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Here are 7 future unicorn startups that are founded by women!

For Saumya Bhatnagar, being the only woman in a room is far from a novel experience. An engineer by training and currently the co-founder and chief product officer at AI sales rep startup Jeeva, she remembers being the sole girl in her high school's 170-person <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/5-tips-women-career-coding-twilio-2020-8">coding class</a> — and that none of her male peers would sit next to her."I had to make space for myself, and there were plenty of micro and macro aggressions in the grand scheme of things that I had to talk my way through," she told Business Insider. "At the end of the day, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/women-left-out-of-the-ai-investment-boom-risks-bias-2023-10">it's a man's world</a> in the VC, startups, and AI space."Bhatnagar isn't alone in her journey. Although the number of women-founded startups has increased, less than 3% of venture capital funding went to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/venture-capital-decline-hurts-female-founders-gender-gap-startup-funding-2023-12">female-only founding teams</a> in 2022, according to PitchBook.A handful of women who are well-known as leaders in the AI space — including "Godmother of AI" <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vcs-like-khosla-and-a16z-backing-robotics-that-use-ai-2024-7">Fei Fei Li</a>, Anthropic president and co-founder Daniela Amodei, and OpenAI's former chief technology officer Mira Murati. But others building startups report facing various gender-related obstacles to success, including bias in the fundraising process, limited mentorship opportunities, and difficulty building meaningful business relationships with men.In the AI sector specifically, which has surged in popularity since the release of ChatGPT two years ago, the challenges for female founders are even more pronounced. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-18-women-who-made-partner-vc-firms-in-2023-2023-11">AI continues to attract significant VC interest</a>, but women in the space face additional barriers compared to their male counterparts, starting at the education level.While a degree in engineering or computer science isn't a requirement for launching an AI company, it's often a prerequisite for techies building foundational models to tackle complex machine-learning problems. Women accounted for just 22% of AI and computer science PhD programs in the US in 2019, according to a Deloitte study.Women in 2020 made up an estimated 26% of data and AI positions in the workforce, per a World Economic Forum report. And <a target="_blank" href="https://www.uktech.news/diversity/ai-funding-women-founders-20240319">recent data from the UK </a>shows that only about 4% of AI startups in the country have women founders.Although Bhatnagar is among the small group of women in the space with advanced technical chops, she says she still notices the gender imbalance in the AI world — and that it, at times, has led to her feeling impostor syndrome and burnout.Developing relationships with other women working in the AI space has become a vital lifeline, she said. An active member of online and in-person groups, including <a target="_blank" href="https://www.womenandai.com/">Women and AI</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://thewomenweadmire.com/">Women We Admire</a>, Bhatnagar said that she's made connections that support her in navigating difficult business dynamics, connecting with female investors, and finding solace in shared experiences."Women are not comfortable asking for help, and there's this idea that perfectionism needs to be showcased at all times," she said. "Finding a community of women has helped me take risks and realize that I'm actually doing okay," she said.Vivien Ho, a partner at early-stage fund Pear VC, has watched the meteoric rise of buzzy AI startups during the last two years and noticed that many are run by men, she said. But as a longtime community builder in the Bay Area tech scene, this didn't jive with what she was seeing on the ground. There were plenty of women interested in building AI companies, she said. Many just didn't know how to start.This observation was the catalyst for the Female Founder Circles, a community for women engineers interested in building AI startups. Each FFC cycle welcomes a cohort of around 50 women for two months of programming that includes fireside chats with existing female AI founders, company-building workshops with Pear investment partners, and other in-person events designed to help women build meaningful relationships with one another, such as pitch competitions, spa days, and public speaking practice.Demand for FFC has exploded, Ho said, with more than 500 women applying for the most recent cohort that kicked off last month. And the program has already been a success: more than 70% of participants end up incorporating their startups, and at least five women have matched with another female co-founder in their cohort, she said."Three of our FFC founders have already raised Series Bs, which is pretty incredible," Ho told BI. "We first meet them, and they're really shy, and then three years later, they're running a 100-person company and making eight figures. It's incredible to see how we can build a community that makes a difference."As women in AI create opportunities that could help them succeed, their work parallels women in another once-white-hot subsector of the startup world: at the height of the crypto craze, female-led blockchain startups earned about 6.4% of venture dollars in the third quarter of 2022, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bitget.com/blog/articles/bitget-report-the-gender-gap-in-blockchain-startup-funding-press-release">according to data from Bitget</a>.Funding in