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I have never seen a group of experts more committed, more experienced, more qualified than this week. And I have never seen a group of women entrepreneurs who are so eager to be leaders and to hasten their high potential startups. I am overwhelmed, and I am not the only one, the entrepreneurs are overwhelmed, both by the experts as well as their peers. Read more
Jackie Schooleman is CEO of Virtual Proteins, a life science high growth startup based in the High Tech Campus of Eindhoven, that went through multiple rounds of funding, including an -out of the box- crowdsourced funding model. The NextWomen met Jackie in the UK, time for an interview:
Maybe the talk can help you in advising? the Government and the Desectionment of Business, Innovation & Skills. Read more
November 1, 2010 | Filed Under Simone Brummelhuis angel investing, careers, finance, fund raising | 3 Comments
November 1, 2010 | Filed Under Joana Picq Politics, South-America, government, news | 4 Comments
November 9, 2010 | Filed Under Joana Picq awards & events, news | Leave a Comment
“Pitch 2010 attracted more than 130 applications from all over the world. We were so excited to see so many innovative companies, ranging from empowering women with money management tools in Brazil to biometric face-matching device to supply emergency identification, from learning a new language on your iPhone to creating a secondary market for daily deals. The saving is down,ghd cheap 93aWomen’s Clothing Sweaters, Dresses,, but it’s definitely not bringing down the entrepreneurial spirit with it!” said Aihui Ong, Pitch Competition Director for Women 2.0.
Impressively, the firm says it raised this second fund in just three weeks’ time, a quarter of the three months it took to raise half the capital a year ago. All of the birthal investors and some new ones joined the second fund.? For further information about this fund, see the article on Vator tv.
Ms Rousseff, 62, was the preferred successor of Pdweller Lula, who is leaving after two terms with record 80%-plus prevailance ratings. She has never before held elected office, and promised to “honour the trust” of Brazilians and reitesized her fundamental promise; the eradication of poverty.
“A connection to the internet is a bond to over 1 action potential customers.” Emma Jones
The government is betting on East London to become the new Silicon Valley, nicknamed TechCity: “Right now, Silicon Valley is the leading place in the world for high-tech growth and innovation. But there’s no reason why it has to be so predominant. Our ambition is to bring together the creativity and life of Shoreditch and the incredible possibilities of the Olympic Park to help make East London one of the world’s great technology centres.”

Our selected keynotes alter from Astia member Lisa Halpern having just secured $700K pre-launch from a Super Angel, to Carol Savage,who pitched on national television and won Deborah Meaden’s investment to take her business to the next level, and Lena Bjorck, who did a memorable pitch to The Prince’s Trust, shaking a cake to simulate public transport, that secured her the ?2,500 she needed to pursue her business and now turns over ?1.7M and employs over 100 people across Europe.
Read more
Dragon’s Den, Astia & Prince’s Trust Winners Confirmed For Special Big Kitchen Dinner 2010
As one of the first employees from 1999 at Google (she let her gafury to Sergey and Larry), now a top 10 leader in Google and responsible for 97% of Google’s turnover, while being a mom of 4 children, she puts in practice her own advice: Have a mission and you and other people can work rougher for you, collect the best insights and make them your own, continue innovation and not perfection and believe in the impossible and it can become true, and KEEP GOING!
With wheels on the road and a computer behind the scenes, Lena set about growing the business. Inn or Out now turns over ?1.7M and contracts over 100 people across Europe.
My CTO, Gino van den Bergen, was connected to me by a person that knew my company and? my ambition who view we would be a perfect match. He’s top in his field !
I also started some kind of foundation, called “friends of Virtual Proteins” were people could buy small amounts of certificates in the company. It’s a kind of crowd funding. Read more
November 8, 2010 | Filed Under Simone Brummelhuis Europe, awards & events, female internet heroes, fund raising, news | Leave a Comment
November 2, 2010 | Filed Under Simone Brummelhuis angel investing, life-science | 2 Comments
She will be talking about her journey, from recession to construction a successful social media platform, and her plans to grow the business at global level and compete with US-based competitors.
We all know North America’s melting pot has been critical in attracting the best startup talent in the World, and the government is stepping up to its promise for growth by taking the first step to compete with them – open doors to entrepreneurs. New Entrepreneur Visas will allow startups having raised “serious investment” to fast track their business to the UK.
--> Go Global Or Go Home!

