Look at what you did in 2014!

Thank you to each of you for making 2014 such an extraordinary year for Astia. You are integral to the work of Astia, so we wanted to share with you the many ways you participated, supported, engaged and committed to Astia this year.

You can download an end of year report here: 2014 end of year report - Astia is You!

Astia participates in high-level discussion at the United Nations

October 31, 2014 | New York, NY

Astia CEO Sharon Vosmek, spoke at United Nations Headquarters in New York at a program sponsored by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and organised by the Global Citizen Forum (GCF) and the Universal Peace Federation (UPF).

Titled: “Globalisation and Sustainable Development: the Role of Government, NGOs and the Private Sector”, Sharon spoke about the Astia mission and community on the panel: "Business, Technology and Social Sector: Harbingers of a New Civilization"

The session was broadcast live and attended by UN Ambassadors, international diplomats, dignitaries, Executive Heads of UN bodies, international NGOs and Private Sector representatives.

Sharon's comments were to highlight the importance of and the need for a global strategy - that includes both men and women - to address women's access to capital. Astia was the model she used throughout her comments. The benefits to the economy and society were also core messages.

Investing in the Success of Women High-Growth Entrepreneurs, their Teams and their Ventures

The Astia White Paper

Co-authored by Sharon Vosmek, Astia CEO, and Teresa Nelson, PhD, Elizabeth J. McCandless Chair in Entrepreneurship, Simmons College this statement on the future of innovation has developed over fifteen years of Astia working with high-growth ventures internationally.

We see women leaders as integral participants in inclusive, high performing entrepreneurial teams — without them, success is more difficult. We believe this position should be more widely shared and understood.

In this report we explain why... and how you can join us.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL WHITE PAPER HERE>>

Getting comfortable with uncomfortable. Sharon Vosmek at ASPIRE

#40Forward | Rethinking and Redesigning the Ecosystem

In the lead-up to International Women's Day we are reminded by the world’s media of the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. So, as part of these celebrations, I often take this weekend of the year to reflect on Astia’s successes, those of our entrepreneurs and the high growth ecosystem at large in advancing innovation through inclusive leadership teams.

Astia’s raison d’etre is to promote, ally and assist women high growth entrepreneurs and their ventures, one by one and by changing the ecosystem. As such, this year, we’re delighted and proud to be part of Google for Entrepreneurs’ campaign #40Forward: 40 startup communities rethinking the gender gap, a challenge issued to startup communities to increase participation by women by 25% this year.

Dramatically Increasing Women's Access to Capital

Astia and Google for Entrepreneurs are partnering to increase the frequency and city coverage of the Astia Venture Lunches. We are tripling the number of opportunities for exceptional woman-led start-ups to access capital, as well as expand our reach to include new markets outside of Silicon Valley, London and New York.  

For those new to Astia Venture Lunch, it is Astia's groundbreaking effort to increase dramatically women's access to capital. Not once a year - or even quarterly - but every single month Astia showcases outstanding woman-led companies to accredited investors in London, New York and Silicon Valley. Using Astia's Expert Sift – the proprietary community-sourcing and screening process- in our search for supernovas, each presenting start-up is pre-screened by no less than 25 industry experts before being selected to present.

And what do we know that those selected start-ups will have in common? That their founders have made a very smart business decision: to be part of an inclusive leadership team.

Inclusivity is essential to innovation and job growth

“The diverse group almost always outperforms the group of the best by a substantial margin,” according to The Difference, Scott E. Page, University of Michigan. “The key to innovation, in economic terms, resides inside the heads of people, the more diverse the better. That link may not be immediately apparent, yet any understanding of innovation's role in economic growth must focus on diversity as well as ability.”  As such, Astia works with inclusive leadership teams and actively encourages all members of the team to participate within our community, irrespective of their gender.

The importance of men’s participation in the global conversation around women’s high growth entrepreneurship

We know that high-growth entrepreneurs are similar in almost every respect. Regardless if male or female, entrepreneurs have largely the same education, economic background, needs, and challenges. This gives credence to the need for a unique offering for entrepreneurs focused on including men and women.

