InvestHer Podcast

InvestHer Podcast is a podcast for women entrepreneurs who want to learn about funding and get funded faster, and for investors and ecosystem players who want to learn more about what it's really like for female founders in the world of funding today.It's a behind the scenes look at the funding tactics and strategies that really work, to give women founders more confidence to get the funding you deserve to take your business to the next level. Each episode will be short, energetic and action-oriented, giving you lots of practical funding tips, so that you can get investor-ready, get the funding you need and back to building your business, FASTER.Join entrepreneur, consultant, TEDx speaker and women's advocate, Anne Ravanona, as she shares how to put the fun back into funding for female founders, with real truths about what it's like for women entrepreneurs in the funding world today, inspiring and practical interviews with the investors who actually do fund women-led companies, as w

InvestHer Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 64 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts InvestHer Podcast, a business show with 64 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #64

  Dream Bigger: Nikki Barua on Building an AI-Native Company Without Raising a Cent

  Aug 18, 202659 minS4

  "Dream big. There's never been a better time to not only dream big, but to actually bring those dreams to life." Dream Bigger: Nikki Barua on Building an AI-Native Company Without Raising a Cent! In this episode of the InvestHer Podcast, host Anne Ravanona speaks with Nikki Barua, CEO and Co-Founder of FlipWork, about why she is building her fastest-growing company yet without raising a single cent, how AI has fundamentally collapsed the cost and complexity of starting and scaling a business, and what it really takes — in mindset, identity, and strategy — for women founders to seize what she calls the greatest wave in modern human history. Discover how Nikki Barua went from a front-row seat watching her mother bootstrap a business from nothing in India, to managing hundreds of millions in corporate accounts, to founding four companies and arriving at FlipWork — a fully AI-native transformation platform — armed with the conviction that the human being is the greatest technology on earth, and that women who lean into AI now will not just survive disruption but lead it. Don't miss this episode with actionable insights on: • AI has shrunk the time humans have to adapt so radically that all old entrepreneurial playbooks are now dead. • Women founders can build and scale without outside capital — and raise later from a position of strength, not desperation. • A 29-question psychometric diagnostic can reveal your AI readiness and the precise bottlenecks holding you back. • Encoding your unique human judgment into AI tools is the only way to differentiate your output from everyone else's. • Identity can be shifted immediately, even when skills and confidence take time — so architect the person who wins first. • Women are 25% behind men in AI adoption, creating a compounding career and business risk that is entirely reversible. • First-principles thinking means refusing commonly held beliefs — because following the herd produces only common results. This is your invitation to stop waiting for capital, permission, or certainty — and start building the future on your own terms. Listen Now | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | ▶️ Full Show Notes About Nikki Nikki Barua is a serial entrepreneur, bestselling author, and keynote speaker with over 25 years of experience guiding some of the world's most iconic brands through digital transformation, workforce reinvention, and organisational change. As CEO and Co-Founder of FlipWork, she is on a mission to ensure that humans co-evolve alongside AI rather than get left behind by it. Her personal journey from humble beginnings in India to building global companies has made her a sought-after voice on resilience, reinvention, and leading through disruption. Nikki has been featured in CNBC, Bloomberg, Fortune, and Forbes, and recognised as an EY North America Entrepreneurial Winning Woman, one of Entrepreneur Magazine's 100 Most Influential Women, and Entrepreneur of the Year by ACE. Website: https://flipwork.ai LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkibarua/ Instagram: https://www.nikkibarua.com/ Twitter (X): https://x.com/NikkiBarua About FlipWork FlipWork is an AI-native transformation platform helping organisations and individuals reinvent their culture, capabilities, and competitive edge for the AI age. Through a proprietary psychometric diagnostic and a personalised eight-week sprint guided by an AI change agent called Flippy, FlipWork extracts what makes each person uniquely human and encodes that judgment so they can amplify — rather than be replaced by — artificial intelligence. The result is a Reinvention Passport: each participant's AI twin, ready to deploy across any tool or workflow. Resources Mentioned FlipWork — take the free AI readiness diagnostic: https://flipwork.ai Connect with Nikki Barua on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkibarua/ Follow Nikki Barua on X (Twitter): https://x.com/NikkiBarua Connect with Anne & Global Invest Her https://www.investherpodcast.com/ Funder Directory: https://funderdirectory.globalinvesther.com/ Buy From Her Directory: https://www.buyfromher.com/ ️ LinkedIn: Anne Ravanona https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneravanona/ #InvestHerPodcast #InvestHer #WomenFounders #FemaleFounders #WomenEntrepreneurs #AIForFounders #AINative #FlipWork #NikkiBarua #HumanTransformation #FounderMindset #BootstrapWithAI #WomenInAI #ReinventYourself

