Women Founders Bay & Microsoft Reactor - Women Unite Fundraising Series
Note: event registration ends 48hrs before the event. QR codes will be issued 24hrs before from no-reply@sigateway.com
Join a powerful gathering of women founders as we come together to share insights, challenges, and successes in building our businesses. This event is an opportunity to connect with like-minded female entrepreneurs, exchange ideas, and learn from each other’s journeys. Whether you're a seasoned founder or just starting out, this is your chance to build community, gain fresh perspectives, and find inspiration. Let’s lift each other up as we grow and thrive in the entrepreneurial space!
This will be an ongoing series where we empower women to pass-on their knowledge and support other women in fundraising. If you have experience fundraising please sign up to be a speaker or circle lead at our next event: https://forms.gle/MJxh3FcaH93vjw548
5:00 PM - 5:30 PM: Arrival
Networking
5:30 PM - 6:00 PM: Founder Circles (Lead by Not Too Crazy)
Small group discussions where founders share insights and challenges
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM: Panel Discussion
Featuring experienced women founders sharing their entrepreneurial journeys
7:00 PM - 7:30 PM: Networking & Wrap-Up
Connect with fellow attendees to share final thoughts and build relationships
Panelists:
Komal Ahmad
Komal Ahmad is a visionary entrepreneur dedicated to tackling global challenges through innovative solutions. Known as an "unreasonable woman" committed to "Solving the World's Dumbest Problems™," Komal's mission began with a groundbreaking insight: Hunger is not a scarcity problem, it’s a logistics problem™. This realization led her to found Copia, a tech-driven company that transforms food waste into a sustainable solution to hunger by redirecting surplus food to nonprofits in need. Copia’s technology and logistics platform has redistributed over 6.5 million pounds of food, saving millions and positively impacting communities across North America.
Recognized globally, Komal has appeared on Forbes' 30 Under 30 twice, been named one of The Most Powerful Women in the World by Entrepreneur Magazine, and honored with the Nelson Mandela Humanitarian Award. Through Copia, Komal is proving that "impossible is just a word" by scaling solutions that create impact at the intersection of innovation, sustainability, and compassion. Follow her journey on Twitter @Komal_Ahmad and Instagram @KomalAhmad786.
Janet Gehrmann
Janet is the Co-founder of Scoop Analytics, bringing over a decade of experience in software sales, product strategy, and business operations. She previously held key roles at Birst, EY-Parthenon, and JPMorgan Chase, driving B2B software sales and product strategies. With an MBA from Yale and a Biochemistry degree from Middlebury, Janet is dedicated to eliminating technical barriers for non-technical teams in revenue, marketing, and finance operations. Her leadership at Scoop empowers users to gather and analyze data independently. Janet is also an active member of RevGenius, Pavilion, and Women Founders Bay, supporting growth and community engagement. Scoop announced it seeds round in 2024.
Vera Maslova
Vera Maslova is a Partnership & Fundraising Specialist based in San Francisco with over a decade of experience. She has produced over 300 events, engaging more than 50,000 participants, and collaborated with top-tier clients such as Bank of the West, the Fabergé Museum, the Louis Vuitton Foundation, Mastercard, Nissan, Oris, and more.
Currently, Vera supports businesses and startups in their fundraising and marketing strategies. In August 2024, she raised over $8 million for L-Charge, a B2B-focused EV charging solution advancing sustainable energy through distributed power generation.
Annija Eizenarma
Annija Eizenarma is a purpose-driven entrepreneur with over six years of experience in building and scaling companies. She co-founded and bootstrapped a prop-tech business, turning it into a multimillion-dollar leader in the Baltic automation systems market, growing the team from 2 to 70. With a strong background in M&A and raising venture capital, she successfully exited two ventures, blending her knowledge of both software and hardware solutions.
Now based in San Francisco, Annija advises European companies on scaling in the U.S. and mentors founders through Techstars. Her expertise includes sales growth, GTM strategies, and impactful storytelling. Passionate about community building, she played a pivotal role in establishing entrepreneurial networks across six cities through Latvia's Chamber of Commerce. Her contributions were recognized in 2023 when she was named Latvia's Woman in Technology.
Circle Leads:
Breeze Liu is the Founder and CEO of Alecto AI, a company revolutionizing the way privacy and consent are managed across multiple sectors. Since founding Alecto AI in 2022, Breeze has led the development of cutting-edge infrastructure for online identity, aimed at enhancing trust and safety in social media, streamlining risk management for banking, and bolstering crime prevention and anti-terrorism efforts in government sectors.
Before Alecto AI, Breeze worked as a Strategic Investment VC at OKX, where they focused on strategic investments in blockchain technologies. Her prior role in NEAR Protocol's business development team in 2020 honed their expertise in fostering partnerships within the rapidly evolving blockchain space.
Natalie Pan
Natalie Pan is a former engineering manager turned coach with a business degree from McGill University. She has organized and won hackathons, bootstrapped her own startup, led teams at mid sized startups and companies like The Gap. With over five years of nonprofit work supporting women in tech, Natalie brings a deep understanding of the challenges founders face. Her mission is to empower individuals to find clarity, confidence, and community in their journeys. Book a consult at www.calendly.com/nottoocrazy/firstsession.
Moderator:
Event Hosts & Sponsors:
Women Founders Bay
Women Founders Bay is a nonprofit and the largest female founder community is the SF Bay Area, with a mission to decrease the funding gap. Join our founder and investors community today.
Microsoft Reactor
Microsoft Reactors are centers for free technical learning and sharing, where developers and startup professionals can connect with the local community and build new skills to drive innovation.
Not Too Crazy
Not Too Crazy was started by Natalie Pan after deep diving on her wellness startup and getting accredited as a coach. She saw the need for founders to move through uncertainty and calm their inner critic to be able to produce continuous results. Not Too Crazy provides masterminds, one-on-one coaching, and 360 evaluations for founders. Natalie leverages mindfulness practices, positive intelligence, parts work, mediation among many other modalities to deep dive into the subconscious.
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