Women, however, place greater importance on the moral support, expertise, and financial backing of business partners, while men need far less encouragement from others. This desire of women, for community support and engagement, is what Astia offers our entrepreneurs.

Women uniquely need:

1.  Access to Networks - Around the globe, men and women are still by-and-large in separate business networks. Men are the holders of capital for entrepreneurs. Investment relies heavily on trusted business relationships. Astia is a model for creating a global network of men and women doing business together. 

2.  Access to Opportunity - Research shows that women self-assess differently than men and as a result often have lower aspirations commensurate with the lower assessment of their abilities. Astia exposes women to the opportunity of high-growth entrepreneurship and to the tools and networks needed to succeed within it. This personal growth is best achieved through exposure to the Astia community of men and women who have been there themselves and understand the challenges entrepreneurs face.

Through all Astia’s work to promote, ally and assist women high growth entrepreneurs and their ventures, bringing together men and women who are dedicated to the success of women-led, high-growth ventures is front and center.

And I ask you this. As you assimilate the many truly inspiring women entrepreneurs you will read and hear about this week as we all celebrate International Women’s Day, take one decision that will ensure that men and women are coming together to change the gender gap.

Let’s move forward.

Let’s move #40Forward.

Dive right in! The water is fine!

If last year’s We Own It Summit in New York was a dip of the toe in to the water to see if it was warm enough, then this year’s Summit in London was a dive in to the deep-end followed by a forceful free-style firmly charging to the finish line in 2020.

The Decade of the Woman Entrepreneur is upon us and the collaboration has firmly embraced the opportunity and the challenge this presents. The Summit participants have validated that the moment is now to propel women in to the high-growth, innovation economy – as entrepreneurs, investors, and ultimately beneficiaries of the wealth and influence created.

Our next steps have been identified in the goals below. It is now the responsibility of we, the collaborating organizations, to maintain the momentum and deliver on these shared commitments:

In 2011-12, we will:

Create and implement collaboration processes for research and training.
• The annual research agenda will work to address 1-3 questions annually. This work is critical as the current dearth of data pertaining to women high-growth entrepreneurs is pronounced and does not allow us to measure our progress.
• The training objectives ensure that women gain exposure to the opportunity of high-growth entrepreneurship, investment, and board participation. The goal this year is to create a shared curriculum - via the many that already exists within the collaboration - that provides access to networks and access to maps to success.

Communicate to the market the stories of successful women entrepreneurs and investors as well as clearly articulate the problem, issues and opportunities. This year, we will complete and publish:
• 12 profiles each of female investors & entrepreneurs.
• A statement of why women’s participation matters for key constituents (LPs, VCs, government, etc.)

Take action that we believe will create real and measurable change in the market.
• A group, led by successful VCs, angels and LPs, has been created to raise an Astia Innovation Fund to invest in women-founded, women-led, high-growth start-ups.
• Borrowing from the model used by the Indian entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley a decade ago, we will work to get women to invest in women (as well as the men who love women entrepreneurs), thereby owning the solution for ourselves.
• Where we have influence as industry leaders, LPs, Fund of Funds, family offices, VC firms, government funding agencies, etc. we will work to get women in to decision-making bodies.

The nearly 200 thought-leaders who participated in this year’s Summit have identified the above goals for the coming year as the deliverables that will lead us to the success in 2020.

And for those new to this race, the finish line has been mapped. Through this Summit and this collaboration – and any other means available to us - we will:

• Increase number of women investors.
• Increase number of women high growth entrepreneurs.
• Increase likelihood of success of these businesses.
• Get more women on public and private boards.

Come on – dive right in. The water is lovely!

Cheers,
Sharon Vosmek, CEO

Astia as Philosophy - Addressing the Entrepreneur's Paradox

This month, I have been thinking about what I have termed, the entrepreneur's paradox. Most simply stated, it is the importance of discomfort, juxtaposed with the need for comfort zones - both of which I believe, are fundamental to the success of the entrepreneur.

