Time truly flies!

We remember our April Orientation Night as if it was yesterday. Since then, after 8 jam-packed weeks of learning, discovery and some pivotes, we are delighted to share that our first cohort of 50 extraordinary female founders have graduated. 

Our virtual Graduation Night with BYO cheese, wine and/or preferred beverage (for what is a Graduation night without cheese & wine?) showcased some wonderful pitches, milestones and achievements from our brilliant cohort. We were beyond proud of their efforts, achievements and thrilled to celebrate and acknowledge all their hard work over the program. 

There were a number of key highlights from the night.

Firstly, we had the pleasure of hosting Michelle Long, Associate Director of Sydney Startup Hub. She welcomed our now-TRW-alumni and congratulated them for their efforts, determination and achievements throughout the Female Founders Startup program. Expressing her excitement and her eagerness of their journeys ahead, she left them all with some inspiring and encourage advice for taking the next steps. 

Thank you, Michelle, for being a great support to the TRW team and a wonderful partner on the Female Founders program. 

After Michelle’s wonderful words, we moved onto our exciting Alumni Pitches! 7 brave female founders voluntarily decided to share their 2-min elevator pitch with the cohort. 

Presenting in this safe and friendly environment gave these founders that little boost of confidence to nail their pitches. Which is exactly what they did. All pitches were polished, passionate and promising. Highlighting the key areas whilst also demonstrating their great traction to-date and importantly growth trajectories. 

The clever Amie Fisher from Resupix was the lucky lady who got to kick us off:

Then we heard from the brilliant Donna Fisher from SheSaw:

Followed by the infectiously energetic Hannah Clark:

Before hearing from the brilliant Jeannie-Marie Noyce from Cura:

And then the wonderfully sharp Jemi Jeng from Penny:

To the glorious game-changer Leanne Sanders from Visual Dreaming:

And finally, the talented Laure Gazzola from Find My Om:

Claps, claps and claps!

It takes a lot of courage to get up and pitch, and they all did so absolutely wonderfully!

Heading into the third part of the night, it was time for our well-known breakout rooms. Here, our female founders got a chance to reflect on their entire experience throughout the program. Sharing their learnings, the biggest growth moments and aspirations for the future with their fellow founders. Our cohort started carving out their important next steps and brainstorming how to continually encourage each other on their respective journeys.

Finally, we moved into our AWARDS part of the night. As you know, we are a team that are all about acknowledgement but also having fun. Here we recognised those in our cohort that had really sought to maximise their learning expertises. 

Congratulations team! Well done!

Time now to wrap up. Yes, we have mixed feelings. 

We are amazingly proud of the progress of these 50 wonderful women throughout the 8 weeks of the Female Founders Startup program. It has been an honour to work alongside them in building their startup ideas.

We are also immensely grateful to the NSW Investment and Sydney Startup Hub for their ongoing support. This program wouldn’t have been possible without them.

And our sincere gratitude to the 29 mentors that did an outstanding job to accompany our female founders through support, guidance and sharing their knowledge. We are sure that they will take those learnings with them for a lifetime.

Congratulations to you all on this achievement! 🚀

And now we are getting prepared for our next intake of the Female Founders Startup program. We’re looking forward to meeting our next cohort!