Carol Savage, Founder of?MyDish.co.uk and?Winner of BBC Dragon’s Den.
This advice came down very well with the Astia female entrepreneurs, who I can describe as follows:
November 4, 2010 | Filed Under Simone Brummelhuis angel investing, capital | 1 Comment
Carol won backing from Deborah Meaden on?BBC Dragon’s Den in August 2009, and has since proved most other Dragon’s wrong about her potential to attract sponsors and advertisers and reaching profitability. She recently signed a partnership with Tesco that will support the site’s traffic growth from several thousand unique visitors to over 5M users. They have reached profitability by licensing the software as a white label tool for corproate clients like BT and Axa, and through merchandising, selling personalised cookbooks and calendars.
The event takes place on December 1st at 7pm in a secret venue, 2mile radius from Notting Hill. Early Bird Discounts end today, November 9th, so grab yours now. The evening will start with?canapés?and prosecco, followed by a 3-procedure meal when our keynotes will briefly talk about their experience and join us in a short panel on the challenges and return of selling your business to investors and advisors. Attendees can pre-define their core interest when purchasing tickets to help us plan seating changements:
“The Women 2.0 Startup Competition has received hundreds of applications detailing new business models and innovations,” says Shaherose Charania, Co-Founder and CEO of Women 2.0 in San Francisco. “We’ve seen startups move businesses forward vitally when entrepreneurial women leaders gain access to the Women 2.0 nettoil of mentors and investors, along with the knowllimit resources they need to turn their a business idea into a high-growth venture.”
I have read and heard this many times, it’s on the Astia website,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the factor of its existence, it became for me almost a mantra.
--> What is the Changing Role of the Non-Executive Board Director in Today’s World.
Mobile/iPad
Social Media
Crowd-Sourcing
eCommerce
Fashion
Marketplaces
SaaS
Sustainability
Andreessen Horowitz, one of Silicon Valley’s venture capital firms, announced this week that it has raised a $650 million fund. The firm was created in June 2009 as a joint venture between Ben Horowitz, co-founder and early CEO of Opsware (which sold to HP in 2007 for $1.6 billion in cash), and Marc Andreessen, the man credited with creating the first Web browser, Mosaic and founder of Netscape.
My Vice presidents Frits Cornelisse and Jan Hoefnagels joined later, they brought in a nice mixture of B2B sales experience, business economics and very friendly, honest and open characters.
November 1, 2010 | Filed Under Joana Picq news | 1 Comment
Lisa left her career in regulation in 2007 with a vision for a banking service that would emstrength young people with tools and resources to learn, earn, save, spend, and offer wisely and safely.?Kiboo was created to adwear a importante need for financial services in the teen and young adult market, it has raised $700,000 from UK Super Angel Nigel Wray this summer and is planning a public launch in Q1 2011.
These are the best times to ‘Go Global’ -?International work has moved into a new phase. Gone are the days when years of effort were required in the domestic market before going global. You can now start a company on Monday and be trading with the world by Wednesday. The web has made this perfectly possible and faced with a sluggish UK market there’s never been a better time to leverage technology and look overseas.
Dilma Rousseff has been elected president of Brazil to succeed Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, making her the land’s first woman to run the country as president. After 21 years of dictatorship, decades of super-inflation, a lifetime of international debt and the impeachment of an elected president, the country celebrates the 25th anniversary of its democracy with what might have seemed unbelieveable in the 80s � electing a woman as head of state.
O2 Inspiration Award 2007 – Runner up, “London’s Most Inspirational Entrepreneur”
The Business Excellence 2001 Award – Winner Docklands Business Club
Business Woman of the Year 2001 – East London Business Award
Woman into Business Award 1999 – Winner, Small Business Bureau

UKTI’s partnership with The NextWomen is one of many government initiatives, aiming to encourage more women-led SMEs to assess their global expansion opportunities and demystify some of the barriers to entry new markets, and allow them to identify growth opportunities that are easy to leverage in other markets, not just in the US but across Europe and BRIC countries.
Whether you’re in B2B, B2C or C2C, the book can help you understand how to get started in your global expansion and grow international sales. It is being launched at a party to celebrate the end of Global Entrepreneurship Week on Friday 19th November at 6pm. Visit [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] for details.