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  Episode #63

  Proof of Concept, Proven: Megan Sorby Is Scaling Regenerative Aquaculture

  Aug 11, 20261h 6mS4

  "Food is infrastructure, and that's what we're building here: infrastructure for the future of clean and healthy food" Proof of Concept, Proven: Megan Sorby Is Scaling Regenerative Aquaculture! In this episode of the InvestHer Podcast, host Anne Ravanona speaks with Megan Sorby, Co-founder and CEO of Pine Island Redfish, about how she is building a circular, land-based regenerative aquaculture company in Florida — farming redfish sustainably, growing 50,000 mangroves a year from fish waste, and closing a $5.5M Series A to scale domestic seafood production across the United States. Discover how Megan Sorby's two decades of commercial aquaculture experience — spanning broodstock management, new species development, and land-based facility design — led her and her co-founder husband Tom to return to the Gulf Coast of Florida and build something the U.S. seafood industry has long needed: a fully circular, recirculating aquaculture system that pairs responsible redfish production with coastal mangrove restoration, funded by the farm itself. Don't miss this episode with actionable insights on: • The U.S. imports 80–90% of its seafood despite having vast coastlines and some of the world's highest-value fish species. • Redfish was commercially fished to near-collapse in the 1980s, then America sent broodstock to Taiwan — and now buys it back with less traceability. • Pine Island Redfish proved its full model on under $1.5M, deliberately staying lean before scaling rather than chasing large early rounds. • Fish waste from their recirculating system feeds mangrove seedlings — turning a disposal problem into a self-funded nature-based restoration programme. • Community came first: a single phone call to a former colleague connected Megan to Publix's seafood director, who visited the farm before committing. • Growing fish in a fully controlled indoor environment produced a cleaner, more translucent fillet — opening redfish to crudo, ceviche, and sushi markets where it had never appeared before. • A volunteer network of 300 people plants the farm's mangrove seedlings on local coastlines, and many of those same volunteers become loyal fish customers. Megan Sorby is proof that the most powerful infrastructure investments don't always look like tech — sometimes they look like a tank full of redfish and a field full of mangroves. Listen Now | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | ▶️ Full Show Notes About Megan Megan Sorby is the Co-Founder and CEO of Pine Island Redfish, a Florida-based regenerative marine aquaculture company cultivating redfish within a circular food system built to support coastal resiliency. She brings over two decades of commercial aquaculture experience across North America, with deep expertise in new species development, land-based facility design, broodstock management, and production planning to market. Megan holds a Master's degree in Sustainable Aquaculture from the University of Stirling in Scotland and a BSc in Marine Biology and Chemistry from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Science. A winner of the InvestHer Summit 2024 global pitch competition, she is widely recognised as one of the most knowledgeable and passionate voices in responsible domestic seafood production. Megan leads with both scientific rigour and a community-first mindset, building Pine Island Redfish into a model for how food production can simultaneously nourish people and restore the ecosystems they depend on. Website: https://www.pineislandredfish.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-sorby-237b73159/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pineislandredfish/ About Pine Island Redfish Pine Island Redfish is a land-based regenerative aquaculture company based in Florida, farming red drum — redfish — in a state-of-the-art recirculating system that gives fish their optimal environment year-round while capturing and repurposing every byproduct the process creates. The company's circular model transforms nutrient-rich fish waste into compost and liquid fertiliser used to cultivate mangrove seedlings, which are then planted by a growing volunteer network to restore threatened coastal ecosystems. Currently operating out of Mote Marine Laboratories Aquaculture Park, Pine Island Redfish supplies retail partners including Publix and distributes to food service and culinary markets across the United States, from the Southeast to Los Angeles, New York, and Washington D.C. Resources Mentioned Pine Island Redfish — Website: https://www.pineislandredfish.com/ Connect with Megan Sorby on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-sorby-237b73159/ Pine Island Redfish on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pineislandredfish/ Connect with Anne & Global Invest Her https://www.investherpodcast.com/ Funder Directory: https://funderdirectory.globalinvesther.com/ Buy From Her Directory: https://www.buyfromher.com/ ️ LinkedIn: Anne Ravanona https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneravanona/ #InvestHerPodcast #InvestHer #WomenFounders #FemaleFounders #WomenEntrepreneurs #Aquaculture #RegenerativeFarming #CircularEconomy #SeafoodSustainability #MangroveRestoration #CoastalResilience #FoodSystems #WomenInAgriculture #DomesticSeafood