the space has dropped off dramatically during the last two years, and women continue to struggle when it comes to connecting with investors and closing rounds, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/08/29/what-web3-data-reveals-about-gender-inequality-in-the-crypto-industry/">Forbes recently reported</a>.For Shreya Rajpal, Pear VC's FFC was one of the first times she felt genuine, positive support from the people around her. As a software engineer who cut her teeth in startups and on Apple's machine learning initiatives, she was accustomed to being the only woman whose work was judged with more scrutiny than that of her male coworkers."There are a lot of men who aren't very supportive, and being the only woman on a team means that they're often an undue level of attention on your work, so you stand out, for better or for worse," Rejpal told BI. "Pretty early on, it was obvious that I kind of needed to justify my space in the room a lot more compared to other folks."Fast forward to today, and Rajpal is the CEO and co-founder of Guardrails AI, which builds risk and reliability systems for generative AI programs. As she's progressed in her career, she's made an effort to build community with other women in tech. It's work that takes significant time, but it's been "life changing" in terms of succeeding as a founder and well worth the effort, she said.Guardrails earlier this year raised a $7.5 million seed funding round led by Zetta Venture Partners with participation from Pear, Bloomberg Beta, and GitHub Fund.In addition to participating in bigger groups like FFC, Rajpal has sought out mentorship opportunities with other women in engineering, machine learning, and project management."I became friends with a woman who is five to six years older than me and in the industry for that much longer, doing the things that I wanted to do," she said. "Hearing from her and what worked for her, in terms of changing jobs and talking to her about how she made those decisions, was the stuff that ended up being really impactful for me."Stephanie Guo, a partner at Sapphire Ventures based in San Francisco, is constantly iterating on community events for women interested in AI that strike the right balance between informational – think fireside chats and panel discussions – and informal ways for women to form connections that turn into mentor relationships.These events aren't just for would-be founders: Guo says that while the number of female-funded AI startups can sometimes seem "abysmally small," she's encouraged by the number of women who hold leadership positions at AI startups, funds, and bigger companies."We're creating both the space to have dialogue, but also a networking opportunity," Guo told BI. "These relationships stick, and there are business opportunities that actually form from them."

For women building AI startups, finding community has been the key to success

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Maven's chief financial officer has left the women's health unicorn one year after taking the role.</li><li>The startup plans to bring in a new CFO with public market experience, per a source with knowledge.</li></ul>Maven Clinic is swapping out its chief financial officers on the heels of a fresh funding round as the women's health startup inches closer to an IPO.Maven is bringing in a new finance head with experience leading a public company, according to a source with direct knowledge of the change.Kristina Campbell, Maven's former CFO, left the startup in October, according to her LinkedIn. She joined Maven a year prior, in October 2023.Earlier this month, Maven notched a $1.7 billion valuation with $125 million in new funding from the private equity firm StepStone Group. Business Insider <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/womens-health-unicorn-maven-clinic-raising-new-funding-stepstone-2024-9">first reported</a> the round in September.The identity of Maven's incoming CFO isn't known. Maven declined to comment for this story. Campbell didn't respond to requests for comment.Maven launched 10 years ago to provide virtual care to women and families through employers and health plans, including for fertility, pregnancy, and menopause. It's since raised over $425 million from investors such as Sequoia Capital, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, and Oak HC/FT.As the highest-valued women's health startup, Maven is expected to be <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/maven-ipo-chrissy-farr-womens-health-startup-prediction-2023-12">a candidate for the next wave of digital health IPOs</a>. The startup's hopeful future exit would be a boon for the women's health market, which remains a small fraction of all healthcare funding.Some of Maven's peers haven't fared as well in a tighter venture market. Fertility startup Kindbody is reportedly looking to raise more funding at a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-21/fertility-startup-kindbody-set-to-cut-valuation-letter-shows">$600 million</a> valuation, a massive markdown from the <a target="_blank" href="https://kindbody.com/kindbody-announces-100-million-in-new-funding-to-further-accelerate-growth/">$1.8 billion</a> valuation it landed in March 2023.Before Maven, Campbell spent over two years as the CFO of the cryptocurrency exchange Ripple. She left the company amid its <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/xrp-price-today-ripple-crypto-bitcoin-sec-gary-gensler-2024-3">legal battle with the SEC</a> after the agency accused Ripple of selling its XRP token as an unregistered security.Campbell has now joined entertainment payroll startup Wrapbook as its CFO, according to her LinkedIn profile. Wrapbook raised a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/wrapbook-fund-bessemer-venture-partners-1236009642/">$20 million</a> funding round in September at a valuation of $750 million.

