women in tech Archives

Events

New Zealand’s Auckland uni is hosting an awesome conference on supporting women’s entrepreneurship

Startup Daily - June 20, 2025 2 MIN READ

A major international conference in Auckland next month is focusing on how to better support female founders and highlighting wāhine Māori perspectives on entrepreneurship. The Diana International Research Conference, July 1-4, brings together researchers and industry experts from around the world to tackle funding inequities, structural barriers and discuss the future of women-led enterprise, with… Read more »

Business

Why the next wave of unicorns will be female-founded consumer brands rather than tech

Tracey Warren & Bree Kirkham - June 12, 2025 3 MIN READ

Tech is stalling. Consumer is surging. And if you’re still waiting for the return of traditional VC exits – you’re already behind. Here’s the hard truth: liquidity has dried up in venture tech. IPOs are trickling. M&A deals have slowed to a crawl. According to PitchBook’s 2023 US VC Valuation Report, exits in the tech… Read more »

People

Quantum pioneer Michelle Simmons joins Tech Council board

Simon Thomsen - June 5, 2025 2 MIN READ

Quantum physicist and deeptech startup founder Professor Michelle Simmons has joined the board of The Tech Council of Australia (TCA). Her appointment dramatically improves the representation of women in the industry lobby group, which last year came under fire last year for failing to act when former board member Richard White faced inappropriate conduct allegations.… Read more »

Business

Showpo’s Jane Lu launches the Future Female Founders Program to give young women entrepreneurial spirit

Simon Thomsen - April 29, 2025 2 MIN READ

Showpo founder Jane Lu knows what it’s like to ride the rollercoaster of startup life better than most. The only child to Chinese-Australian parents, she was living up to their expectations with an accounting career at the Big 4 consultancy firms. But it wasn’t her cup of tea, so Lu left to launch her first… Read more »

Politics

Ed Husic says the government will back all 11 recommendations in the Diversity in STEM review

Simon Thomsen - March 5, 2025 2 MIN READ

The federal government will adopt all 11 recommendations of the 2024 Diversity in STEM review, industry and science minister Ed Husic has confirmed. Husic surprised the crowd at Southstart in South Australia in announcing the government’s long-awaited response to the Pathway to Diversity in STEM Review, chaired by Cicada Innovations CEO Sally-Ann Williams, who was… Read more »

Events

Edtech HEX teams up with Toyota to give 1000 regional women STEM career training for free

Startup Daily - January 7, 2025 2 MIN READ

Jeanette Cheah’s edtech startup HEX has forged a partnership with the Toyota Community Trust to launch Highway to STEM, a free program that demystifies STEM career pathways for female and non-binary students from regional schools. The project will offer free STEM career training to 1000 students across Australia. HEX founder and CEO Jeanette Cheah said the… Read more »

Investing

What an ancient sex strike can teach us about funding for female startup founders

Moira Were - December 13, 2024 4 MIN READ

It’s 411 BCE, and Aristophanes is slaying his audience in the Theatre of Dionysius with a mix of laughter and tears. In his play Lysistrata, the title character leads the women of Sparta and Thebes in a bold and humorous campaign—a sex strike—to end the devastating war between their two cities. On the surface, it’s… Read more »

Business

How to keep your startup’s end of year party safe and merry for all

Sam Garven - December 11, 2024 4 MIN READ

Nearly 50% of women have considered not attending their workplace Christmas party because of concerns about safety, poor behaviour, or harassment, according to a recent survey by Male Allies UK. Given that Australia is the worst-developed nation for workplace bullying and harassment, statistics here are likely similar or higher. If you don’t have your own… Read more »

People

The gender pay gap is shrinking and the good news is tech’s better than most industries, but don’t expect equal pay as an older woman

Leonora Risse - November 20, 2024 4 MIN READ

Australia’s gender pay gap has been shrinking year by year, but is still over 20% among Australia’s private companies, a new national report card shows. But that gender gap is even bigger at 25% among chief executive officers, according to figures collected for the first time in 2023–24. And the widest gap of all is among… Read more »

Other tech

4 women are among the 2024 recipients of Churchill Fellowships for tech

Kate Millar - November 16, 2024 3 MIN READ

AI, underwater drones, deepfakes and online gambling are some of focus areas for the five tech recipients of the 2024 Churchill Fellowships. Fellowship awardees are granted up to $35,000 to fund four to eight weeks of overseas travel to investigate a topic or issue of national interest. “Fellows return home ready to challenge the status quo… Read more »

Business

Project F’s Emma Jones launches diversity standards for Tech Council under pressure in the wake of Richard White saga

Simon Thomsen - November 11, 2024 3 MIN READ

The Tech Council of Australia (TCA) is hoping to address the industry’s “women problem” by launching a certification framework for the sector to address equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) amid lingering tension over the organisation’s response to former board member Richard White. The TCA is gathering in Melbourne this week for the three-day National Tech… Read more »

Events

Girl Geek Academy hunts for $2 million as it looks to relaunch with a focus on AI

Simon Thomsen - October 31, 2024 3 MIN READ

It’s been a tough time for women in tech, both financially and emotionally, over the past 12 months. It’s been a well-documented struggle to attract venture funding, despite the oft-stated best intentions of VCs. On top of that, governments have withdrawn support, with the NSW government killing off a $10 million fund to back female… Read more »

Business

Why backing women founders is the smartest bet for investors

Frances Goh - October 24, 2024 3 MIN READ

LinkedIn News Australia recently interviewed me about the underrepresentation of women in the startup ecosystem. At first glance, the statistics paint a bleak picture; according to the Q3 Cut Through Venture report, only 4% of total capital raised in Australia went to female-only founded teams, and just 13% to female co-founded ventures. These dismal numbers… Read more »

Diversity

The Change of mind: why digital solutions should be central to helping women deal with menopause

Georgie Drury - October 18, 2024 3 MIN READ

For those who missed it, the Senate Inquiry into the Impact of Perimenopause and Menopause came to a close last month, with the committee detailing their 25 recommendations to Parliament. Without a proper look-in for digital health across any of the recommendations, we’re probably in for a long hard slog to see any real change… Read more »

Events

If you want to back women in startups and female founders, then Capital X is the network you need to join

Simon Thomsen - October 10, 2024 2 MIN READ

Jessica Baird-Walsh has founded two startups, and is an angel investor and advisor, so she knows the path ahead for women founders all too well. And that’s why she decided to to something about it, launching Capital X – a free, community-driven network of startup and tech professionals committed to supporting women founders to fund… Read more »