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  Episode #62

  Tech Is Not Neutral: Mara Bolis On Building an Equitable AI Future for Women

  Aug 4, 20261h 15mS4

  "If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring your own folding chair." ⚡ Tech Is Not Neutral: How Mara Bolis Is Building an Equitable AI Future for Women! In this episode of the InvestHer Podcast, host Anne Ravanona speaks with Mara Bolis, Founder & CEO of First Prompt and Fellow at Harvard's Berkman Klein Centre for Internet and Society, about why women's hesitation toward generative AI is not a knowledge gap but a risk intelligence signal — and what women founders, enterprise leaders, and everyday users must do right now to claim their agency in one of the most consequential technological shifts in human history. Discover how Mara Bolis's career arc — from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the U.S. Development Finance Corporation to Oxfam's women's economic empowerment programmes and Harvard Kennedy School — gave her a systems-level lens on inequality that she now applies directly to the AI era. This led her to found First Prompt, publish her 'Fierce Ambivalence' framework in Stanford Social Innovation Review, inspire an OECD expert focus group supported by the German Ministry of Labour, and co-host the Womansplaining AI podcast. Don't miss this episode with actionable insights on: • Women use generative AI at work roughly 20% less than men — a gap that risks widening the pay divide. • Why hesitation toward AI is a rational response to bias, privacy risk, and unequal judgment, not a lack of confidence. • Mara's 'Fierce Ambivalence' framework: use AI passionately while holding it to the highest ethical standard. • Every major AI tool hallucinates, and Mara shares which ones to trust and how to catch a fabricated answer. • Why free AI tools make you the product, not the customer, and how to protect your data. • The 'shadow usage' risk facing companies without a clear AI policy — and why silence lets bias creep in. • How to turn AI into an investor-pitch coach that stress-tests your fundraising story before the real thing. This episode is essential listening for every woman who wants to shape the AI era rather than be shaped by it. Listen Now | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | ▶️ Full Show Notes About Mara Mara Bolis is the Founder and CEO of First Prompt, an equitable AI adoption lab, and a Fellow at Harvard's Berkman Klein Centre for Internet and Society. Her career spans the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, Oxfam America, the Harvard Kennedy School, and the role of Chief Strategy Officer at Moms First, giving her a rare systems-level perspective on how technology, finance, and gender inequality intersect. Her framework, 'Fierce Ambivalence', published in Stanford Social Innovation Review, directly inspired an OECD expert focus group on women's attitudes toward AI, supported by the German Ministry of Labour. A sought-after speaker and media commentator — interviewed by Bloomberg, CNN, the Washington Post, Reuters, and Forbes — Mara is also the co-host of the Womansplaining AI podcast. She holds an MBA from Johns Hopkins University and an MS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. Website: https://www.firstprompt.net/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mara-bolis-z123/ About First Prompt First Prompt is an equitable AI adoption lab founded to ensure that women engage with generative AI on their own terms, at their own pace, and in community with peers. Inspired by the flat, peer-driven structure of women's savings groups, First Prompt runs learning programmes within organisations, advises leaders on inclusive AI rollout, and conducts research that connects women's lived experience of AI to policy recommendations at the national and international level. First Prompt's work sits at the intersection of gender equality, emerging technology, and systems change. Resources Mentioned First Prompt — Mara's equitable AI adoption lab: https://www.firstprompt.net/ Womansplaining AI Podcast — co-hosted by Mara Bolis: https://www.womensplainingai.com Connect with Mara Bolis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mara-bolis-z123/ Connect with Anne & Global Invest Her https://www.investherpodcast.com/ Funder Directory: https://funderdirectory.globalinvesther.com/ Buy From Her Directory: https://www.buyfromher.com/ ️ LinkedIn: Anne Ravanona https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneravanona/ #InvestHerPodcast #InvestHer #WomenFounders #FemaleFounders #WomenEntrepreneurs #AIForWomen #GenerativeAI #GenderAndAI #FierceAmbivalence #FirstPrompt #WomensplainingAI #AIPolicy #EquitableAI #WomenInTech