Exclusive: Maven Clinic is swapping out its finance chiefs as the women's health unicorn looks ahead to an IPO

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Some expat Indians are moving back home to launch companies of their own.</li><li>India's booming market size, internet growth, and post-pandemic spending is driving their decision.</li></ul>Nithin Hassan, 41, has always been fascinated with building something of his own.As a child in India, he would get in trouble for dismantling electronics around the house just so he could peek inside.In college, in true <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/startups-to-bet-your-career-on-in-2024-2024-2">startup</a> fashion, he started working on a small business out of his parent's garage in Bengaluru, assembling computers for friends and family.It was the early 2000s and the internet was not the trove of knowledge it is today — Hassan was relying on books to learn. Finding mentorship and the right guidance was a challenge, too.Everyone around Hassan told him that going to the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/resume-tips-google-software-engineer-skills-experience-careers-software-tech-2024-3">US for a master's degree</a> was the next big opportunity. So he did.Over the next 16 years, he put his startup plans on hold and worked at some of the world's biggest companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta.<div type="image" title="Nithin Hassan" height="2450" width="3266" msid="113831978" hostid="261" sizebytes="215682"></div>But the pandemic felt like a turning point. And its aftermath made India look like a lab-designed business environment: It had just become the world's most populous country, the pandemic had created <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/private-consumption-continues-to-be-supported-by-pent-up-demand-finance-ministry/articleshow/99069973.cms?from=mdr">pent-up demand</a> for consumer products, and growing internet adoption made commerce more scalable, he said.So Hassan left behind about $500,000 in annual pay at Meta to move back to Bengaluru in December 2023 with his wife and two children. He has since launched two startups.Hassan is part of a group of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/i-moved-back-to-india-after-living-abroad-for-decade-2024-9">expat Indians moving back</a> home to venture out on their own. As such, he's also part of a decades-long trend of reverse migration back to India.The trend began in the 1990s and picked up at the turn of the century, driven by the economic collapse in 2008, said Binod Khadria, the president of Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism. Many of those who returned to India for work were largely working for multinational companies.Today, the impetus for the move often looks a bit different: It's driven by factors like unstable visa policies and economic recessions, which lead to uncertainty when it comes to jobs and duration of stay in these destinations.Many returnees find work in tech, but the finance, retail, and climate sectors also absorb a large number of expat Indians, Khadia said. And some of the returnees are heading back to India to start companies of their own.India is undergoing a startup explosion. The country reported over<a target="_blank" href="https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2043805"> 140,800 recognized startups</a> at the end of June — nearly 50,000 more than last year — and credited them with creating 1.6 million direct jobs.To be sure, not all of these companies will make it big — and some do still stumble, like <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://inc42.com/features/what-are-the-current-problems-being-faced-by-oyo/">Oyo </a>and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blackrock-hsbc-funds-byjus-startup-valuation-zero-edtech-india-raveendran-2024-6">Byju's</a>. But the chaos, where even established startups are trying and failing, makes India a fair playing field for new entrants, Hassan said.Business Insider spoke to six <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-vc-wants-see-5-traits-new-founders-fundraising-antler-2024-8">first-time founders </a>about why they have recently returned to India after spending several years, or even an adult life, abroad.<h2 id="0e4a3c47-ba19-4690-8b52-c6bfece1c81d">Fastest-growing economy</h2>The health of the economy and interest from investors are fueling the entrepreneurship boom.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-billionaire-karan-adani-plans-challenge-china-dominance-seaports-2024-8">India's economic growth</a> in 2023 — 8.2% — was the fastest of all large economies worldwide. That's led to greater purchasing power, which lets companies, including startups, sell more.India's inflation rate of about 3.5% is well below its annual wage growth of 9.6%. This makes inflation less of a challenge than it is for slower-growing peers, where consumer-focused businesses have been <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/economy-jobs-report-sentiment-consumers-elections-recession-inflation-mortgage-rates-2024-9">hurt by high prices</a>.Investors are getting in on the action.From 2015 to 2021, the number of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sequoia-capital-vc-firm-split-china-india-2023-6">unique investors in India</a> nearly quadrupled, though the number is tracking much lower this year, per PitchBook."Other than a slight downturn in 2022 and 2023 due to global