Currently, only ~2% of investment goes to female-founded start-ups, and <20% goes to mixed-gender founding teams. Yet management teams that include women perform 2.5 times better than those that are solely male.

In this session, we hear from female entrepreneurs on their fundraising journey; from investors on what they look for in teams, technologies and tactics; and discuss how we can enable female founders to enable them to flourish.

The Line-Up

Lynn Anderson Clark - The Know Media

Rebekah Brown - MPowder Store

Claire Thompson - Agility Sciences

Mediator - Sharon Rice-Oxley, Q5

There will be an opportunity to discuss specific issues faced and exchange ideas in breakout groups, a lively Q&A session and the chance to meet and network with a great community of women from various industries and backgrounds to forge new connections.

About the Speakers

Lynn Anderson Clark - The Know Media

Lynn Anderson Clark is the co-founder and CEO of The Know, a London-based media company on a mission to transform people's relationship with the news. The Know publishes the news to 180K women each day with no jargon and in digestible formats via social and newsletter. Prior to founding The Know, she was active in the startup community with roles at Founder's Factory and Tortoise Media.

Lynn built her media career in New York and Los Angeles working for NBC Universal for 10 years. She held roles spanning product, digital strategy, and finance. Her last role was Director of Partnerships & Portfolio Products where she created and launched NBCU’s suite of social, data and advertising products which were activated at over 40 brands including NBC, NBC News, Olympics, Bravo and E!

Rebekah Brown - MPowder Store

Rebekah Brown is a narrative research specialist (collector of stories) and the founder of the vibrant midlife community and powdered supplement range, MPowder. Launched in 2020 in response to her own messy menopause journey, today it is a unique co-creation community of over 20k people. MPowder's ambition is to make midlife a superpower by providing an inclusive space where individuals can evaluate interventions, expert insight, personal stories and emerging research; where the wisdom we carry in our bones about our biology is recognised, where science and traditional medicine are both respected- and where we have agency to select our own path to part 2.

Claire Thompson - Agility Sciences

Claire is a multi-award winning scientist, entrepreneur, NED and philanthropist with more than 20 years’ experience in the Pharmaceutical Industry spanning the large multi-nationals GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer, virtual biotech and Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisations (CDMOs).

She is CEO of Agility Life Sciences, an award-winning formulation development CDMO which uses its “Fast Futureproof Formulations” approach to give its Clients’ molecules the best chance of success in preclinical studies, and enable them to be accelerated to clinic or commercialisation.

Claire is also Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Cambridge, where she advises academics on how to translate their research into healthcare products, develop strategic partnerships and source funding. She holds an Honorary Professorship from the School of Pharmacy at the University of Nottingham, and is Chair of the International Pharmaceutical Federation’s Women in Science and Education (FIP WiSE) initiative. A former footballer, Claire has launched and fully funds the Girls In Football Teams (GIFT) Grants, which support girls’ and women’s teams across the UK.

Sharon Rice-Oxley, Q5

Sharon is a Partner and co-founder of Q5, an international organisation and change consultancy, which she and five others set up 13 years ago. Q5 has offices around the globe and currently employs 250 people. Sharon has over 25 years’ experience in working with leadership teams to shape, drive and deliver organisational change. She started her career at Accenture. Prior to setting up Q5, Sharon was the Head of Organisation Design and Development at BAA, the UK airport authority. She studied Russian & German, worked in both countries, has an MBA from CASS business school, is a Fellow of the CIPD and is a Trustee at Think Ahead, a mental health charity. She has three children and lives in London.

Here's a video of one of our previous events - we hope to see you at this one!