Astia August Newsletter


Sharon Vosmek, CEO Astia Message from the CEO During a recent interview with a reporter from the New York Times I was asked, “Is there a movement for women helping women?” I think she was surprised at my answer – “No! But there should be.” OK, I did modify the answer - but only by a bit. It is my observation that there is a current flurry of tweets and blogs and even proper new stories (like the one she intends to do) about the dearth of women entrepreneurs and shouldn’t we all be doing something to solve it. I will even concede that it has gotten to the point that folks like Brian O’Malley at Battery Ventures are reaching out to me to tell me that the last “3 of my last 4 investments have been founded by women!” (exclamation point by Brian). Clearly there is something shifting. The new new thing seems to be having a woman in your portfolio! (exclamation point added by me.) However, my caution is that this feels less like a movement and more like a bubble. My thoughts, that I shared with the reporter, were that this movement needed three things that it currently lacks to give it the foundation that it needs. I take these learnings from TiE – which in its short 13 years has taken Indian entrepreneurs and investors from the margins to the center stage. We need a philanthropic investment. It is my observation that successful women need to be the ones to really get this agenda properly funded. Organizations like Astia, FWE&E, Women 2.0, Anita Borg – we all struggle on a string to create real impact for women. That needs to change! At TiE, the Charter members wrote (and still write) meaningful checks to fund the network. They knew that no one else was going to do it for them. We need investment from women in women. Once again, taking a page from TiE, women investors need to step up – and stop fearing that investing in a woman makes them an activist investor. Men don’t feel the same when they bring a man in to the portfolio. And at TiE it was part of the agenda – to get wealthy Indians to invest in Indian entrepreneurs. Thanks to groups like Golden Seeds and Phenomenelle Angels, and individuals like Janet Hanson at 85 Broads and Cindy Padnos at Illuminate Ventures, there is a bit of this happening. But we need to make it the expected activity. We need a committed, actively involved network to ignite this movement. We need this movement to have voice and dare to challenge the status quo. TiE did it 13 years ago, and we at Astia can do it today. Stay tuned for more about how I think we can achieve these together. For now, enjoy our update and many upcoming happenings. Cheers, Sharon Vosmek Chief Executive Officer Back to top Astia’s Global Entrepreneur Program November 1-6, 2010 Doing it Right is an unparalleled resource for success - a transformative program designed by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs who want to become dominant players in their sectors. The Format? A comprehensive 6-day workshop, 2-month program of personalized advising from premier experts and the opportunity to start benefiting from the global ecosystem of Angels, VCs, corporations, and entrepreneurs that is Astia. Who Should Apply? Exceptional women-led high growth start-ups who know that success is not just about raising money but about growing a business and thriving in today's tough market. Key Program Dates: Application Deadline: September 10, 2010 Regional in-person screening: September 30, 2010 Doing it Right: Silicon Valley November 1-6, 2010 Astia Investor Forum: Silicon Valley January 20, 2011 Apply today if you have... An innovative idea in either the Technology, Life Sciences or Clean Tech sectors A high-growth investment opportunity An exceptional team and business strategy A significant market opportunity A defendable competitive advantage At least one woman in a leadership role (at C level) or in significant position of equity and influence Visit Astia and complete your application before September 10th. Back to top Astia News Astia Advisory Board Member, Jennifer Hill on MSNBC Jennifer Hill, chair of the advisory board of the New York chapter of Astia, and Carol Roth, business strategist, answer viewer questions about media coverage for your business and whether or not a strategic alliance is better than a merger. Read more Enterprise Resilience Management Blog: Women Entrepreneurs Astia, and Astia company, Michelle’s Miracle is spotlighted in an article on women entrepreneurs. Read more 8: Not So Lucky Number Lisa on women in venture capital: Read more Changing the Ratio Read more The World’s Richest