$50,000 Prize at Plant Based Female Founder Summit and Pitch Competition
The summit will showcase upcoming female future-leaders who are working in plant-based innovation.
Credit: Vegan Women Summit
The world’s first founder summit and pitch competition dedicated to female-identifying founders building the future of plant-based innovation, is set to take place on December 5.
Vegan Women Summit (VWS), an organization dedicated to inspiring, educating, and empowering rising female-identifying leaders, are behind the upcoming VWS Pathfinder event.
The virtual event will help raise awareness of the persistent gender inequality that female entrepreneurs around the world face in fundraising, and will connect the brightest emerging ideas in plant-based innovation with leaders in venture capital.
And the top prize is valued at over $50,000, which will help kickstart the winner’s innovative and compassionate ideas.
"Almost half of female founders and CEOs in the food tech industry have encountered bias, particularly gender bias, from investors, while nearly half of all female founders of color have experienced racial bias," said Jennifer Stojkovic, founder of Vegan Women Summit.
Last month, Vegan Women Summit released the results of a survey of 160 female-identifying founders and top executives at plant-based and cell-based food startups around the world. In a key finding, 48% of respondents say they have faced bias during the fundraising process, with 75% of those women saying they have faced gender bias specifically.
Among those featuring at the event, are more than two dozen of the world's leading founders and CEOs in the plant-based space, including Miyoko Schinner (Miyoko's Creamery), Shama Sukul Lee (CEO of Sunfed Meats), Daniella Monet (Co-founder of Kinder Beauty Box), and Denise Woodard (Partake Foods).
Notable venture capitalists joining from the food technology industry include Matilda Ho (Bits x Bites), Lisa Feria (Stray Dog Capital), Regina Hecker (Blue Horizon Ventures), and Miray Zaki (Dismatrix).
"The future of the planet depends on finding the best and brightest talent across the world to change the food system”, says Miyoko Schinner, CEO of Miyoko's Creamery. “By building a more inclusive, global ecosystem to empower, cultivate, and support female founders through VWS Pathfinder, we can bring more solutions to the table, move quicker to enact change, and create a kinder future for us all”.
Applications for VWS Pathfinder will be accepted from founders around the world through Oct. 23. You can find out more and apply at their website.
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