Tech Investors Bet Big on Women’s StartUp Lab Alumnae With a Recent Series of Funding Rounds, Companies Include Boatsetter, Pandia Health, and SendaRide

Accelerator Moves into New, Landmark Living and Learning Residence - ‘Hito House’ - Designed Especially for Female Founders on Sand Hill Road, Opens Application Period for its 16th Batch in March 2019


PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 13, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Women’s StartUp Lab (WSLab), whose mission is to create a world where women lead and shape the world through innovation and collaboration, announced today that a recent round of investments have been made in WSLab graduates’ companies, including founders Dr. Sophia Yen, CEO of Pandia Health, Jaclyn Baumgarten, CEO of Boatsetter, and Laura Fleet, CEO of SendaRide.

“In a world where only 8 percent of venture capital goes to women, and only 4.6 percent of S&P 500 companies are led by women, we provide a forum where talented female entrepreneurs have the unique opportunity to live and learn among Silicon Valley leaders who have committed themselves for reshaping the ecosystem for female founders,” said Ari Horie, Founder and CEO, Women’s StartUp Lab.

Horie added, “The data does not lie. 65 percent of female founded companies outperform male-only companies, and 13 percent of companies led by women have higher revenues, than those run by men. Given the outstanding women that WSLab attracts, investors are standing up and taking note, funding their success.”

“I went to two other accelerators in addition to Women’s Startup Lab,” said Pandia Health co-founder and CEO, Sophia Yen. “None were as intense and hands on as WSLab’s accelerator program. The caliber of instructors is excellent. We received tailored, customized one-on-one advice in an intimate, small group setting from some of the best in Silicon Valley in a beautiful home where we could focus 100% of our time and energy on the curriculum and our companies.”

WSLab Graduates See an Increase in Investment
Jaclyn Baumgarten, the founder of Boatsetter (boatsetter.com) and participant in the first Women’s StartUp Lab batch, has raised over $20M, acquired two competitors, and was recently appointed to the Board of MasterCraft Boat Holdings. In August of 2018, Laura Fleet, a graduate of WSLab’s Fall 2017 batch and founder of Oklahoma based SendaRide (sendaride.com) completed her series A financing raising $2 million. In addition, Dr. Sophia Yen, CEO and founder of Pandia Health, begun with a focus on birth control, just closed her seed financing for a total raise (from seed and pre-seed) of $2.1M, with lead Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures, Allectus Capital, and Stanford-StartX Fund closing the seed round.

How to Apply

  • Interested female founders who are building novel or disruptive companies in the technology sector may apply now for the spring accelerator beginning in March of 2019: https://womenstartuplab.com/apply-now/.
  • A year long program beginning with a two-week immersion and residential program in Silicon Valley.
  • Live, learn and breathe at our exclusive female founder retreat, Hito House, located in the heart of Silicon Valley. 
  • Participants may stay at Hito House and use it for funding activities throughout the year long program.
  • Life-long WSLab members with ongoing access to advisors, opportunities and fellow women entrepreneurs.

ABOUT WOMEN’S STARTUP LAB
Women's StartUp Lab (WSLab) is dedicated to creating the world where female leaders thrive and succeed because they are driven and coached by an ethical, integrated, and globally-minded mandate. Founded in 2013 by Ari Horie, the WSLab team of luminaries and expert advisors are changing the landscape of Silicon Valley by creating opportunities for female founded tech start-ups, by accelerating their path to success and funding. From the beginning, WSLab has selected and graduated exceptional female founders of companies including AI based company, Cognea, which sold to IBM Watson, and the popular and profitable golf app, Swing by Swing. Learn more www.womensstartuplab.com

ABOUT HITO HOUSE
Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Hito House is a beautiful, Zen-like space created specifically for female entrepreneurs to immerse themselves in Silicon Valley, build their trusted community, and gain the skills and network to enable them to accelerate their success. The home is designed to bring the concept of ‘Hito’ alive by putting it into practice, and the space is a crucial component of realizing successful outcomes for WSL Batches.

A video accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/78588db3-a882-43c7-9fba-e4681771e27f


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