macroeconomic factors, VC funding has been consistently growing in India," said Ben Mathias, a managing partner at Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia &amp; India.Besides funding, domestic developments have encouraged founders and VCs too, Mathias said.The Indian government's Universal Payment Interface system has spurred consumers and businesses to pay online, and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bcg.com/press/2june2022-digital-payments-in-india-projected-to-reach-10-trillion-by-2026">40% of all digital payments</a> globally happen in India today, the partner said.Programs like Startup India, which provides founders benefits like tax exemption, easier compliance, and funding support, have made creating a company smoother.Devyani Parameshwar worked in the microfinance and fintech space in India in the 2010s before heading to the UK and Africa. She returned to India in 2022 to launch a financial management venture."It's changed dramatically. I remember standing in line at various ministries in Delhi trying to get meetings and then trying to get answers and it wasn't easy in the past," she said of her memories of India.Now, she can use an online platform to ask the country's central bank and banking regulator questions.It's easier than ever for foreign companies to invest in India, which means startups have a clearer exit path through acquisition — something VCs think hard about before entering new markets or writing checks.<h2 id="e5dd7b6f-a09f-4ff2-84c1-5907de96dc5e">Market ripe for the taking</h2>For Rohan Bhide, who spent most of his college and professional life <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/worked-in-big-tech-before-launching-my-own-startup-engineer-2024-9">preparing to launch something of his own</a>, a trip home in 2017 while he was studying in the US was a turning point.Indian telecom giant Reliance had recently launched a cheap unlimited data plan, which spiked Indian internet adoption. India was charting among the countries with the highest online transactions."That really, really drew my attention," said Bhide, who worked at Meta after graduation. "It was my dream come true — a huge market, a huge user base, and at the same time, the ability to adopt technology was incredible."Bhide returned to India in January, leaving behind about $580,000 in total compensation at ticketing platform StubHub. He and a cofounder are working on launching a consumer tech product later this year.<div type="image" title="Rohan Bhide" height="2304" width="3072" msid="113831979" hostid="261" sizebytes="218468"></div>Most Indians grew up wanting to work at a multinational company — but that's changing, Bhide said.Freelancing, running your own business, or working for a startup is much more socially acceptable now, because people see the success of other Indian startups. The country has the third-largest number of "unicorns" — companies worth $1 billion or more — with 64, per PitchBook.<h2 id="7f423804-745b-4e04-a250-839e01663f09">Boom in entrepreneurship culture</h2>A lot has changed since Hassan first wanted to launch his hardware startup in the early 2000s.Tech hot spots like Bengaluru and Gurugram have seen a boom in entrepreneurship culture in the last few years, with meet-ups, networking mixers, and even morning walks with like-minded builders.<div type="image" title="man standing in front of mountains in USA" height="2268" width="3024" msid="113831980" hostid="261" sizebytes="141132"></div>Dhruv Anand, who left Google in the US to move back to India in 2021 to launch an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-startups-most-promising-2024-9">AI startup</a>, said that there were lots of other founders and mentors to help guide him."If you want to figure out who's the right chartered accountant to talk to, who's the right lawyer to help you draft agreements, all of that stuff is very easy," Anand said."It's been a really, really supportive community," Bhide said. There are people "telling you about their entire lives just because they want to help you and they're hoping that you pass the favor onto the next person who moves to India and wants to start their own company."<h2 id="3c8bff36-e855-4530-9b44-bcc7f36b0825">Not everything is perfect</h2>Although these founders made the decision to return to India, that doesn't mean they no longer see the benefits of operating in the US.Ruchit Garg founded an agriculture startup in Silicon Valley in 2016, with a focus on supporting farmers around the globe. In 2019, he returned to India, where his late grandfather worked as a farmer.Garg has been building in India ever since, but he says its startup ecosystem cannot yet compete with the Valley's decades of experience."The overall ecosystem was more mature back in Silicon Valley. It's still one of the best places for entrepreneurs. India isn't there yet, although it's growing pretty drastically," he said.Despite efforts to digitalize key processes, many bureaucratic challenges persist.For most founders, after living in US cities where populations are a fraction of those in Mumbai and Bangalore, congested roads and poorer air quality are also everyday annoyances.But India provides some big perks, including affordable domestic help and the appeal of building solutions for problems they witness firsthand."It's a different joy to be able to build for problems that you feel for very personally," Parameshwar, the fintech founder, said. When she worked in Africa, she needed translators. Now, she