Female Founders: Incubating women-led technology start-ups at Georgia Tech

TheoryLab

While working as program directors at Georgia Institute of Technology’s VentureLab—Georgia Tech’s incubator for technology startups—Melissa Heffner and Sara Henderson saw an opportunity to create a program for female entrepreneurs. Female Founders is “a four-week virtual cohort experience where participants gain a foundational knowledge of lean startup methodology and customer discovery while tackling topics associated with the specific journey of female-led startups:" https://www.icorpssouth.com/female-founders-initiative. Ms. Heffner joined the TheoryLab podcast along with three participants in the program to share advice for evidence-based entrepreneurship and talk about the exciting technology that is behind their respective start-ups. Melissa Heffner is a program director with Georgia Institute of Technology’s VentureLab and the co-creator of Female Founders. Ana Luz Quiroga Campano, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow in the Biological Systems Engineering Laboratory at Emory University and Georgia Tech. She’s also the CEO of SANICKA. Allyson Jennings McKinney is a PhD candidate in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Kacie Kaile is a PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering at Florida International University. 5:03 – On the purpose and goals of the Female Founders program 5:49 – Why they saw a clear need for a program specifically for female entrepreneurs 9:54 – Some of the ways they’re helping to set female entrepreneurs up for success 11:08 – Allyson Jennings McKinney on what attracted her to Female Founders 12:44 – On Solopulse—an exciting new technology she’s developed that utilizes a single pulse of a wave to create images of the surrounding environment—and its potential clinical impact 16:10 – Dr. Ana Luz Quiroga Campano on how the Female Founders program has met her needs as a postdoctoral fellow 18:21 – On the precision chemo-immunotherapy software tool developed by her company, SANICKA 21:45 – Kacie Kaile on how Female Founders has changed her entrepreneurial approach 23:37 – On a product she’s developed that provides a diagnostic assessment of tissue oxygenation using a smartphone with an add-on tool 28:43 – Dr. Quiroga on why scientists shouldn’t feel hesitant about becoming an entrepreneur when they have an idea 30:04 – Ms. McKinney with good advice on getting started as an entrepreneur 31:41 – Ms. Kaile on the benefits of starting a company with support from an academic institution 33:37 – Ms. Heffner with advice for cancer researchers thinking of starting a company in the oncology space