Get uncomfortable - it will make you grow.

I do my best thinking, listening, and learning when I am outside of my comfort zone. It seems true for most of us, that in strange places with new people we are better able to listen to the conversation before we put forward what we know - or what we think we know.

Get a community - the individual cannot do it alone.

And yet, I thrive when surrounded by an engaged community that lends thoughtful support, constructive input, validating energy, and positive reinforcement. A group of people provide an important source of strength and comfort for the isolated start-up.

I believe to succeed as entrepreneurs - we need both. And I believe that Astia - for the entrepreneur - can be both.

We need ample opportunity to feel challenged and stretched beyond what we thought we were capable of. I am reminded of the numerous Astia founders who had exceptional technical expertise, and who found Astia most challenging for them when they were confronted with owning the business elements like the financials, the go to market strategy, or the fundraising conversations. This stretch ensured they grew as leaders and as founders.

We also need ample moments when we are bolstered by those who align with us. I say it often, "The individual does not scale. High-growth entrepreneurship cannot be done alone." To be successful, the entrepreneur must be able to attract others to their vision. They must be able to inspire others to follow them to the "great unknown" of the entrepreneur's vision, idea, and purpose. And they need this cohort in order to succeed.

Astia is the space where the 'entrepreneur's paradox' can be resolved.

Astia is at the same time the platform for critical thinking - and - the community at the ready. I believe this is one of our greatest differentiators. We are a community that can both challenge and bolster the entrepreneur.

For the savvy entrepreneur, Astia maintains the space for both critical thinking leading to growth - and - supportive community aligned with your success. Food for thought for those of you wondering if Astia is right for you. We welcome the conversation - and accept applications year-round. Give us a call. Together, we may just change your world - as you always envisioned you would!

Wondering if Astia is right for you or an entrepreneur you know. give us a call or drop us an email to info@astia.org.

NYC vs Boston

What follows is a guest post by Astia NYC Vice President, Rob Delman. Welcome to the team, Rob!

Have you been following the story about whether NYC or Boston has more VC seeds deals? It is like debating who is better, the Yankees or the Red Sox (although we all know the answer to that question!)

According to a study by CB insights, when it comes to seed investments by venture capitalists, data suggests NY’s seed venture capital investments are gaining momentum at a faster rate than Massachusetts. Q1 and Q2 2010 saw an increase in seed venture capital investments in both Massachusetts and New York but the growth rate and the absolute number of deals was greater in NY in both quarters as detailed below.


Venture accelerators like Astia are enthusiastic about the data as we love to see an increase of quality deal flow regardless of the geography. This is more validation that small business and entrepreneurship continue to be the catalyst for growth in our country. The recent announcement by the White House and creation of Startup America reinforces our belief that entrepreneurship and small business are the main drivers of job growth and wealth creation.

Astia and Golden Seeds (www.goldenseeds.com) recently shared a booth at the Funding Post NYC Venture Capital and Angel Showcase in NYC where over 30 VC firms and several hundred entrepreneurs met to see if there was a match of interests. The entire scene was spectacular – clean tech, life science, consumer goods, technology and media sectors were all represented. Some of the ideas sounded futuristic but regardless, the energy was overwhelming. One could not help but feel that the economic recovery was going to happen at that very moment in that very room.

So does it really matter if NYC or Boston has more deals or invested capital? Of course not – what really matters is Astia and other great organizations participate in the entrepreneurial revolution that is again sweeping our nation.

Sheryl Sandberg: Why we have too few women leaders

Three simple suggestions for how women can fix the dearth of women leaders.
1) Raise your hand and keep your hand raised!
2) Enlist your partner - it will improve your sex life, too!
3) Don't leave before your leave!

Guest conversation from Astia VP Europe, Simone Brummelhuis

Astia is a community of experts, building women leaders and accelerating the funding and growth of high potential, high growth women-led start-ups.

I have read and heard this many times, it's on the Astia website, the reason of its existence, it became for me almost a mantra.

