On Thursday, September 16 2021, Upstate Capital and NYSTAR presented Invest NY: Women’s Health to emphasize the recent expansion in funding within the industry. The event featured and connected startups that are innovating in FemTech with investors and CEOs.
To start the day off, eleven startups that are innovating in the Women’s Health industry and other related sectors gave 3-minute pitches to investors around and outside New York. Check out the pitch sessions in full below, and find out more about the companies here.
After the pitches, the startups had the opportunity to network with investors and other attendees.
Up next, board member Lindsay Karas Stencel of Thompson Hine hosted a conversation with Andrea Ippolito CEO of SimpliFed and Meghan Rice of KID Venture Capital. They discussed They discussed how they are working together to improve access to breastfeeding resources, and ultimately improve the health and well-being of mothers and children. Andrea, who recently closed her pre-seed round of investments, placed emphasis on believing in yourself and your cause. Meghan gave advice to the startups about how to better navigate and find the right investors. Throughout their discussion Lindsay gave book recommendations such as Brag! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It by Peggy Klaus and Always Be the Buyer by Dan Sullivan.
Next on the agenda was a panel moderated by Jordan Taylor Sloan of NYSTAR providing resources for the startups, which can be viewed here. Jordan was joined by Kathi Durdon of CNY Biotech Accelerator and Jahanara Ali, Director of Bioventure eLab at Weill Cornell Medicine.
The last panel was hosted by Emily Ekland of NYSTAR, moderating a group of investors and their advice for startups, as well as commentary on the Women’s Health sector and different challenges entrepreneurs may face. This panel was composed of board member Jennifer Tegan, Managing Director with NY Ventures at Empire State Development, Buffy Alegria of SteelSky Ventures, Minolee Vora of Rethink Impact, Maneesha Ghiya of FemHealth Ventures, and Gwen Cheni of IndieBio.
The event concluded with an opportunity to reconnect after hearing the panels with any questions or ideas, and to continue networking amongst the investors, startups and attendees.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the event game: Brad Gulko and K.D. Gulko, Co-Founders of Progenic Genomics. The event ended in a tie, and a $100 donation will be made to both of their favorite charities: Planned Parenthood and the Children’s Health Fund.
The event was part of the Invest NY Series: to highlight investment opportunities in innovation in a number of sectors across New York. Upstate Capital has partnered with NYSTAR to produce these events in a number of key industries including health and well-being, industry 4.0, climate tech and coming up on October 14, Climate Tech. To get access to all our video content, become a member today!