies and improve animal welfare by quantifying animal behaviors and activities through the use of its software and simple commodity cameras.
Resume: Co-founder at edtech startup Aprina, Community Development Manager for the Australian government’s National Schools Interoperability Program.
From: New York, New York
In a nutshell: Replacing reading logs with engaging tech-driven tools to boost literacy rates.
Tell us more: According to the New York Times, two thirds of U.S. fourth graders read below grade level, which makes them four times as likely to drop out by high school. MoxieReader is an Android and iOS app that aims to engage kids with reading. Students scan a barcode on the back of a book and submit feedback and take part in team-based reading challenges, all while teachers watch students’ progression through an admin dashboard.
Resume: Senior Business Planner at the Southcentral Foundation, a Native American healthcare nonprofit.
From: Anchorage, Alaska
In a nutshell: Shoes for hard-to-fit feet.
Tell us more: Circulation issues, diabetes, injuries, pregnancy, lymphedema and arthritis can cause irregular swelling in feet, and even result in one foot being larger than the other. Pandere’s shoes expand in the toe box, midfoot and ankle regions to accommodate unique feet, and look stylish in the process.
Resume: Product Development Director at Ashoka, General Manager at General Assembly, VP of Product at Guild Education.
From: San Francisco, California
In a nutshell: Personal finance for young couples.
Tell us more: Zeta Help’s online platform helps couples with individual and joint bank accounts track their finances together. It includes tools for reviewing monthly spending and tracking overall net worth and also offers targeted financial advice. Research has found that couples who talk openly about money together generally have more successful relationships, and Zeta Help aims to be a resource for sparking those conversations.