can speak with her users herself.Bhide said the general sentiment among local founders is shifting from "Build from India" to "Build for India."For some founders, being surrounded by family and the culture they grew up in was another selling point.Niranjan Vemulkar moved back to India in 2015 and later founded a digital legacy planning platform.He said that he never fully felt at home in the US, where he lived for over a decade."For us, it was the fact that we wanted to raise a family in an environment where the children would have access to the grandparents and Indian culture," Vemulkar said. "The fact that you could come back to India, start something of your own and figure things out in an ecosystem which was potentially booming for startups, was just a cherry on the cake."Are you in India and have a story to share about the tech and entrepreneurship landscape? Please reach out at shubhangigoel@insider.com

Some techies are leaving cushy Silicon Valley jobs to launch startups at home in India

<ul><li><keyword id="355914" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="qualcomm-india" source="Orion">Qualcomm India</keyword> on Monday announced a collaboration with Women Entrepreneurship Platform (<keyword id="524544" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="wep" source="Orion">WEP</keyword>).</li><li>Launched in 2020, the 'Qualcomm Women Entrepreneurs <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> Network' has empowered 25 early-stage women-led startups over the last two years.</li><li>The programme aims to support the entrepreneurial efforts of female innovators in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (<keyword id="435553" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="stem" source="Orion">STEM</keyword>).</li></ul>New Delhi, <keyword id="355914" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="qualcomm-india" source="Orion">Qualcomm India</keyword> on Monday announced a collaboration with Women Entrepreneurship Platform (<keyword id="524544" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="wep" source="Orion">WEP</keyword>) to support 8 selected women-founded technology startups in the country. Under the initiative, the third cohort of selected startups will benefit from the mentorship and insights of industry leaders, as well as masterclasses on intellectual property (IP), marketing, and more. Launched in 2020, the 'Qualcomm Women Entrepreneurs <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> Network' has empowered 25 early-stage women-led startups over the last two years. "Women-led organisations often bring a new perspective to innovative problem solving, not only creating profitable businesses but also delivering societal good," said <keyword id="4225948" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="varsha-tagare" source="Orion">Varsha Tagare</keyword>, Senior Director, Ventures, Qualcomm Technologies. The programme aims to support the entrepreneurial efforts of female innovators in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (<keyword id="435553" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="stem" source="Orion">STEM</keyword>). The initiative goes beyond mere lessons and provides deep exposure to high-caliber, industry-seasoned mentors, and experts. The third cohort will benefit from increased visibility among the startup ecosystem through a curated demo day and the opportunity to connect with various government bodies and network with industry leaders, VCs, investors, industry associations and other accelerators. "Startups are important value creators for the economy, providing impetus to India's innovation goals. Women can play a much larger role in India's startup story than they are presently," said Anna Roy, senior advisor, NITI Aayog. The WEP was incubated at NITI Aayog and presently being operated as an public-private partnership initiative with an independent governance structure. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/samsung-galaxy-a34-5g-review-a-mid-range-marvel/articleshow/100564038.cms">Samsung Galaxy A34 5G review: A Mid-range marvel</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/google-opens-ai-search-experiment-to-selected-users-for-testing-heres-how-you-can-sign-up/articleshow/100519280.cms">Google opens AI search experiment to selected users for testing - here’s how you can sign up</a>

Qualcomm India joins WEP to empower 8 women-led startups

<keyword id="6355629" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="google" source="Orion">Google</keyword> on Tuesday announced its <keyword id="14193636" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Startups-accelerator-programme" source="Orion">startups accelerator programme</keyword> that will nurture about 20 startups led by women founders in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>. The programme is aimed to help women founders address challenges that are unique to their experience, including fundraising, hiring and many others. The inaugural batch of Google for <keyword id="8826137" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Startups-Accelerator" source="Orion">Startups Accelerator</keyword> - India Women Founders programme will accept up to 20 women-founded/ co-founded startups in India, including startups at the minimum viable product stage, and support them through a three-month programme. The programme will place special focus on areas like access to networks, access to capital, hiring challenges, mentorship