Funded Female Founders is for founders, investors, operators, and ecosystem supporters who are driving the future of innovation and funding.

After drawing over 125+ attendees at our last event in Menlo Park, Funded Female Founders is coming to San Francisco on July 16th, 2025 at Canopy San Francisco – Jackson Square.

Hosted by Startup Grind Silicon Valley Chapter & Superconnected, this event brings together founders, investors, operators, and ecosystem supporters who are actively scaling companies, investing in innovation, and building communities that champion women in leadership. 

We will feature two (!!) dynamic panel discussions - a YC female founder panel where the ladies will share their journey, challenges, and key insights for succeeding at YC.

Following this, gain perspective on what early-stage VC investors look for as we dive into a panel with leading female venture capitalists from some of Silicon Valley's most active early-stage funds - Unusual Ventures, BDev Ventures & Boost VC as we dive into what makes a startup fundable in today’s market.

Expect candid conversations with female founders and VCs, high-impact networking, and thoughtful programming designed to foster real connections. General admission attendees will receive branded swag, while VIP guests will receive exclusive gift bags curated for startup leaders.

Agenda:

5:15 PM – 6:00 PM | Check-In & Welcome Reception - Guest arrivals, wine, and light bites, visit sponsor tables, and enjoy photo ops

5:50 PM – 6:00 PM | Opening Remarks 

6:00 PM – 6:40 PM | Panel 1: What it takes to graduate from YC as a female founder + Q&A

• Deepali Jain - Assembly (YC W24) - Assembly helps B2B startups create magical customer experiences by unifying their post-sale customer data, proactively identifying churn risk, and uncovering expansion opportunities.
• Caitlin Leksana - Fazeshift (YC S24) - Fazeshift is the AI agent for Accounts Receivable. We work with companies ranging from fast-growing startups, to thousand-person companies to automate sensitive and complex A/R workflows. Our team comes from best-in-class institutions like Harvard Business School, MIT, Stanford, and more. Backed by Y Combinator and Gradient (Google's AI fund) Fazeshift is redefining the future of AI-powered finance.
• Komal Ahman - Copia (YC W16) - From one location to thousands, from produce to pizza to paper towels, Copia are the Donation Engine for your business.
• Niki Kohkale - Fountain9 (YC W21) - Offers predictive inventory planning and optimization software for e-commerce, DTC and retail companies and uses AI to accurately predict future inventory imbalances which lead to out of stock situations or wastage, and also recommends best ways of minimizing their impact.
• Moderated by AJ Thomas - Good Trouble Ventures - an early-stage venture capital firm investing in the technology that powers the Future of Entertainment, Creativity, and Digital Transformation.

6:40 PM – 6:50 PM | Break - Take a few minutes to reset, mingle, and refill your glass

6:50 PM – 7:30 PM | Panel 2: What Investors Look for in Women-Led Startups + Q&A

• Emily Yu - Boost VC is an early stage venture capital firm with $250m AUM in San Mateo, CA founded by Adam Draper & Brayton Williams. They lead Pre-Seed rounds for Deep Tech (aerospace, bio, AI, robotics, crypto, VR, Sci-Fi)

• Keshia Theobald-van Gent - BDev Ventures is a VC Fund investing in fast-growing post-revenue B2B software companies, from Seed to Series B, as a minority investor with checks up to 3M USD.

• Niamh O'Donnell - Unusual Ventures lead seed rounds in enterprise AI software startups. We built a hands-on engagement model that gives technical founders the best odds of finding product-market fit.

7:30 PM – 8:15 PM | Open Networking - Connect with speakers, investors, sponsors, and fellow founders. Enjoy final bites, drinks, and new conversations.

​🔥 Why Attend this event?

​• Tactical Fundraising Advice from both founders and investors who’ve successfully raised and deployed capital

​• Live Panels & Discussions designed to surface what really matters in today’s funding landscape

​• High-Quality Networking with VCs, angels, and other growth-stage founders who are scaling serious companies

​• VIP Access to attendee contact lists so you can follow up and build lasting relationships. Early access to networking with Startup Grind and Superconnected.

​• Community-Led that go deeper than a standard pitch or panel