And as of this week I know, I have seen that the mantra is true.

I have never seen a group of experts more committed, more experienced, more qualified than this week. And I have never seen a group of women entrepreneurs who are so eager to be leaders and to accelerate their high potential startups. I am overwhelmed, and I am not the only one, the entrepreneurs are overwhelmed, both by the experts as well as their peers.

Last week I arrived in San Francisco -after a 22 year absence- much too long. And the occasion to visit San Francisco is the 2010 Astia Doing it Right Silicon Valley Program.

A full 43 companies and 58 entrepreneurs made it through the rigorous screening of joining this week’s program. Most are North American companies, 2 companies from Europe, 1 company from India and 1 company from New Zealand in industries of clean tech, life-science, enterprise software, medical devices, leisure and retail products.

Many of these female entrepreneurs have built a business before, some in a corporate environment, some have successfully exited their previous businesses. Some of the startups already raised their angel money, and are connecting with Astia for the institutional rounds of funding. Some of them are serial entrepreneurs or -as one woman calls herself- Startup Junkies. But what has been clear from the outset is that the class of 2010 is quite special.

I came to watch, to learn, to support the European companies, and, above all, to get ready for our European Astia program which will take place March 14-18, 2011.

From the first day of the program with a panel of impressive alumni Astia entrepreneurs - who where in the 60% success rate of Astia companies getting funding - to the last day of the program: it has been a roller coaster of panels, workshops and round tables with impressive investors, entrepreneurs, corporate heads and service providers with bios that each read as novels.

The entrepreneurs have -inter alia- stood up to present their ideas, listened to seasoned entrepreneurs who have uncovered their go-to-market strategy, calculated their financial projections together with financial wizzards, shaken hands with illustre giants of the tech industry, given out business cards to gatekeepers of venture capital firms, and established relationships with the global corporate giants.

The week was packed from morning to evening, there was no escape but go for it; a steep learning curve for all the women-led companies as never before. Also, never before were so many men and women of outstanding caliber together to support women-led companies. Tom Kosnik of Stanford, Dan'l Lewin of Microsoft, Bashkar Gorti of Oracle, Bill Reichert of Garage Technology Ventures and Bill Campbell, Chairman of Intuit. And who says that there are no women in global high positions? With Shellye Archambeau of Metric Stream, Eileen Gittens of Blurb, Andrea Zurek of XG Ventures and Renee Knee of Hewlett Packard, Astia brought forward outstanding rolemodels.

And on top of it, there was Female Internet Hero, Susan Wojcicki of Google who presented her case to give her support to the Astia female entrepreneurs.

As one of the first employees from 1999 at Google (she let her garage to Sergey and Larry), now a top 10 leader in Google and responsible for 97% of Google's turnover, while being a mom of 4 children, she puts in practice her own advice: Have a mission and you and other people can work harder for you, collect the best insights and make them your own, continue innovation and not perfection and believe in the impossible and it can become true, and KEEP GOING!

The great things is, that it's all applicable to the Astia class of 2010.

We want this in Europe too!

Simone Brummelhuis joined Astia in 2008 as a member of the Astia European Advisory Board. A former attorney, today she runs Astia Europe as the Vice President of that market. Simone lives in Amsterdam with her husband and three daughters.

Happy New Year! We got interns for Christmas, what did you get?

Welcome to 2010! We like it better than 2009 already.

Why?

Already this year, three Astia clients secured funding in the last two weeks, two more are in due diligence, we have an Investor Forum on January 14 with over 100 investors confirmed, Moss Adams renewed its sponsorship of Astia for a 4th Year, and the Astia Advisor community continues to deliver on the promise of working with our clients to shortcut their pathways to success (if you are an Astia client, add your comments to this post about your team of Advisors).

And there is more happening inside of Astia...

Astia NYC welcomes four new interns (3 MBAs + 1 Ph.D.) this semester from Columbia and NYU Stern. We look forward to everyone getting to know them throughout the year.

