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Founder Friday in San Francisco July 2010 (I’m the ghost!)

There’s no shortage of entrepreneurial spirit in Australia – from both men and women. However, I’ve often noticed an imbalance in the founder gender ratio of tech or web-based companies. For a while, I’m been contemplating how to build women’s involvement in technical communities and startup culture. I believe the first step is to acknowledge and recognise successful and courageous people leading by example. I therefore present the first draft of female founders to note in the online space within Australia:

Please let me know if there’s anyone I’ve missed. I kept it to profitable or promising, growth- and digital-focused companies.

I love the diversity of business areas of the list – and the lateral thinking. I find female entrepreneurs often begin with a problem approach rather than creating solutions first (for problems that might not exist)! It’s the “I need someone to look after my kids…”, “How do I get rid of all these clothes?” or “How can I can I connect these things to save time?”. Imagine if more females had the tools or know-how needed to solve problems faced.

One organisation in the US doing their best to increase the number of females founding startups is Women 2.0. After attending a few of Women 2.0’s events in the Valley last year, I was impressed with the community and results. So, I’ve decided to bring Founder Friday to Australia.

Founder Friday involves a bunch of females (and males if inclined) interested in technology and business getting together for dinner and drinks before a Startup Weekend.

Next Friday 6 May, Melbourne founders will be meeting at Duck Duck Goose from 5.30pm. If continuing on to Melbourne Startup Weekend, they can get a discount of $20 using code ‘Women2’. Full event info here: www.founderfridaymelbourne.eventbrite.com

On a final note, I’ve started the beginnings of a similar community in Australia called Women Hack. It’s a very slow process considering my current workload, but you can connect on Twitter and Facebook in the interim.

Published by Kate Kendall

7 thoughts on “Australian female founders of note”

  1. Hi Kate – thanks for the great list.

    I would definitely come along if I lived in Melbourne.

    Good luck with it!
    Cheers,
    Lisa

  2. Hi Kate, great post!
    I wanted to suggest a few other female entrepreneurs to add to your list (they’re also all portfolio companies of Head Over Heels – http://www.headsoverheels.com.au/) :

    – Mandi Gunsberger of Babyology @ http://www.babyology.com.au
    – Melanie Kansil of Customer Underground @ http://www.customerunderground.com
    – Fang Chen of Braingauge @ http://www.braingauge.com.au
    – Ghazaleh Lyari of Ghermez Cupcakes @ http://www.ghermez.com.au
    – Mia Sadler of The Food Group @ http://www.thefoodgroup.com.au
    – Miranda Bond of Inika Cosmetics @ http://www.inika.com.au
    – Noelle Sunstrom of NeuClone @ http://www.neuclone.com
    – Ann Bowering of SIM VSE @ http://www.simvse.com.au

    Helen

  4. Hi Kate – I’d like to put forward my co-founder (and the face of our site SuperGuide.com.au), Trish Power. She’s the author of Superannuation for Dummies and other investing books, and we aim to provide quality independent superannuation information for all Australians.

    Also don’t forget one of the real leaders in the space – Amanda Gome at SmartCompany.com.au and StartupSmart.com.au

    Cheers, Rob

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