What a fantastic evening at the London Relaunch of Women4Technology!
It was energising to bring together such an inspiring community of founders, leaders, investors and champions, and to feel such incredible momentum to support and encourage more women to thrive in the technology sector.
We were warmly welcomed by Barnaby Perks, CEO of St John’s Innovation Centre and Zickie Lim, Partner at Mills & Reeve, who introduced Women4Technology and spoke about the values at its heart, as well as how closely the network aligns with Mills & Reeve’s commitment to supporting women in tech.
Founder, Ann Fisher shared the journey of Women4Technology, since the first event in Cambridge in 2008 with US ecommerce entrepreneur Sarah Davis of Fashionphile as guest speaker, the London launch in 2010 with Sharon Vosmek, CEO of Astia and then Silicon Valley Woman of Influence, through annual events at the House of Lords, and the growth of a vibrant UK-wide community. Ann introduced the STRIDE programme, in partnership with St John’s Innovation Centre Training, which equips women to achieve their leadership potential, and thanked Helen Poole, who has worked with Ann since Women4Technology’s launch and is now part of the relaunch team. Ann reflected on having been away from the ecosystem for 5 years and her disappointment that the stats hadn’t changed. A powerful reminder that initiatives such as Women4Technology are more important than ever.
We enjoyed a lively fireside chat between Zickie Lim and Marcus Stuttard, Head of AIM and UK Primary Markets at London Stock Exchange Group, who kindly stepped in at the last minute. Marcus praised his team, including Lauren Crawley-Moore, who had been prevented from speaking due to illness that day. Zickie’s insightful questions led a wide-ranging conversation exploring access to capital for UK scale-ups, the importance of angel funding, the role of data as a useful starting point in driving progress for women in the workplace, and crucially, the importance of sharing our stories and being honest about the challenges.
Marcus offered insight into the London Stock Exchange, and emerging opportunities such as PISCES which could help address liquidity for late-stage private companies, and discussion also touched on what’s different about today’s founders, including a growing ambition to build businesses of scale whilst staying in the UK, even if investment is from overseas.
Above all, the evening reinforced why Women4Technology matters: building stronger founder/investor networks, improving access to capital for female founders, and creating a more inclusive innovation ecosystem, because when more women have seats at the table, everyone benefits.
A huge thank you to our sponsors: Mills & Reeve, FieldHouse Associates, Rathbones and RSM, to our speakers Marcus Stuttard and Zickie Lim and to everyone who attended and supported the relaunch. Here’s to continued collaboration and growth!
Please contact info@women4technology if you have any questions about W4T.
Photo credit: Mia Langtree