and many others which, for a variety of social reasons and low representation, prove challenging for female founders. In addition to these, the curriculum will include workshops and support around AI/ML, Cloud, UX, android, web, product strategy and growth, as well as provide access to a global community of women founders. India is the world's third largest startup capital, trailing only the US and China. It boasts over a 100 unicorns with 22 getting added to the list just in 2022, spanning verticals such as e-commerce, healthtech, fintech and many others. However, only 15 per cent of these <keyword id="3357129" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-unicorns" source="Orion">Indian unicorns</keyword> have one or more women founders. "The new programme is part of a larger effort by Google towards improving the representation of women across different sections of India's digitally-trained workforce, be it entrepreneurship, professionals looking to upskill or young graduates seeking a head start on their career, with the ultimate objective of making technology universally relevant and helpful," the tech giant wrote in a blogpost. The applications for the programme are open till July 10, it added. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/mukesh-ambani-and-disney-to-get-into-an-intense-bidding-war-for-another-ipl-package-heres-why-it-matters/articleshow/92203554.cms">Mukesh Ambani and Disney to get into an intense bidding war for another IPL package – here’s why it matters</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/elon-musk-lost-as-much-as-mukesh-ambanis-total-wealth-in-2022/articleshow/92203221.cms">Elon Musk lost as much as Mukesh Ambani's total wealth in 2022</a>

Google to launch accelerator programme for women entrepreneurs in India

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Jack Altman is stepping back as Lattice CEO, the HR software startup he cofounded eight years ago.</li><li>He tells Business Insider that he wants to return to building at the early stages of a company.</li></ul>Jack Altman is the second <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-ousted-fired-openai-ceo-chatgpt-maker-2023-11">Altman brother to drop the CEO title</a> in the last month — but this time, it's of his own accord. Earlier this week, Lattice announced it was bringing on a new CEO — former Salesforce executive Sarah Joyce Franklin — and that Altman would step down from his role and become executive chairman, eight years after founding the human-resources software startup.These past few years, Jack Altman, who is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-openai-chatgpt-worldcoin-helion-future-tech-2023-4">Sam Altman's</a> brother, led the enterprise unicorn through a period of rapid expansion, largely fueled by a tight labor market and rise of remote work, and then a restructuring as businesses — and Lattice's would-be customers — reined in their software spending. Now, Lattice is preparing for a new phase of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/allbirds-cofounder-startups-profitable-before-going-public-ipo-2023-11">sustainable growth</a>, according to company insiders.In an exclusive interview with Business Insider, Altman said he fell out of wanting to run a late-stage startup these past few years, as the challenges and scope of the work evolved. He told us he plans to return to his first love: the earliest stages of company-building."I love early stage — it's always what I've loved — and I happened to add another love," he said, referring to Lattice.He said he felt a "first inkling" of wanting to move on during the '"highest of highs," when the company was blitzscaling in 2021. He says as a company scales up, "the role of a CEO just changes dramatically."But the passion fizzled and he started to look for a successor after realizing he wasn't going to be able to give his "absolute everything to the company." A former employee of social commerce company Teespring, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/startup-paying-employees-100k-to-start-company-2021-12">Altman helped found Lattice in 2015</a> and built it into one of the most valuable startups in the human-resources space. The pandemic spurred a surge in demand as employers grappled with a changing workplace, catapulting Lattice from a luxury to a service seen by some people leaders as essential. In the heady days of 2021, Lattice <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hr-tech-startup-lattice-raises-series-f-funding-triples-valuation-2022-1">tripled its valuation</a> to $3 billion in a $175 million funding round.<h2>Lattice's crucible moment</h2>The funds largely paid for a new product that took a year and a half to develop, and reimagines how companies use Lattice. For most of its life, the company focused on point solutions — tools used to fix a particular problem — for tasks like performance reviews and workforce surveys. Then, in September, it launched an all-in-one human-resources information system — a database that collects and sorts all of the important information about employees, and feeds the right details to those point solutions and third-party apps. In time, the move may turn out to be the company's saving grace.Sales have slowed amid a dire situation in startup land. Companies that raised funding in 2021's frothy market <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-fears-exctinction-event-startup-failure-rate-increase-2023-6">have less than 12 months of runway</a> in