Takeaways from the SheFundraises Pitch & Party event during SF Tech Week 2024

We had almost 300 RSVPs for our latest SheFundraises pitch event, and 20+ women-led startups pitched. All of the startups were so impressive, with the companies in market and having raised hundreds of thousands of dollars already. There were venture scouts in attendance and connections ensued, with follow up conversations and possible funding. The audience of 50-60 people stayed engaged for the entire program, held at the Mechanics’ Institute San Francisco.

What did we learn? There is a real need for women to be funded and to have a space to express themselves. There were some more surprising insights which I want to share with you.

One of the attendees shared with me privately that it was such a relief to pitch her startup at an event for women. She said that at least two men she encountered during tech week, propositioned her, for a date or to go back to their room to discuss investing further. I thought that we got rid of these maniacal misogynists?

A fun insight that happened is that when I went to skip the Tokyo Drift song from my playlist, a couple of the Cal students said they love Fast & Furious and already know the date of the next drag race in Oakland. Yes, we have some Sideshow fans here. Who would have thought?

Seriously, though, there were investors and scouts in the audience, and people followed up with me afterwards, requesting the list of all the startups who pitched (let me know if you want to see it!). I’m impressed by the talented women who pitched and inspired by them.

Until next time, check out the SheFundraises website for updates.

Cheers—Michelle Z