40 Million Reasons to Build In SE
Happy Women’s History Month, Y’all!
Welcome to the Southeast — which we define as the collective states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Based on data collected during the 2020 Census, there are approximately 40 million women living in this region.
Of these 40 million women who call the region home, there is a myriad of professionals from C-Suite executives, startup CEOs, technologists, and founders, to doctors, lawyers, small business owners, and Instagram-grown side hustlers. There are women raising the next generation and caring for previous ones. There are PhDs and GEDs. There are numerous languages spoken from around the globe. There are pessimists and optimists, futurists, and traditionalists.
There are Founders who build in the Southeast like…
- Sara Blakely, CEO & Founder of Spanx based in Atlanta, Georgia. The now billionaire started her female-focused retail company with $5,000 in savings.
- Dr. Suzanne Ildstad, Founder of Talaris Therapeutics based in Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. Ildstad leverages her scientific expertise to help transplant patients maximize the success of their procedures andpost-procedure lives.
- Sheena Allen, CEO & Founder of fintech startup CapWay based in Atlanta, Georgia. She is building apps to help the 30 million under-banked or unbanked Americans who shy away from the traditional financial system.
- Rosa Shores, Founder & CEO of BlockSpaces based in Tampa Bay, Florida. She is helping small and mid-sized companies (SMBs) incorporate blockchain technology into their business operations so they don’t get left behind in the migration to web3.
There are Funders who write checks in and around the Southeast like…
- Laura González-Estéfani, Founder & CEO of TheVentureCity based in Miami, Florida.
- Kristina Montague, Managing Partner at The JumpFund based in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
- Keyona Meeks, Investment Strategist with Bronze Valley based in Birmingham, Alabama.
- Ashley Gautreaux, an Investor with CreativeCo Capital based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
There are Champions like…
- Nashlie Sephus, based in Jackson, Mississippi, is bringing jobs to her community by championing the creation of the Jackson Tech District, transforming otherwise neglected lots in the city center. Leveraging her own savings, crowd-funding, and personal experience in the tech sector, this Mississippi-native is getting it done.
- Lola Han, Founder of Kamsa and equal-pay advocate based in Arlington, Virginia is helping drive transparency to close the gender pay gap through her research, conversations, and creation of her startup.
We applaud the success of our region’s leading ladies, yet cannot forget the fact that just 2.2% of VC dollars are invested in women-led startups and only 12% of VC decision-makers are women, per Forbes as of November 2021.
How can we as #BuildInSE champions help?
For starters, we continue to develop and share community resources like…
Our #BuildInSE Female Founder Directory
We welcome all female founders building tech-enabled, high-growth startups to join our free Build In SE Female Founder Directory.
**To join, complete our quick, <2-minute form**
Launched in early 2020, the Build In SE Female Founder Directory is the first of its kind to take a regional point of view on collecting data behind women-led startups and access to capital across the southeastern states.
Why enroll? Help us gather the most accurate and comprehensive view of female founders in this region to help drive awareness, resources, and inform programmatic offerings. 💪
Last year, we shared a Q1 2021 State of the Region where we explore trends amongst Women who #BuildInSE. As we continue to grow our database, we will be able to continue to contribute meaningful insights along these lines.
Women Investors in the Southeast (WISE)
There are over 90 active institutional VCs in the Southeast, not to mention hundreds of active angel investors. One of our initiatives to build community and deal flow for women VCs is called WISE: Women Investors in the Southeast. Special thanks to Hypepotamus for the great piece on our launch!
Geographically speaking, the women sitting on the other side of the table are largely concentrated in the urban centers of Atlanta and Miami, with honorable mentions to growing metros such as Nashville, Raleigh-Durham, & Chattanooga.
**For a full roster of active women VCs across the Southeast, click here**
Build In SE’s mission is to increase the number of startup success stories in the Southeast by leveraging a cross-regional, collaborative network. We’re building regional intelligence through our team of local Ecosystem Curators, Alliance partners, and investor communities, all in support of founders as they launch and scale their startups. Build In SE is a certified Benefit Corporation headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.
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