Self-Made Women: Read more The Language of Venture Capital: Read more Back to top		In This Issue Message from the CEO Global Entrepreneur Program Astia News Market Updates Silicon Valley New York London India Client News Market Spotlight Sponsor Spotlight Astia Events Partner Events Donate to Astia Become an Astia Member Become an Astia Sponsor Join the Astia Community JOIN Astia and become a 2010 member today! The financial contributions received through our membership program help to underwrite Astia's mission of providing programs that accelerate the funding and growth of women-led companies, develop the executive leadership of the founding team, and enable new ventures to fully participate in high-growth markets. Operating on a less than one million dollar budget, Astia continues to deliver unparalleled programs and services to women entrepreneurs and leaders worldwide. For more information on membership levels and benefits, visit our website. Become an Astia Member- We cannot do it without you so please become a member or renew your membership today! Astia is now blogging! Join our ongoing discussions at Astia Notes You can now follow Astia on Twitter: Sharon Vosmek \| AstiaSF \| AstiaUK \| AstiaNYC \| AstiaIndia Astia is also on Linked-In and Facebook. Be sure to join our groups! Want to join the Astia community? Register for the community portal and fill out your member profile! Astia Sponsors Become an Astia Sponsor Astia Investor Advisory Council JOIN Astia's Investor Advisory Council Alloy Ventures; AOL Ventures; Asset Management Company; CalPERS; CISCO; Golden Seeds; Hummer Winblad Venture Partners; Illuminate Ventures; Levensohn Venture Partners; Prolog Ventures; RoseTech Ventures; StarVest Partners; How to Get Connected Silicon Valley astiasf@astia.org New York astiany@astia.org London astiauk@astia.org India astiaindia@astia.org
Market Updates
Silicon Valley The countdown to our flagship Silicon Valley Program started with the official launch at our Annual Stakeholder’s Meeting on July 14th hosted by Fenwick & West. Two weeks ago we welcomed over 30 people to an About Astia networking reception, generously hosted by Bank of America US Trust Wealth Management. At both events we welcomed many new faces to the Astia community – entrepreneurs, sponsors, investors and advisors. These events have been a great way of introducing Astia and providing the opportunity to ask questions of Astia Companies, investors and advisors. If you are applying to the Astia program or are interested in participating in Astia, we strongly recommend you attend one of next About Astia events: About Astia – Sept. 1st, Palo Alto: Register here. About Astia – Sept 15th, San Francisco: Register here. A special thanks to our summer interns – Liza Boles worked closely with the committees and Scott Nittler embarked on new research into the Definitive List of Female VCs – watch this space for the results. After interning all summer, Vinita Venkatesh continues with us supporting the community communications. India The India Planning Committee is planning a call on Sept 2nd to discuss further progress in the region. The process of incorporation continues to progress.	New York The New York Doing it Right program was a great success, with 10 new companies attending the program in July. A special thank you to the panelists for their insight, the Astia Advisors for their time and expertise, and to our sponsors, for their continued support. We are delighted to extend an invitation to the investor community for our Investor Forum on September 22nd in NYC. To showcase the new class of Astia entrepreneurs, along with existing Astia companies. There are 14 companies presenting. Please click here for more information. Last, we would like to introduce our new Astia NYC intern, Jonathan Carter (Carleton ’10) who has been adding tremendous value in market research. Thanks for all your hard work, Jonathan. United Kingdom On June 24th, 6 companies presented at the Astia European Investor Forum with Simon Walker, CEO of the British Venture Capital Association, providing the keynote. Two of them are already in due diligence! Once again thanks to Osborne Clarke for hosting the event for a second year! Over $60 million (nearly £38 million) has been raised by the 8 companies who joined Astia in 2009 (57% achieved funding within one year of joining Astia). We look forward to updating you with the new companies’ progress. The European Advisory board meets on Sept 14th at Silicon Valley Bank’s new location, followed by a networking appreciation event for clients and advisors.