Carolyn Simnett Branco (Columbia Business School ’11): Carolyn joins us for the Spring Semester to focus on Astia’s business development efforts and new client services. Formerly with Google in California and Buenos Aires and UBS Investment Bank, Carolyn brings a passion for entrepreneurship and deep digital media and technology experience.

Eileen Puklin Faucher, PhD: Eileen will serve as our resident Life Sciences expert moving forward our Life Science initiatives on the East Coast. Eileen has worked with Columbia University's Office of Technology Ventures and with Lux Capital Management and has held a variety of scientific research roles, including with the ËTH in Zürich, Switzerland. In addition to her work with Astia, Eileen currently conducts experiments as a postdoctoral research scientist at Columbia.

Stephanie Palmeri (Columbia Business School ’11): With deep strategic consulting and web marketing experience at Sitaro Consulting, Accenture and Estee Lauder Companies, Stephanie brings a hands-on digital media integration and strategic campaign perspective to the team. She mentors entrepreneurs through the InSITE program and is organizing the first ever Entrepreneurial Panel for Columbia’s Women in Business conference: “Redefining Business, Reinventing Yourself” on February 19, 2010.

Avanti Paranjpye (NYU Stern ’11): Avanti is focusing her applied mathematics and publishing background on finance, entrepreneurship and innovation at NYU Stern. She has received several academic and research awards and looks forward to a career in strategic business development upon graduation.

Together, Stephanie and Avanti will be focused on client management. Their work will be to ensure Astia companies derive measurable impact from our community.

We are thrilled to have such talent available to us and delighted to have them on board. Please join us as we welcome them to Astia!

Oh, and do let us know what you got for Christmas and how your 2010 is shaping up.

New York Entrepreneur Week

Special Report from Jennifer Hill, Vice President, Astia

This past week, New York celebrated the largest entrepreneurship movement throughout the state: New York Entrepreneur Week (NYEW). Within the heart of the Big Apple, hundreds crammed into classrooms at Columbia Business School (and thousands watched live online) to hear from NYC’s leading entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors, industry leaders, technology press and more.

On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to moderate the NYEW Town Hall Meeting: Entrepreneurship Policy: Where Are We? Where Are We Going? How Will Entrepreneurship Revitalize the United States?

Joining me as panelists were:
• Adam Oliveri, Managing Director at SecondMarket (an online marketplace for illiquid assets)
• Luis Antonio Marquez, Director General of the Mexican Private Equity Association (over 45 funds and $12B under management)
• JiNan Glasgow, Founder & CEO of Neopatents (patent research and analytics company)

The lively discussion touched on a variety of topics, including how to restore liquidity to the U.S. markets, prominent sources of funding outside of the traditional venture capital / angel investment /high net worth individuals, and the role of tax credits. Yet some of the more interesting ideas grew from issues the panelists are tackling right now within their businesses. Here are a few highlights.

(1) Unlocking the value of intellectual property can be one the strongest ways to trigger innovation.
JiNan Glasgow, founder and CEO of Neopatents, believes that everyone has the power to create – and her work globally has focused on transforming ideas into reality and creating positive impact from them. Creating commercially valuable assets from ideas through intellectual property and entrepreneurial activity is the number one way to impact the economy. Patents and trademarks are the most highly valued intellectual property types, whose value can be leveraged if businesses know how to do it right. Strategic development requires answers, not just data, to inform investment and business decision-making. JiNan works with companies of all sizes – from start-ups to publicly traded companies – to leverage patent information to stimulate and accelerate innovation and to monetize the value of intellectual property to fundraise and grow the enterprise.

JiNan shared that many large public company have dozens of patents “sitting on the shelf” which can be used to test and develop new business lines, especially in an economic downturn when excess resources can be inexpensively deployed in new ways and start-up costs continue to reduce. Companies often find that that strength of such intellectual property secures investment from trusted sources which then enables a new company to grow on its own, often freed from the traditional timeline and pace of the founding company. Such opportunities often create further investment to combine efforts with emerging companies who have additional R&D, which accounts for a variety of early-stage acquisitions.

