International Women’s Day is a time for people across the globe to celebrate the achievements of women everywhere, as well as call attention to attaining women’s equality. For decades, people have used the annual occasion to exercise support for women who’ve collectively overcome numerous obstacles.
Celebrated around the world today, the origins of International Women’s Day can be traced back to New York City. In 1857, women banded together to strike against unfair working conditions, then in 1908, a similar protest occurred wherein women demanded fair labor laws and the right to vote. Thanks to these movements and others outside of the U.S., Women have successfully gained civil, social, political and religious rights after years of systemic discrimination around the world.
Today, women have continued to forge a path toward equality and make a mark in the professional world. There is still much work to be done, such as achieving pay equity, especially for women who are also members of other underrepresented communities. Observances like Black Women’s Equal Pay Day are in place to keep these matters at the front of our minds throughout the year.
Though there’s still a long way to go before achieving full equality, women haven’t let hurdles stop them from achieving significant feats, like founding their own companies in the tech industry. This International Women’s Day, Built In is highlighting several women-founded tech ventures that have achieved new developments in recent months.
Spearheaded by women entrepreneurs, learn more about what five companies across the U.S. have been building and how they’re growing.
5 Women-Led Tech Companies
- Blaze.tech
- Hey Jane
- Hyfé Foods
- Perygee
- SUMA Wealth
SUMA Wealth operates a financial inclusion platform that targets members of the Latinx community. Founded by Latinx CEO Beatriz Acevedo and COO Mary Hernandez, SUMA announced its acquisition of personal finance platform Reel back in February. Reel was led by Daniela Corrente, another Latinx woman founder. This merger marked a first-of-its-kind partnership in the fintech space because both companies were led by Latinx women founders, according to SUMA. Corrente now serves as SUMA’s chief strategy and business officer.
Based on the West Coast, Blaze.tech offers no-code and low-code software solutions to help professionals build web applications that streamline their daily workflows. The company is led by co-CEOs Nanxi Liu and Tina Denuit-Wojcik, and it launched its platform in January with a $3.5 million round of pre-seed funding. The capital is going toward expanding its team and building out its product.
Headquartered in Boston and led by CEO and co-founder Mollie Breen, Perygee developed a solution that helps businesses monitor and secure their IoT systems and automate expedient security responses based on data from those connected devices. The company made plans to grow its team and platform with a $4.75 million round of seed funding raised last October. During this time, it also launched an onboarding solution for anyone using the free version of Perygee.
This New York-based company specializes in providing telehealth services for abortion care. It recently expanded its service into new markets after Roe v. Wade was overturned last year and raised a fresh round of capital to support its work. Hey Jane was co-founded by CEO Kiki Freedman, Gaby Izarra and Dr. Kate Shaw. The company’s $6.1 million raise from last October will support further market expansion and treatments for more women’s health conditions, like postpartum depression.
This Chicago-based foodtech company developed a way to create nutrient-rich flour from wasted sugar water. Michelle Ruiz and Andrea Schoen founded the company in 2021 and went on to raise a $2 million seed round last May. Its latest capital raise was put toward scaling its flour bioprocess with companies that provide it with their discarded sugar water. Hyfé works simultaneously to create nutrient-dense food and reduce food waste and water consumption.