Back to top Client News Betty Confidential and parent company, Desha Productions has partnered with Electus to create 12 productions in video, television and film projects. Curemark featured in Nature Magazine Tech Crunch released a article naming GenGreen's ‘FindGreen’ app. on its top ten green apps. LearnVest recently debuted three new financial bootcamps, interactive e-mail programs that help users tackle their finances. MyLawsuit.com CEO, Michele Colucci writes about “The Language of Venture Capital” The Huffington Post Dutch Ministry of Agriculture Chooses Remedy Interactive Software for Enterprise Health and Productivity Initiative Back to top Market Spotlight Water companies raised $65.5 million in venture capital across 14 deals in 1Q10, up 49% from the 4Q09, and continuing an increasing trend of investments since 2Q09. There were 45 VC water financings in 2009 totaling $127 million. The total amount invested was down 24% from 2008. The most popular subsector was water treatment ($68 million invested in 25 deals) followed by wastewater treatment ($42 million invested in 13 deals) and water conservation ($17 million invested in seven deals). Back to top Sponsor Spotlight AOL joins Astia as Silver Sponsor AOL and AOL Ventures have joined the Astia community as silver sponsors and are already getting involved by hosting this year’s Investor Forum in New York! AOL is a leading-edge web services company, including a network of premium and niche content sites, and an extensive offering of world-class tools and platforms. AOL's business spans the Internet with online and local content, innovative products and valuable services for consumers, publishers and advertisers. With one of the industry's largest advertising networks, AOL engages consumers with online advertising services on both AOL's owned and operated properties and third-party websites. In addition, AOL operates a premium subscription-based access service in the United States. Wells Fargo Foundation Renews for the 6th Year Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance for more than 23 million customers through 6,100 stores, the internet and other distribution channels across North America and elsewhere internationally. Back to top Astia Events About Astia – September 2010 September 1, 2010 in Palo Alto: Register here. September 15, 2010 in San Francisco: Register here. Join us for an informative networking reception to learn more about Astia. You will have the opportunity to hear about our programs, meet entrepreneurs, existing Astia advisors and members of the Astia team. Call for Applications for Doing it Right Silicon Valley Program Application Deadline: September 10, 2010Apply Now! More Information: Doing it Right Silicon Valley: Program Overview Astia Investor Forum Date: September 22, 2010, 6:00pm – 9:00pm Location: New York, NY The Astia Investor Forums are exceptional opportunities for the Investment community to see pre-screened, high-caliber companies. Tickets and More Information: Astia Investor Forum 2010 New York City Back to top Astia Partner Events UKTI Cloud Computing Mission to Boston and San Francisco Date: September 13 – 17, 2010 Deadline for Applications: Thursday, August 19, 2010 UKTI is seeking 20 UK SME's who have developed Cloud enabling technologies or Cloud services to visit Boston then Silicon Valley, the two primary US ICT clusters. Companies will be chosen for their readiness for the US market and their ability to link their own innovations and technologies to those which are important in the US as a priority market. Click here for more information $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize Deadline for Nominations: Tuesday, October 5, 2010 The Lemelson-MIT Prize is awarded to an outstanding mid-career inventor that has developed a patented product or process of significant value to society, which has also been adopted for practical use or has a high probability of being adopted. By recognizing and funding younger, mid-career inventors, the prize is designed to spur inventive careers and provide role models for future generations of inventors. Nomination details for the Lemelson-MIT Prize can be found here: Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum: 2010-11 Angel & Venture Capital Investment Overview Date: Thursday, August 26 2010, 6:30pm - 8:30pm Location: Andersen Auditorium, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley A panel of expert angel and venture capital investors look at early stage investing during the past year and what the future investment environment holds. The presentation will also include a review of the key metrics for venture capital investments/exits and critical VC term sheet terms for Q2 2010. This will be a thought provoking and informative session you will not want to miss! Registration is required. Click here for more information. BVCA: Financing & Funding the Digital Age Date: Thursday, September 16, 2010, 8:00am – 6:30pm Location: Lowry Hotel, Manchester, United Kingdom The 21st Century is seeing rapid and significant changes in the creative industries and there are real and valuable opportunities for UK-based digital companies to grow globally. The British Venture Capital Association recognizes this opportunity and is launching this inaugural event in order to showcase UK innovation in this area and bring together entrepreneurs with the investment community – including private equity and venture capital professionals and corporate ventures. Click here to see full list of speakers including Astia’s Sharon Vosmek. Click here for more information. Sonnenschein's Chautauqua Silicon Valley Speaker Series Date: Thursday, September 16, 2010, 12:00pm - 1:30pm Location: Offices of Sonnenschein, Palo Alto, CA Sonnenschein's Chautauqua Silicon Valley Speaker Series is an informal gathering of the area's entrepreneurial community featuring industry leaders addressing important topics and issues shaping the technology sector. For more information on how to register, please contact Maria DeLuca at mdeluca@sonnenschein.com Cambridge, UK: Women 4 Technology Date: Wednesday, September 22, 2010, 12:15pm - 2:00pm Location: Hotel Felix, Cambridge Guest speaker: Cathy Curling, CEO Curling Consulting Women 4 Technology is an informal networking event for female CEOs, CXOs, Non-executive Directors, VCs and business angels in the technology sector. For more information, click here. Back to top
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