The Forbes 2016 prediction for women in tech predicted a major change in technology leadership and the workforce. We watched the prediction begin to unfold as NY Tech Meetup (NYTM) and Bloomberg Women in Tech partnered to host the first 2016 Women’s demo night at the impressive Bloomberg venue.
We experienced four live demos and three lightning round pitches. Each demo and pitch was a unique and compelling story of the product and the founder. These talented women clearly bring a different and personal perspective to solving complex problems.
What we can learn from their experiences:
- Seek to disrupt, reimagine
- Target early adopters; partner with brands and consumers who support the cause
- Do not underestimate the power of personalized marketing campaigns via email and network outreach
- If manufacturing is involved, target local or domestic partners with a potential to outsource for scale
Live demos featured from
CottageClass: Manisha Snoyer, CEO and Founder
Manisha is on a mission to reinvent education with CottageClass, a social network marketplace for childhood education, empowering parents and teachers to start their own schools, classes and workshops. Manisha envisions the world’s largest, open source micro school.
Ingredient1: Taryn Fixel, CEO and Founder
Born out of Taryn’s personal mission, Ingredient1 is a food discovery app that removes the chaos from food and personalizes the grocery store experience. Ingredient1 is transforming the way people discover healthy and decadent foods based on diet, philosophy, and taste. Taryn envisions interconnecting ecosystems and has created a data set for 35,000 products from 400 brands.
Mental Canvas: Julie Dorsey, CEO and Founder
Julie and team have re-imagined the sketch with patented technology that combines the ease and fluidity of 2D sketching with expansive 3D capabilities. Their transformative platform allows users to draw, explore and share ideas in a new dimension. The demo was remarkable to watch.
Shareablee: Tania Yuki, CEO and Founder
Tania is driving digital with her social media analytics company housing the largest repository of social engagements between brand and consumers in the world. Shareablee’s big data platform empowers organizations with a data driven playbook containing insights from their social data such as trends, missed opportunities, and consumer motivations.
Lightning-round pitches from
I’ll Go First: Jessica Minhas, CEO and Founder
From personal trauma to freedom, Jessica’s mobile mental health company leverages advances in psychology and technology to reach marginalized trauma populations with mental health services and community-based interventions. They aim to provide a safe place so that location and shame are no longer barriers to healing.
RaceYa: Abigail Edgecliffe-Johnson, Founder
Abigail’s astute observation that the toys her kids played with have the power to reinforce stereotypes and to influence how they understand the world resulted in a solution. RaceYa is a vehicle for STEM using fun customizable radio controlled cars to teach kids about science and engineering.
Smart Siren Technology, Inc. (SIREN): Kat Alexander, Founder
Kat proudly swirled a gorgeous Siren ring, which conceals a powerful wearer-actuated 110+ dB alarm and a rechargeable power supply. Conceived from a personal experience, the ring is designed to provide immediate, powerful protection to women during an emergency.