Circular Board to Host First-Ever Virtual Demo Day for Women Entrepreneurs

Houston, TX, March 9, 2016 (Newswire.com) - ​​Today, Circular Board announced its inaugural Virtual Demo Day for women entrepreneurs – the first of its kind in the world. A showcase of 30 companies participating in the Circular Board accelerator for women entrepreneurs with high-growth, scalable businesses will upload their pitches to an interactive gallery available to participating investors, mentors and strategic partners on Thursday, March 31, 2016.

The Virtual Demo Day announcement comes on the heels of the launch of Circular Board’s Pitch with Purpose, the first pitch competition for women social entrepreneurs tied to achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,

"Forty-eight percent of female founders cite a lack of available mentors or advisers as a barrier to growth, which is why our Virtual Demo Day participants present to startup experts and partners, along with the traditional investor audience. Our goal is to not only ensure that these businesses have the capital they need to grow but also the guidance and expertise to support that growth."

Carolyn Rodz, founder, Circular Board

Dell Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Circular Board’s upcoming Circular Summit co-chair Elizabeth Gore says about Circular Board, “For years, the startup community has talked about the lack of funding and other business challenges for women founders, and yet, there are relatively few initiatives actually working to solve these issues. Circular Board is taking a leadership role in this space by creating solutions to elevate women entrepreneurs through a variety of programs aimed at breaking down barriers and creating opportunities.”

Circular Board founder Carolyn Rodz explains further, “Forty-eight percent of female founders cite a lack of available mentors or advisers as a barrier to growth, which is why our Virtual Demo Day participants present to startup experts and partners, along with the traditional investor audience. Our goal is to not only ensure that these businesses have the capital they need to grow but also the guidance and expertise to support that growth.”

Circular Board accelerator participants come from a broad variety of industries, including healthcare, fashion, retail, technology and beyond. “We’re addressing the gender gap in entrepreneurship, and that encompasses all industries,” adds Rodz. “Technology is certainly at the core of many of the companies participating in Circular Board, but our goal is to identify companies that have opportunities to scale and put rocket fuel behind their growth, regardless of industry.”

The following companies are participating in Circular Board’s winter 2016 cohort, and are scheduled to present at Virtual Demo Day:

•     Kristen Alexandrov, founder, givetwig

•     Miriam Baker, owner and designer, Miriam Baker

•     Anu Bhardwaj, founder, Women INVESTING in Women DIGITAL

•     Maureen Borzacchiello, founder, Creative Display Solutions

•     Rachel Cargle and Alexis Thomas, co-founders, The Aide-de-Camp Collective

•     Alejandra Chavez, co-founder and CEO, PACHAMAMMAS International

•     Raeshem Chopra Nijhon, co-founder and executive producer, Fictionless + Imagine Health Films

•     Suzie Cyrene, co-founder and CEO, HomeoAnimal

•     Dulce Dennis and Apoorva Thakur,  co-founders, Flux

•     Rebecca Frankel, co-founder, TeemBook

•     Erin Gore, CEO and general manager, Gore Farms

•     Jennifer Holzer, founder, RentWhite

•     Sania Jamil, founder and CEO, Bumble Brain Box

•     Beth Kertz, founder, unnamed

•     Michelle LaRocco, founder, Art Simplified

•     Carol Luong, founder, GreatPositive

•     Sarah Masciana, founder and CEO, Hubalou

•     Tyler Masters, co-founder, Shop ’n Pepper

•     Naiana Miranda, founder, Raise the Bar

•     Lesley Neadel, founder, PregoPals

•     Jessica Paindiris, co-founder and CEO, The Clarion List

•     Roxanne Paiva, co-founder and executive director, The Community Cloth 

•     Monica Phromsavanh, Modabox

•     Judith Puckett-Rinella, president, WhisperEditions.com

•     Jenny Sartain, founder, Town Square

•     Avantika Shahi, founder and CEO, Haus

•     Courtenay Siegfried, co-founder, Launchpad Skills for Success

•     Corinne Wainer, co-founder and CEO, SHAKTIBARRE

•     Adrianne Weir, co-founder, Mother’s Milk Cooperative + Medolac Laboratories

•     Elizabeth Goodwin Wellborn, owner and creative director, STICK & BALL

•     Holly Woodford, founder, GoPlayGo

Investors and advisers will provide feedback and have an opportunity to develop strategic relationships to support the growth of participating companies. For more information on participating as an adviser for the Circular Board Virtual Demo Day, please contact olivia@thecircularboard.com.

About Circular Board:

Circular Board is a collaborative accelerator for growth-oriented female entrepreneurs who lead, or aspire to build, businesses with multi-million dollar revenues. We support women in business around the world through mentorship, content, community and capital, and connect founders to the resources they need to fuel growth. For more information, visit www.thecircularboard.com.

About the Founder, Carolyn Rodz

Circular Board was founded by three-time entrepreneur Carolyn Rodz. She has helped raise billions of dollars of capital for innovative organizations, created a luxury retail line that sold in over 400 stores worldwide, and later launched an interactive marketing firm serving Fortune 500 enterprises and startups positioning themselves for industry leadership. Carolyn now serves as an advocate for women entrepreneurs, connecting them to sources of capital, strategic partners, and mentors to create businesses that scale. She is recognized among Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2016 “Women to Watch”, as a Sam Walton Emerging Entrepreneur, and Micro to Millions awardee in partnership with American Express. Carolyn is a delegate to the United Nations Foundation Global Accelerator, a member of the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network, TEDx speaker, former student board member for the Texas A&M Mays College of Business, and contributor to Fortune, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur and Time.