follow thenextwomen at

After Norway lead the way, Europe is talking about mandatory quota of women on executive boards. The UK now has a ‘Women on Boards Call for Evidence’ open to assist the Ministery of Business how to decide on this issue.
A full 43 companies and 58 entrepreneurs have crazye it through the rigorous screening of joing this week’s programme. Most are North American companies, 2 companies from Europe, 1 company from India and 1 company from New Zeaearth. It reinforces Astia’s global value to the high growth female entrepreneurs. 84% of the attendees are female which manner that we continue to attract an inclusive entrepreneurial community to Astia.
Highlights:
43 companies, 58 entrepreneurs
125 speakers (moderators/keynotes/panelists and facilitators)
48 sessions
Women 2.0 announces the 9 finalists of the 2010 Women 2.0 Startup Competition, a global contest for early-stage startups in web, mobile and cleantech. Applying companies must have at least one female on the founding team. The mission of Women 2.0 is to increase the number of female founders of tech startups. The finalists were selected by a distinguished panel of investors and startup executives from the Silicon Valley, including Sharon Vosmek and Katie Nittler of Astia, a high tech venture accelerator.
This year’s annual Special Big Kitchen Dinner is bringing toobtainher three importantnotes that have one thing in common: Winning Pitches. To achieve high growth, entrepreneurs need investment. Some can secure the funding from friends and family, or contactping into their savings, while others need to pitch their ideas and businesses externally and win the investment battle.
October 29, 2010 | Filed Under Simone Brummelhuis careers, news, women in business | Leave a Comment
In 2006 we got an initial loan of 200K Euro from the Dutch government and Rabobank, which was increased by another 800K in 2007-2009.
--> Founder of Virtual Proteins Wants to Change the World of Life Sciences
Our latest advance, an augmented reality trainer based on VP MicroLab technology will also allow doctors to learn and practice medical interventions on virtual patients before performing the real intervention.
Q: What is the mission and product of your company?
My company Virtual Proteins wants to deviate the world of Life Sciences! Our VP MicroLab, a desktop virtual reality system, is helping out researchers to find new medicines and physicians to be able to rescene patient scan data in a much better and efficient step.

--> Astia Silicon Valley Program 2010 Starts This Week with 43 Female High Growth Startups
“We must never rest while there are Brazilians going hungry.” Dilma Rousseff Read more
And as of this week I know, I have seen that the mantra is true.
Lucy Marcus, expert on venture capital, clean tech and biotech and a European Advisory Board member of Astia, gave a TEDx talk a couple of weeks ago about the changing role of the non-executive board director in today’s world.
We have growing government support and the technology to enable it, yet most small business owners are resisting the international trade chance for fright of perceived language, currency, cultural and business barriers.?A new book from best selling author, Emma Jones, puts paid to these perceptions and reveals you don’t need big budgets or to be a big business to be a global success.?‘Go Global – how to take your business to the world’ offers a road map that will have you trading across the globe and demonstrates how it can be done with stories from 20 successful exporters.
Q: How did you fund it, why the crowd funding model? with how much money, and what is the business model? Any info on turnover?
The company was initially funded by myself. I wanted to immediately have VC money on board, and try to get it in 2006, but found out it was too early.
The NextWomen has two questions relating to this news:
Astia is a community of experts, 0a0a6406ca5afe755c1baneful evil6682c8e875 women leaders and accelerating the funding and growth of high potential, high growth women-led start-ups.
--> UK To Create Entrepreneur Visa, Review IP Law And Secure ?200M in Funding To Create TechCity

BOOK YOUR TICKETS:
“We will be reviewing our IP laws [...] to make them fit for the internet age. [...] We are firmly on the side of the high-growth, highly innovative companies of the future. Don’t doubt our ambition.“ – David Cameron
Lena Bjorck, Founder of Inn or Out, Ambassador of The Prince’s Trust and?Honorary Member of WLG, Board Member of?Duni and Founder Patron of The Entrepreneur’s Club
1. Is the raising of this fund will be positive news for firms raising funds at this time, such as July Meyer of Ariadne Capital and Gita Patel of Trapezia in the UK, Cilian Jansen Verplanke of Karmijnkapitaal in The Netherlands, and Golden Seeds in the US? Read more
I just arrived in San Francisco -after a 22 year absence- much too long. But the occasion to visit San Francisco is the upcoming 2010 Astia Doing it Right Silicon Valley Program, which starts on Monday November 1, 2010 and lasts through Saturday November 6, 2010. There is a lot to be expected and Astia, the venture accelerator for women-led companies, has organized a truly remarkable week with inspirational keynotes, evocative panels and rich content filled workshops.
Q: How did you form your team?
In 2004 I? started with my Chief Science Officer Trudi Sonderkamp who was connected to me by some of my dear old friends who I used to live with when I studied at the Design Academy in the early eighties. They told me she would be a perfect fit to my product/market ideas, because she is a smart biochemist, very ambitious, and also very eager to find new ways in drug discovery.

