With the upcoming issue focusing on Women in Tech and Female Founders, we decided to speak to a few females in the industry on their journey and experiences. Starting with Franziska Kirschner, Research lead at Tractable. "When I was a child, I wanted to become a dog when I grew up. I genuinely believed that science would progress far enough that I could change species by the time I reached adulthood. Unfortunately,  the world’s scientists had other ideas and their endeavours focused elsewhere, such as on making computers reason like humans. 

Businesses, whether they’re established, starting up or looking to grow, all have one thing in common. The need to be agile and aware.  And, if the pandemic has taught us anything it’s that businesses can adapt to a changing market and they can do it very quickly.

A campaign to identify Britain’s 100 most inspiring and multi-achieving female entrepreneurs has officially kicked off, with dynamic businesswomen across the country encouraged to apply to join the ranks of the f:Entrepreneur #ialso 100.

Around the world, fertility rates are falling dramatically. Researchers have described the decline as “jaw-dropping” and the impact that it is going to have on societies is difficult to fathom. According to their research, nearly every country is set to see a serious decline in the number of babies being born. To make the shift even more monumental, the worldwide population is also ageing dramatically, and many countries are likely to see as many people turning 80 as there are being born.

In a world filled with incredible innovative technology that everyday enables people to do what they otherwise could not, it seems nonsensical that there is still such an outrageous employment gap for disabled people, and Paralympic champion Elizabeth Johnson, agrees.

Taking single use plastics out of circulation is no easy feat, but the answer might lie closer than we think.

Black Tech Fest (BTF) is a first-of-its-kind digital conference and movement aiming to help Black professionals expand their network and influence while celebrating the boldest innovations created by the Black community.

BusinessFibre has analysed the top 10 companies across 15 different industries in the Fortune 500 to find which are leading the way in gender equality. In addition, the data highlights what industries pay their CEOs the most and how salaries compare between men and women.

An organisation supporting underrepresented Founders in London and connecting them with opportunities in tech called OneTech has launched a new Founders stories campaign to show the face of startups, and has shared an update on the work achieved by the programme since it began. 

The drive for businesses to make positive changes around inclusion and diversity in the workplace is now more important than it ever was before. To encourage businesses to take stand against discrimination and drive forward a progressive future, global workplace providers, Instant Offices have gathered and analysed data into what diversity and inclusion looks like around the world.

Action, Allies, Achievements, and Accountability are the cornerstones of a strategy for achieving diversity goals. As the CEO of Hyve Dynamics, Cecilia Harvey works with the leadership team to ensure that diversity and inclusion is reflected in our strategy and operations. She does this, not just because she is passionate about it, or because the tech industry is one of the least diverse, but because it makes both moral and commercial sense.

COVID-19 (coronavirus) has significantly impacted businesses, but even more so for social entrepreneurs, BAME founders and females due to the difficulties and challenges around access to support, finance and funding as well as structural inequalities. We are on a mission to work closely with these founders to help them flourish in the face of adversity.

What’s sexy about financial technology? When I joined a fintech startup called Littlepay, I could see some of my friends and peers struggle with why I had left an uber-cool venture role to do something they didn’t understand in the fintech space.

Virgin StartUp has reported that funding applications from women entrepreneurs have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 lockdown.

Authors John Smythe and Ruth Saunders announce the publication of their book ‘Female Entrepreneurs – The Secrets of their Success’, written to inspire and encourage female entrepreneurship. 

Grenade is one of the UK’s leading healthy snacking FMCG brands, offering high protein and low sugar nutrition products. Officially launched in 2010, Grenade successfully secured a prominent position in the Sunday Times’ Fast Track Top 100 for four consecutive years, with its products now sold by leading retailers in over 80 countries worldwide. Here we talk through  defining moments in developing Grenade, whilst providing top tips for female entrepreneurs inspired to launch and grow their own business. 

A new not-for profit social impact grant scheme has been launched, the Energy for Tomorrow (EfT) campaign. This grant scheme has been created by Centrica to support and empower entrepreneurs, particularly those from underrepresented groups, who have concepts and innovations to tackle climate change, lower energy bills, and deliver real impact to people and communities.

Science, technology, engineering and mathematical modelling save lives – we see that more than ever in this C-19 crisis. We are relying on our scientists, technologists and engineers to come up with solutions, fast, to improve health and survival rates, to support businesses, organisations and the economy, to enable virtual social connection. They are essential contributors, key workers and equal among them are many, many women.

After graduating from university in 2016, I found myself working for one of the biggest tech companies in the world, Amazon. Although ironically, I was working as far away from tech in operations, managing up to a hundred warehouse staff at a time. I watched the guys working in tech and the entrepreneurs starting new ventures with envy thinking there was no way I’d be able to segway my career in that direction now that I had started climbing the corporate ladder.

SETsquared Bristol is delighted to announce that its 80+ tech startup and scaleup members have collectively achieved record turnover revenues exceeding £58m in 2019. In addition, its members, across 27 sectors, created 240 new jobs in the city region last year.