M12, EQT Ventures and
SVB Financial Group present the winners of their global startup competition
for female founders
Microsoft Corp. venture
fund M12, in partnership
with EQT Ventures and SVB Financial Group, announced the two winners of the
Female Founders Competition: Acerta and Mental Canvas. The
companies and their founders, Greta Cutulenco (CEO and co-founder, Acerta)
and Julie Dorsey (founder and chief scientist, Mental Canvas) beat out
several hundred applicants to receive $2 million each in venture funding,
along with access to technology resources and more to help progress the
future of their businesses.
Earlier this year, M12
and its partners kicked off the global event in a bid to not only find and
fund innovative female entrepreneurs, but also to spotlight the funding gap
that exists and the need for more equitable distribution of capital. Hundreds
of startups across North America, Europe and Israel applied, providing a
glimpse into the potential opportunity and untapped talent in the market.
"Our goal for this
competition was to clear a path to funding for more women entrepreneurs," said
Peggy Johnson, executive vice president of Business Development,
Microsoft. "We were thrilled by the response we received and feel
confident that we'll see great returns on our two newest additions to our
portfolio, but we also know there's much more work to do. We plan to continue
exploring other ways to close the funding gap using the lessons we learned
from this competition: There's no shortage of women entrepreneurs building
for the enterprise, there's more than one way to source an investment, and
networking is essential to women founders' growth and success."
In early November, the
VC firms narrowed the selection down to 10 finalists. Teams from each startup
then pitched their company to a group of judges from M12 and the partner VC
firms for one of two chances at the top prize: a total of $2 million in
venture funding from M12, EQT Ventures and SVB Financial Group, and
access to Microsoft technology. The winning companies include:
Waterloo, Ontario-based Acerta, founded by CEO Greta Cutulenco,
provides an AI platform that ensures vehicle systems' quality and reliability
throughout a vehicle's lifecycle.
New York-based Mental Canvas, founded
by chief scientist Julie Dorsey,
reimagines sketching for the digital age by augmenting it with spatial
strokes, 3-D navigation and free-form animations, all drawn with the ease of
pencil and paper.
"At SVB, we have
the good fortune to work with some of the most innovative companies around
the world," said Tracy Isacke, head of Corporate Venture at Silicon
Valley Bank. "This partnership provided the opportunity to meet
some incredible female founders, and we were truly inspired by the depth
and breadth of innovation that they are bringing to the enterprise technology
market. We are proud to support Acerta and Mental Canvas as they pursue their
ambitious business goals."
"The quality and
number of submissions for the competition was incredible, and the EQT
Ventures team would like to congratulate both Acerta and Mental Canvas,"
said Alastair Mitchell, partner and investment advisor at EQT Ventures.
"Our fund is dedicated to backing founders with the ambition, drive and
vision to build a global success story, and this competition not only
provides a great launchpad for Acerta and Mental Canvas, it highlights the
fact that far more needs to be done to close the funding gap between male and
female founders. The EQT Ventures team is proud to play a part in bridging
that gap."
Microsoft's mission is
to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. With
the help of its partners and competitions like this, the company is pushing
forward in its efforts to ensure women are afforded an equal opportunity when
raising capital.
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