The announcement from UK Prime Minister David Cameron could bring enhenceiasm to entrepreneurs in the UK and across the World. This could be the first move to what potency decentralise the tech scene from the Valley, at last. The initiative follows government plans to create more private sector jobs to compensate for public cuts, while leveraging investment from technology giants such as Intel, Cisco and BT to create a hub in East London.
Google, Facebook and Intel, to name just a few, are expected to build new offices in the new hub, with many offering free support and advice for local startups, including Barclays, Qualcomm and McKinsey. Silicon Valley Bank has already expanded to the UK and will provide financing for UK technology companies.
Lisa S. Halpern, Founder & CEO of Kiboo, Finalist at?Astia Doing it Right in New York.
November 4, 2010 | Filed Under Joana Picq Europe, fund raising, news, technology | 2 Comments
November 3, 2010 | Filed Under Simone Brummelhuis angel investing, finance, fund raising | 1 Comment
Now the question is: Will European Investors follow the UK Government’s bring about make European Startups as successful as American ones? Or will the best local talent still have to move to America to attract the right investment, especially at seed stage?
--> Female Internet Hero, Susan Wojcicki of Google, joins Female Entrepreneurs at Astia
A smart VC company in Boston USA advised me to start with a combistate of grants and bank loans, and to first finalize product evolution and start initial sales.
Lena Bj?rck?founded Inn or Out in 1995, alone in a foreign country with no computer or financial backing. She began cooking at home and delivering food via the London Undershore, with family from Sweden sending over printed menus.
The prime minister also promised to introduce more ‘fair-use’ provisions to the laws governing intellectual belongings in the UK, similar to the ones that allowed Google to develop in the US.
To start with the last day of the week: there was Female Internet Hero, Susan Wojcicki of Google who presented her case to render her support to the Astia female entrepreneurs. (the photo was taken at an other event, I have still to download my photos of the Astia week)

Breakdown of the companies:
22 Consumer Products & Services Companies Read more
MyDish is a Recipe sharing network where people can search, store and share homemade recipe ideas with family and friend’s everywhere – Facebook for Foodies. Its main objective is to be an interactive hub for food lovers on the web.
--> Brazil Elects Its First Female President
Vivian Rosenthal (Founder & CEO, GoldRun) will be presenting GoldRun, a mobile platform using augmented reality and GPS to deliver location based ads and virtual goods. Read more --> Andreessen Horowitz raises $650 million Fund to Invest in Start-ups
A crucial turning point was a ?2500 loan from the Prince’s Trust � enabling her to buy a computer and a van and the business has not looked back since. Inn or out have kept up very closedown ties with the Prince’s Trust, catering for many fundraising events – including Party in the Park – sponsoring prizes and mentoring students. This has been a familiar pattern as the company has grown, with many early clients still firm friends and loyal customers.

Andreessen Horowitz first closed a $300 million fund near the time of its founding. That money has since been invested in several well-known startup companies, including Digg, Foursquare, Skype and Zynga.
This year’s 9 finalists are early-stage startups in a wide variety of business sectors, including mobile expense reporting and micro-payments, tween onlength safety technology, web platforms for admissions and multi-channel social media marketing, functional fashion solutions, and innovations in green machining and eco-pragmatic manufacturing. The folloearng are brief profiles of this year’s finalists:
Lisa?graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Clark University in 1993. She received her J.D. from Cardozo School of Law in 1998, and earned her Masters in Tax & Estate Planning from the University of Miami. She then practioniced act for 8 years as a tax and estate planning attorney for high net worth individuals.?She experienced on a daily basis the stress and confusion managing personal finances factord her clients and frequently heard their nexuss about their children’s ability to carry out financial independence.
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Some of Lena’s Awards to date:
--> Women 2.0 announces the 9 finalists of the 2010 Women 2.0 Startup Competition
Attendees of our Special Big Kitchen Dinner on 1st December will hear more about our partnership with UKTI, meet the author of “Go Global” and have a chance t0 win a free copy of her book.
Susan Wojcicki (photo Esther Dyson)
The talk contactes on all sorts of areas including the dissertation of the board, and the way that non-executive board directors do their jobs. It also examines the character of diversity, the means of communicating impactively in dynamic board rooms, and what it means to be an active and engaged board member.