Welcome to this latest episode, where you'll hear from  Kanwal Bhatia, Founder & CEO of AI startup Metalynx,about how she raised $800K in pre-seed funding. She shares her challenges along the way, how she kept going, what she learned to help her in her future funding rounds and much more! This episode is in partnership with DWEN (Dell Women Entrepreneurs Network) from Dell Technologies.

We agree with Kanwal when she says:
"Enjoy the process, learn from it and faith in yourself that you can do it" 

About our Guest:

Kanwal Bhatia is founder & CEO of AI startup Metalynx. She is a Machine Learning researcher specialising in computer vision, deep learning, medical imaging and image/video processing and has authored publications which have gained >1200 citations: scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=M1qb-e0AAAAJ&hl=en . She has a PhD in Medical Imaging and a Masters degree in Computing from Imperial College, London. Kanwal is also a champion chess player and was English Women's Chess Champion in  2016, 2018.
Learn more about Kanwal on LinkedIn here.

What you'll learn in todays episode:

What better to kick off Season 3 of our podcast than by listening to the inspiring story from French serial entrepreneur, Valérie Hoffenberg, about how she raised $1M in seed funding for SHe Travel Club, the new travel tech startup about to take the women travel market by storm. A former diplomat and advisor to a previous President of France, Valérie has built her incredible diverse network over her career. In this episode she also shares tips for female founders on how to leverage your network during your fundraise. Enjoy!

About our Guest:

• Recognized expert on gender equality
• Co-founder with Marie Claire of the Think tank “Acting for Equality”
• A unique network and access to international women networks and associations
• Speaker on gender equality on global event ( UN, UNESCO, King’s College …)
• Serial entrepreneur
• Founder & President of the Connecting Leaders Club, a global innovation consulting company and event organisation
• Founder & President of SHe Travel Club, global hotel certification to reinvent women’s travel
• Former French diplomat and Representative of Paris

​Learn more about Valérie here.

When you listen to Olga Duka, Managing Partner from Improve Ventures, you cannot help but hear her passion for all things funding great founders in emerging markets, and supporting emerging Fund Managers to help diversify the startup funding landscape.  This episode will appeal to both investors and founders alike, as Olga explains and explores the challenges and opportunities for both 'emerging' sides of the funding table. Once thing's for sure, you'll walk away full of a new found understanding of both topics and assured she's going to leave a mark on this industry. Enjoy!

About our Guest:
1x founder, 2x co-founder, raised a total of $5M, Investment Funds with AUM up to $60M. 
Experience in Talent Development, Investment Funds, EdTech, HR Tech, Fintech, Arts, Creative Industries, and launching new market niches. That's her official bio. Her unofficial bio is, insatiably curious, always learning and applying meta thinking and news ways of looking at things to different industries. Passionate about the worlds of business, music, funding and culture and now Managing partner of new fund Improve Ventures to help fund pre-seed and seed round founders from emerging markets. Also passionate about training the next round of emerging fund managers, and in particular women fund managers.

Learn more about Olga here:

Did you know there is currently only one VC fund in Mexico set up by a woman vc to invest in women and diverse founders? And that special lady is Anna Raptis, Founder & Managing Partner of Amplifica Capital. She is truly on a mission to help close the funding gap for women entrepreneurs in Mexico and to influence same across Latin America. In this episode, she shares many insights into what's going on regarding funding women entrepreneurs in the region, why she cares so much about making change and lots of practical advice for all the women entrepreneurs in Mexico thinking of looking for funding. You'll really enjoy this engaging chat with Anna!

About our Guest:

Anna Raptis leads the first female-focused fund in Mexico. They make investments to generate excellent returns and positive impact on the lives of women in order to increase their opportunities and participation in the economy. They invest in early stages where technology is an enabler to drive sustainable growth in Mexico and Latin America. Anna is also a founding member and President of Mujeres Invirtiendo, an organization that aims to support and increase the participation of women in private capital in Mexico.

Learn more about Anna here:

Well, are you ready to be taking on a rollercoaster funding journey with a fast-paced entrepreneur, filled with expert advice to help you better understand what's involved in using research/innovation partnerships or grants as part of your funding strategy? If so, you'd better hold on to your seats, as Susan HayesCulleton deftly takes you through the in's and outs of what to expect, how to manage complex stakeholders, when and how to pivot and much much more. If you think I've got a strong Irish accent, then get ready to hear Susan, and make sure you have a notebook and pen ready, as she has so many great tips and shares them so fast,  you won't want to miss anything!

About our Guest:
Susan HayesCulleton, CFA, “The Positive Economist” is Managing Director of the Hayes Culleton Group, with clients across Europe and the USA. Active Peers AI focuses on unlocking, recording and diffusing tacit knowledge across organisations and networks.

Susan’s latest book “Money Matters”  is a financial literacy textbook focusing on personal finance, investing and enterprise, sponsored by CFA Society Ireland. She is also the presenter of the YouTube show “ESG & Tech Show” and sits on the board of the Irish International Business Network. Susan holds a Chartered Financial Analyst charter, MSc Executive Leadership, BSc Financial Maths and Economics and a Diploma in Taxation.
Learn more about Susan here:

Did you ever wonder where venture capital funds get the money they invest from? Or how fund managers actually learn to become fund managers? Or why having more diverse fund managers is more important now more than every before? In this exciting episode, Sara Zulkosky from Recast Capital deftly sheds a light on all of this topics and explains why they invest in diverse funds and created their own training programme called the 'Enablement Program' to help train more diverse emerging fund managers. Enjoy!

