Hackers/Founders announces $20M venture fund to invest in startups at White House Demo Day and we, Women 2.0 will be a partner.
By Shaherose Charania (Co-Founder & CEO, Women 2.0)
Women 2.0’s roots come from finding ways to support founders in technology — that’s why, the first big event we hosted back in our early days (2006) was PITCH: A way for early-stage technology startup teams to finesse and present their business vision to potential investors. It works. Of the dozens of startups who have pitched at our events, several have been acquired, others gained funding, still more have been accepted (have a look at the growing list). PITCH continues to attract up-and-coming startups, seen first by Women 2.0 before going on to do big things.
Being the brand, the resource and the community for founders in technology is our raison d’être, our core and our purpose.
Today, we announce a partnership that will support and expand community of serial and first-time founders who are seeking funding. Hackers/Founders (H/F), a global community and accelerator for early-stage technology startups is launching a $20 million fund to fund the next generation of founders. It’s called the H/F Fairchild Fund.
The announcement of this new fund was made today as part of the first White House Demo Day attended by President Barack Obama, CTO of the United States Megan Smith and additional the White House officials. The official press release on the White House Website is read here and the official Press Release from H/F with further details on this fund and partnership here.
So why are we partnering with Hackers/Founders on this?
Because the fund is taking diversity seriously. The first-round selection process will remove references to gender, name, age, race and educational background. With Women 2.0 as partner, H/F will gain access to the founders in the Women 2.0 community (That’s YOU!) who may be seeking funding. You’ll have the chance to submit your startup to the investment committee for consideration for the accelerator and funding.
This, first in a series of future partnerships with other communities and resources, is one we are excited to announce today. What to learn more? Follow H/F on Twitter and Angellist and consider applying for the H/F Coop.
About the author: Shaherose is a purpose-driven Product Marketing leader. She was previously, the CEO and Co-founder of Women 2.0. She began her career working at various startups in Silicon Valley in Product Management and Marketing at: Ribbit (British Telecom), Talenthouse and JAJAH (sold to Telefonica/O2). She is an active advisor to early stage technology startups through her pre-incubator, Founder Labs which she founded in 2010 and sits on the Board of Directors for Good World Solutions. Shaherose holds a B.A. in Business Admin from The University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business. Follow her on Twitter at @shaherose