(2) Innovation will continue to prosper if illiquid markets can be accessed.
Adam Oliveri, Managing Director at SecondMarket, shared with the panel the benefits of secondary markets. The steady decline in IPO activity over the last 10 years and the dramatic rise and then sudden fall of M&A activity has left a market void for company exits attractive to investors. Increasing regulatory and administrative burdens also encourage companies to stay private longer, which challenges liquidity outlets. SecondMarket exists to give buyers and sellers a private secure marketplace to effect transactions -- subject to state and federal securities laws -- while providing a robust set of data, analytics and valuation tools instantly accessible online.

(3) What is the most surprising trend affecting cross-border transactions between the United States and Mexico?
Luis Antonio Marquez, Director General of the Mexican Private Equity Association, commented that U.S. venture capital firms have been investing south of the border both directly into private equity and venture capital funds and directly within Mexican enterprises. Mexico’s strong innovation and technology programs allow foreign investors to receive last mile grants when partnering with Mexican manufacturers, further stimulating investment. Mexico also encourages commercialization of pre-approved intellectual property – such as patents -- and will use foreign investment, technology and human resources to do so. For aspiring entrepreneurs, some of the strongest innovation can actually be found within the government and its research programs, which allow people to commercialize its pre-approved patents. Last and mostly interestingly, Mr. Marquez reminded us that the U.S. enjoys a Hispanic population of greater than 40 million people which represent the same GDP as Mexico. Savvy states such as Arizona and New Mexico are creating Hispanic Entrepreneurship Programs that provide training, resources, and capital to new businesses within the respective states and across the border leveraging Mexican commercial resources. As the segment of the population continues to grow, we can expect the cross-border development between the U.S. and Mexico to equally prosper.

To learn more about Astia on the East Coast, contact jhill@astia.org

Innovation on my mind

Recently I was asked by Mary Kathleen Flynn of The Deal why I thought there were so few women VCs. While I struggle to answer that question (and I welcome your thoughts if you have them). I have been spending a great deal of time thinking about what it means for innovation if women are not appropriately represented – as innovators, funders and consumers of innovation. My cause for concern was validated this week by John Doerr’s comments as he accepted the Bay Area Business Council Hall of Fame Award with fellow VC Brook Byers. John presented a compelling case for why he believes we are heading for a significant innovation crisis here in the Bay Area – and why this is the challenge of our time. What I heard in his comments was that innovation matters. And if an economic powerhouse like Doerr says it matters – I believe.

Accepting that innovation matters, I return to my original quandary about the role of women in innovation. So I read and I observe and I think. These are the tools I have used to develop the following conclusions about innovation and why you should care if you look around and everyone looks, thinks, sounds, acts and is – JUST LIKE YOU.

Number 1) Smart people have told us that diversity results in better innovation: “The diverse group almost always outperforms the group of the best by a substantial margin,” The Difference, Scott E. Page, University of Michigan. “The key to innovation, in economic terms, resides inside the heads of people, the more diverse the better. That link may not be immediately apparent, yet any understanding of innovation's role in economic growth must focus on diversity as well as ability.”

Number 2) There is a significant body of research that demonstrates the correlation between women in executive positions and higher profits and better overall performance. Agreed, correlation is not cause, but the correlation is significant. (Women Matter, McKinsey & Co.; The Bottom Line, Catalyst)

Number 3) The smartest people I know surround themselves with people who challenge their opinions, their premises, their conclusions – they invest in the intellectual journey and the debate. To get to this environment they tend to surround themselves with folks who bring a unique perspective, a unique experience, or a unique way of thinking about the problem –and they welcome these. OK, this one is not research, but I told you I used observation, too.

These are not my final thoughts on the topic by any measure. They are where I am today and what I am thinking about. I welcome your thoughts and observations on the matter and even invite you to guest blog about them on the Astia Notes Blog.