About our Guest:
Sara is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Recast Capital, a 100% women-owned platform supporting and investing in emerging managers in venture, with a focus on diverse partnerships.
Sara Zulkosky has over 15 years of experience in the venture ecosystem, including both investing in venture capital funds and directly in underlying portfolio companies, and as an operator of a venture-backed company. Prior to co-founding Recast Capital, Sara was a Venture Partner at Greenspring Associates where she led and supported venture fund evaluation teams, among other responsibilities. Before Greenspring, Sara was a Principal at CNF Investments, an affiliate of Clark Enterprises, a private family office, where she invested in venture and private equity funds, and companies. Prior to that, Sara participated in Foundation Capital's Young Entrepreneurs Program, where she helped identify promising investment opportunities in the Washington, DC area. Earlier in her career, Sara was Director of Product Management for a venture-backed company serving the US Department of Defense and Intelligence Community. She was with the business for over seven years beginning at its inception, also supporting it as a Project Engineer, Project Manager, and its Director of Engineering.
Sara received a M.B.A from Georgetown University, and a M.S. in Engineering Management and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The George Washington University. Sara is also a Kauffman Fellow.
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Learn more about Sara here:

Wondering how to stand out to investors in the competitive European startup market? Looking for an ecosystem of ambitious, innovative Business Angels? Learn more about early-stage funding opportunities and angel investing across Europe in this episode of InvestHer Podcast as you hear from Denise McQuaid, CEO of GoBeyond Investing. 

About our guest:
Denise is a results-oriented leader with a track record in successfully building and growing businesses in multiple geographies spanning from the US to China and with extensive start-up and investment experience. She joined GoBeyond as CEO in 2020 to further develop and grow the business with a unique approach to angel investing at its core. Through its Portfolio Programmes GoBeyond creates communities of like-minded investors with different levels of experience around specific topics like Climate Action or Circular Economy and enables the participants to build a portfolio of early-stage investments while providing them with knowledge and tools to become effective Business Angels.
In 2006 Denise was promoted to her first Managing Director role and since then has worked in senior roles across various industry sectors. Before joining GoBeyond, she was Managing Director of UP Accelerator and senior consultant for Europe’s largest seed capital and angel entity, Enterprise Ireland, among others. Denise is also a start-up mentor with the Imperial Venture Mentoring Service and plays an active role in a number of non-profit organisations.

​Learn more about Denise here. 

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Wondering why deeptech is on the rise, and how you can make an impact in the industry? Looking to discover the in's and out's of safe social media for your company? Learn more about funding your deeptech startup and best practices for business communications in this episode as you hear from Catherine Parry, Founder and CEO of DeepView in Silicon Valley.  

About our guest:
Catherine Parry is a Serial Entrepreneur and global expert in regulatory technology and finance. In 2014, she was recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum for her entrepreneurial success. Catherine founded her first business in 1999 at age 16. She started Templars Communications in 2009, which she successfully sold in 2018 to Vested Communications, for whom she is now a Senior Advisor. 
In 2013, Catherine founded the Social Media Charter, an organisation recognised by the FCA that provides firms and regulators social media compliance guidance. Catherine regularly speaks about regulation and digital and social media, and she has spoken on World Economic Forum panels at Davos as well as on the BBC, Radio 4, and CNBC. 
Today, Catherine Parry is the Founder and CEO of DeepView, a platform targeted to banks and regulated organisations who are looking to safely use channels such as WhatsApp and Zoom for client relations. Since the company's founding in 2015, Catherine has raised her first $2M for DeepView, and she is currently preparing to raise her Series A round.
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​Learn more about Catherine here. 

Why are fintech and blockchain dominating the VC market today? How do Latina entrepreneurs locate funding opportunities in the machismo environment still present in Mexico? Learn more about getting a head start on your funding journey in this episode as you hear from Carlos Torres de la Cuba, Managing Director at AMG Block Ventures in Latin America. 

About our guest:
Carlos is a proven finance professional, entrepreneur, and executive with experience in venture capital, portfolio management, origination and structuring of transactions, fund raising, and company valuations. He has an extensive knowledge of both the Mexican and U.S. financial markets.
An industrial engineer with an MBA, Masters in Fintech and Blockchain and post graduate degrees in Venture Capital, Private Equity, fintech and blockchain, he has worked with clients in various industries providing personalized financial solutions that resulted in cost effective resource and capital allocation. He is very passionate about blockchain and financial technology as well as developing entrepreneurs, having been on both sides of the table, as an investor and as an entrepreneur.

Learn more about Carlos here. 

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How do unrepresented communities find funding when investors are looking elsewhere? Why is diversity so important in venture capitalism? Learn more about how to stand up and stand out during your entrepreneur journey in this episode as you hear from Mac Conwell II, Founder and Managing Partner of RareBreed Ventures in North America.

About our Guest:
Mac Conwell II is a former software engineer who decided to take on venture capitalism when he realized the need for Black entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs from other underrepresented communities, to get funded in the United States. Based out of Maryland, USA, Mac is the Founder and Managing Partner of RareBreed Ventures, which focuses on funding startups outside of North America's major tech hubs in Silicon Valley, New York, and Boston, during the pre-seed phase.
Mac has founded two companies, one of which he successfully exited, and he has a wealth of knowledge and experience to offer pre-seed companies.

Learn more about Mac here.