Texas Medical Center– Houston, Texas.
It was an evening of networking and robust discussion on what it takes to be a woman entrepreneur. Women (and men…) gathered in the Texas Medical Center Accelerator (TMCx) space, March 30, for Ellevate Houston’s Women in Entrepreneurship.
The highly accomplished panel included Katharine Forth, CEO of iShoe, Yael Katz, CEO of BrainCheck, Kerry Rupp, Partner at TrueWealth Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on funding women-led start up companies, and Mathilde Leary, healthcare finance and strategy advisor.
The discussion was stimulating and content-packed and included what it takes to be an entrepreneur, how being a woman entrepreneur is different, and how to get started as an entrepreneur. Highlighted was the gap in the venture capital space between the dollars invested in women led companies and the number of women led companies. Although studies have shown that 85% of purchasing decisions are made by women and women led companies have greater profitability and growth, only 3% of the venture capital investment dollars available go to companies with a woman CEO and only 15% of companies receiving venture capital dollars have a woman on the management team. Yet, women are starting businesses at two times the rate of men.
The evening provided its participants with both the tools and inspiration to breakdown those barriers and pursue their entrepreneurship goals. TMCx (www.texasmedicalcenter.org) graciously hosted the evening. The Ellevate Network is a worldwide network of 34,000 professional women that are investing in the economic engagement of women worldwide. There are multiple levels of membership that meet the needs of women wherever they are in their career growth.