the bank. They're going back out to raise their next round, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/late-stage-startups-vc-lack-funding-forced-shut-down-2023-10">facing venture funds less willing to write checks</a>. And so executives are ruthlessly cutting costs to survive."Every CFO in the world is out there right now looking at every single software expense and just pruning," Altman said.For Lattice, the slowdown forced its own hard decisions. In January, the company laid off 105 employees, mostly recruiters and salespeople, ensuring the company "builds with efficiency and financial health more prominently in mind," he wrote in a <a target="_blank" href="https://lattice.com/blog/ceo-jack-altmans-email-to-lattice-employees">blog post</a> at the time.In her new role, Franklin will be responsible for shepherding the company through a crucible moment for business tools, as savings-savvy executives take a closer look at the money they're spending on software. They <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2024-tech-trends-predictions-top-vcs">will try to negotiate costs</a> for services they want to renew, cancel others, and consolidate vendors. For Lattice, the silver lining is rising demand for services that bundle lots of point solutions, like Lattice HRIS."We had always known that the long-term path included being the system of record," Altman said. "In some ways, it's lucky that there's a downturn and that we have this [HRIS] because it's more important now. We'd still be better off — as all software companies would be — if we weren't in a downturn. So it kind of cuts both ways."<div type="image" title="Jack Altman is stepping down as chief executive officer of Lattice and has named Salesforce executive Sarah Joyce Franklin as his successor." height="1996" width="2661" msid="105994068" hostid="261"></div>The company is now charting a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hinge-health-ipo-2024-physical-therapy-startup-profitability-2023-10">course to profitability</a>, according to Lattice CFO Gabe Cortes. The strategy includes spending less to acquire new customers for its more mature products and putting more resources behind growing the full-stack solution.Altman says the company doesn't need to fundraise right now. It's pulled in $330 million from investors to date and has "plenty of cash" in the tank, he added. Even as growth slows, the company is still generating revenue that covers a growing share of its expenses."The burn is reasonable and coming down," Altman said. "Hopefully we don't need to fundraise ever."<h2>Leadership shakeup</h2>Franklin is far from the only new face in Lattice's upper ranks.Lattice has quietly reshuffled the executive suite this year. A closer look at its website team page reveals the changes: It promoted Stephen Poletto, head of engineering, to chief technology officer in February; in March, it hired Eric Schuchman as chief product officer and Stan Massueras as a general manager overseeing its international business; Elizabeth Walton Egan arrived in May to take over the role of chief marketing officer. And previous CFO Josh Brown left this fall as Cortes, who previously worked in finance at Workday, stepped in.Altman's Lattice cofounder, Eric Koslow, left in 2022 to pursue a new venture in the video content-creation space.According to Altman, the shakeup marks a successful transition of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/comparably-large-companies-highly-rated-leadership-teams-2022-7">executive teams</a> for the first time in the company's eight-year history. He said some of the outgoing executives wanted to join earlier-stage companies or start their own; some of them may have stayed in their positions longer than they ordinarily would have because business was taking off in the post-pandemic tech boom.<h2>Lattice isn't exploring an IPO</h2>Slowing growth. Focus on profits. New leadership. Some people might suggest these changes all-together indicate that Lattice may be bracing itself to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-lackluster-return-for-tech-ipos-2023-9">go public when the market reopens</a>. The company wouldn't be the first to supplant its founder with a more seasoned executive who can ready the firm for a public offering. The board of Instacart replaced founder and chief executive <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-founder-apoorva-mehta-ipo-2023-9">Apoorva Mehta</a> with Fidji Simo of Facebook following a messy dispute with investors.However, Altman denied that a public offering is imminent. Lattice, which was last valued at $3 billion, is a much smaller company than software firms like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-klaviyo-profitable-lead-tech-ipo-revival-2023-8">Instacart and Klaviyo that took the plunge</a> this year, says Altman. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-lackluster-return-for-tech-ipos-2023-9">market's tepid response</a> to those offerings has likely deterred other candidates from wading into the markets.Lattice is not yet <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/allbirds-cofounder-startups-profitable-before-going-public-ipo-2023-11">profitable</a>, which has emerged as a key ingredient for going public."There are certain markets you would IPO Lattice into right now," Altman said. "This is not one of 'em."Got a tip? Contact Melia Russell at mrussell@insider.com or through text or encrypted messaging app Signal at 603-913-3085.

