Heroines - Women in Tech
By Heroines Women in Tech
This series is here to encourage more female representation and diversity inside STEM and technology companies.
We are stronger together.
Heroines - Women in TechNov 09, 2022
Alyona Medelyan - Thematic
Alyona Medelyan, PhD is the CEO of Thematic, an AI-driven customer insights solution backed by YCombinator. Thematic helps companies improve customer retention through insights from customer feedback and was founded in Auckland, New Zealand.
Nikki McLay - IVOW
CO-FOUNDER - IVOW
CO-FOUNDER - BOY AND GIRL
Nikki McLay is a creative technologist based in Auckland, NZ.
She is co-founder of IVOW.ai an award-winning female-led start-up that is helping make machines more culturally aware and inclusive.
At home, she is one half of Boy & Girl, a creative agency working in the space between technology and art with projects that span the divide between film, design, and voice technology.
As an ambassador for the Australian/NZ chapter of Women in Voice, she is excited about supporting and engaging more women by sharing her own journey into this exciting emergent industry.
www.ivow.ai
TOPICS DISCUSSED:
AI for good
Non-traditional career pathways into tech
Carol Mahoney - Chirpy Plus
Proving age is no barrier to becoming an entrepreneur, Carol has a history in technology and has come out of retirement from previous roles with EY, Bunnings and Dominion Breweries. Carol has been working with her son Shaun for over 5 years, with a couple of start-ups which in turn have helped shape the ideas for Chirpyplus.co.nz. The concept behind ChirpyPlus is to reduce loneliness in the over 55s by providing real-life friendships and connections. ChirpyPlus is a subscription-only model, is growing fast throughout Australia and New Zealand, and has very passionate and loyal members.
Jenene Crossan - Flossie
Founder of Flossie, a UX software company that reduces booking abandonment and increases revenue by streaming the user experience. They have Global clients in Australia and NZ and now available in the UK as 'Powered by Flossie' she talks to us about the struggle of being a female founder in the 'beauty tech' industry. The power of tenacity and resilience and the resistance to conforming to 'startup theatre'.
Melissa Field - Loop
Melissa is a qualified primary school teacher and mother of three delightful (and very busy) boys. Frustrated with the complexity of finding children’s activities online, Melissa took a giant leap from teaching to app founder, to bring you LOOP. LOOP gives you the ability to search hundreds of children’s events, activities and much more all in the palm of your hand. With it's easy-to-use functions, Melissa hopes you spend less time scrolling and more time with your family.
Rachel Strevens - Invsta
Rachel is the Founder & CEO of Invsta, a New Zealand FinTech company that provides a range of innovative digital wealth and digital asset investment management solutions to financial service businesses globally.
Sarah Jennings - Stretchsense
Sarah Jennings is the COO at Stretchsense, the global supplier of soft, stretchy sensors whose mission is to democratize wearables by making cutting-edge R&D accessible to everyone. Sarah takes us on her journey from academia, to get her foot in the door in new tech, becoming COO and creating a diverse team and inclusive culture for the business.
Ezel Kokcu - Passphere
Ezel Kokcu is a serial entrepreneur on her third startup. Passphere is an analytics registration platform for expos, conferences and large-scale events. Ezel also co-founded STQRY; an exploration app for museums and cultural sites. She grew STQRY to over 60 people, and raised over $7 million in VC funding, with over 800 global customers before selling the company in 2016.