#54: Investing in black female founders with Sharon Vosmek
Sharon Vosmek is the CEO of Astia and Managing Partner of the Astia Fund. Astia is a global organisation that works to level the investment playing field for startups that include women. Ms. Vosmek developed Astia’s creative, proven approach to investment – called the Astia Expert SiftTM - that eliminates bias in the investment screening process and contributes to the success of female entrepreneurs and their ventures. Well-regarded around the globe, Ms. Vosmek is known for her opinions, research and commentary on the importance of women leaders as integral to innovation and high-performing entrepreneurial teams. She has spoken at the United Nations and given lectures at numerous universities on the topic of building inclusive ecosystems. She is an Advisory Board Member to two venture Funds, E²JDJ Venture Fund and Illuminate Ventures and serves on the Boards of Ozo Innovations and Pagedip. Ms. Vosmek lives and works in San Francisco. We cover the following in this conversation: Investing in black female founders Sharon shares her journey to changing how many black female founders the Astia fund invests in Traditional VC firms and the need for change in the industry Sharon shares a message for black female founders who are yet to embark on their fundraising journey. ****