Take chances. When rowing forward, the boat may rock. (Chinese Proverb)

I am sure that readers will laugh when I say that publishing this blog feels a bit bold and daring. Those of you who have been doing this since 1999, I commend your courage. I, for one, have been reading the internet since 1995 and I look forward to finishing it soon.

Back to the point I intended when I chose the subject for today's Astia notes.

Astia's growth this past year has taken on a life of its own. This growth, while exciting, feels a bit like a rocking boat at times. The key to success for us has been to learn to lean at the right times and in the right direction to both capture the wind and keep the boat from capsizing - all at the same time. Here is just a quick wind-in-our-sails, rocking-of-our-boat list:

Astia Silicon Valley - still our flagship product, the Doing it Right Program and it Conference in November once again delivered real results for the clients we serve. As of this posting 29% of the 28 companies had already secured funding - and there are more well on their way. This puts that program on par with prior years. Astia clients continue to outpace the broader market where fundraising success hovers below 1%.

Astia NYC - in its second year, the Astia New York community has blossomed! This year's Doing it Right program is a part of the first annual NYC Entrepreneur Week and already 18 companies have been accepted. Want to find out if you have what it takes?

Last year's class had a greater than 40% success rate - proving that the Astia model for success can extend well beyond Silicon Valley.

In addition, the model continues to attract great interest with Astia Vice President, Jennifer Hill, featured a number of times on MSNBC and strategic partnerships emerging such as with 85 Broads. If you are thinking that you would like to be a part of this growing community, you can reach out directly to Jennifer (jhill@astia.org) or Raquel Episcopio (raquel@astia.org) in the New York Office (yes we have an office, thanks to the generosity of David S. Rose, Chairman of NY Angels). You can find team Astia at 30 E. 23rd Street, 6th Floor, NY, NY 10010.

Astia UK/EU - has managed to capture the interest of the media with features in the Financial Times and the Daily Telegraph as well as the bloggesphere with mentions in http://thenextwomen.com/, TechCrunch, Helen Keegan, and don't even get me started on all of the Tweets! In its first year, the programme features prominent investors, entrepreneurs and industry leaders all brought together by a local community of Advisors.

Astia continues to grow through collaboration, and in the UK, Astia will partner with thenextwomen.com for Female Friday at the Next Web Conference, April 17th.

Astia UK incorporation is also under way thanks to the legal support and leadership of Advisory Board members from Reed Smith. Astia UK is hoping to qualify for charitable status in the coming months, demonstrating our commitment to the community and the market.

Astia India - has a planning committee that has blossomed to 20 members. The first Astia India event is now being planned for early May - in spite of the fact that my travel budget is nil for the India market. This means that committee members Sajai Singh, J. Sagar Associates, Anurakt Jain, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, India, Anu Bhardwaj, and Nita Goyal will take the leadership to ensure a successful gathering. Watch the community grow!

And all of this GREAT STUFF is happening at Astia because of some trends in the broader market place (IMHO):

For the past 20-50 years women have been pursuing opportunities so that today they represent:
51% of businesses
35-40% of applicants to business schools
43% of environmental engineering degrees
40% of bioengineering degrees
12% of mechanical engineering and computer engineering degrees

What this tells me is that women are poised and ready to participate. Already they are strong entrepreneurs. Our work is to expose them to the business opportunities presented by raising outside capital to grow their businesses. Women still today under-utilize equity investment as a means of growing their businesses. However, that does not mean that they are somehow not able or not allowed to - it just means that they need exposure to it.

And that, my friends, is what we are all about. Men and women - working together to grow the next generation of innovative companies.

I will be back next month with more thoughts - or maybe next month I will have a guest. Either way, I hope you will return and provide your comments and thoughts about what we have to say. I very much look forward to the dialogue!

PS
The Center for Venture Research found that women receive angel investment on par with men. OF COURSE THEY DO!

Astia Launches a Blog

Welcome to Astia Notes. In the interest of continuing to grow the Astia community, we have established this blog. I will invite guest bloggers to join me in conversation and hopefully this will become a vibrant component of the already vibrant community.

Stay tuned. More to come soon... very soon.