Jack Altman led his software unicorn Lattice through blitzscaling and a restructuring. Now he's stepping back at a crucible moment for tech.

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<ul class="summary-list"><li>If elected, Kamala Harris would be the first female president of the United States.</li><li>Her presidency could have a far-reaching impact on businesswomen in leadership positions.</li></ul>If Vice President Kamala Harris ascends to the Oval Office, it could have a rippling impact on women in business everywhere.Only two weeks into her presidential campaign, Harris has garnered <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-win-with-black-women-zoom-event-2024-7">overwhelming support</a> from Democrats and narrowed former President Donald Trump's lead in swing states.It's reminiscent of the hopes many women held in 2016 when former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faced off against Trump. If it happens this time, it could usher in a new age for women in positions of power."Having a woman as president, I think, normalizes what women's leadership looks like across everything, whether that's the private sector, public sector, education, labor, business, military," Cynthia Richie Terrell, executive director of Represent Women, which advocates for women in politics, told Business Insider. "I think a lot becomes possible overnight."In the business world, companies with female CEOs outperform those led by men, according to the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.weforum.org/videos/gender-balanced-companies-outperform-less-equal-ones/#:~:text=Companies%20with%20female%20CEOs%20outperformed,%2Dled%20ones%20by%2010.5%25.">World Economic Forum</a>. The same is true for women-led hedge funds and women-led startups.Despite that success, women now run just 10% of Fortune 500 companies, a record-high that has remained the same since 2023."Those companies where women had a higher share in the board and in leadership were more likely to be profitable, and I think there's a clear connection to women in government," Richie Terrell said. "Women tend to bring those same skills, the ability to multitask, the ability to build networks, the ability to listen, which we hear a lot of times that women have a greater ability to do that."Jennifer Jeronimo, the CEO of Gaingels, a venture capital firm that prioritizes investing in companies with diverse leadership, told BI that "visibility and representation are crucial.""One reason I believe women receive only 2% of venture capital funding is that over 80% of VC funds lack women in decision-making roles," Jeronimo said. "A woman president, one of the world's most powerful roles, could normalize women in positions of power in certain industries and lead to more female decision-makers in venture capital. Additionally, after Kamala Harris's endorsement by Biden, women rallied to raise millions overnight for her campaign, proving their willingness to fund what matters to them."While it's early in her campaign but less than <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-trump-presidential-election-100-days-swing-states-2024-7">100 days from the election</a>, Harris will likely appeal to women more than the Trump-Vance ticket. Among women, Harris is polling nearly 15 percentage points higher than Trump, according to a recent poll from The New York Times and Siena College.Her favorability is paying off by the millions. The Harris campaign announced it raised $310 million in July, 60% of which were donations from women, the Associated Press reported.Meanwhile, Trump has a history of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-might-trigger-trumps-biggest-vulnerability-women-2024-7">alienating women</a>, and his VP pick in JD Vance hasn't helped matters. His <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jd-vance-vice-president-democratic-leaders-childless-sociopaths-2021-email-2024-7">past comments</a> disparaging <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jd-vance-defended-his-childless-cat-ladies-comment-2024-7">"childless cat ladies"</a> have come back to haunt him.

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