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  Episode #61

  EP61: 100 Women, One Mission: Dr. Anino Emuwa on Power and Access

  Jul 14, 202651 minS4

  "Make sure you're part of a network that supports female entrepreneurs. Do not do it on your own." 🌍 100 Women, One Mission: Dr. Anino Emuwa on Power and Access! 🎙 In this episode of the InvestHer Podcast, host Anne Ravanona speaks with Anino Emuwa, Managing Director of Avandis Consulting and Founder of 100 Women@Davos, about dismantling the gender funding gap, the systemic barriers women entrepreneurs face when accessing capital, and why advancing women's leadership demands action at every level — from boardrooms to government policy. 🌍 Discover how Anino's journey from corporate banker at Citibank to global advocate for women's leadership spans continents, decades, and disciplines. Armed with a Doctorate in Business Administration focused on overcoming barriers to entrepreneurial finance, she turned a WhatsApp group of women at the World Economic Forum in Davos into a thriving global community — 100 Women@Davos — that amplifies women leaders on the world stage and inside the rooms where decisions are made. 💡 Don't miss this episode with actionable insights on: • Why less than 2% of VC funding goes to female-led businesses — and how the culture of Silicon Valley's origins created a self-perpetuating DNA of exclusion • The Harvard study that revealed how women founders are asked defensive questions while male founders are asked about opportunity — and why bias, not logic, is the real barrier • Why grants are massively underutilised by women entrepreneurs — and how even small grants can act as a credibility stamp that opens further doors • The critical importance of understanding what type of finance you actually need — and why working capital, angel investment, and grants deserve as much attention as VC • How Anino built 100 Women@Davos from a WhatsApp group to a global paid membership community — entirely purpose-driven and organically grown • Why governments must step in as active partners to fix the funding gap — and the powerful UK precedent of an 11-year Bank of England initiative that proved systemic change is possible • The investor case: why female-led businesses exit faster at higher value, make excellent creditors, and represent one of the most undervalued return opportunities in the market today Learn how to access funding, build your network, and advocate for the systemic change that will finally close the gender gap — on your own terms. 🔗 Listen Now | 🎧 Apple Podcasts | Spotify | ▶️ Full Show Notes About Anino Dr. Anino Emuwa is a global expert on women's leadership working at the intersection of emerging technologies, entrepreneurship, and inclusion. A former corporate banker turned consultant and advocate, she holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from Nottingham Business School focused on overcoming barriers to entrepreneurial finance, an MBA from Cranfield School of Management, and a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics. She sits on several boards including Nottingham Trent University and the Watch & Jewellery Initiative 2030, advises the Institute of Directors' Expert Advisory Group on Diversity and Inclusion, and is a member of the UN Women Leaders Network. 🌐 Website: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/100womendavos/?viewAsMember=true 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-anino-emuwa/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.emuwa/ 🐤 Twitter (X): https://x.com/DrEmuwa About 100 Women@Davos 100 Women@Davos is a global community of impact-driven women CEOs and founders, launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2019. Supporting UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 Target 5.5, the community advances women's leadership by enabling growth, amplifying international visibility, and creating access to high-level decision-making opportunities across global summits and institutions. What began as a WhatsApp group of women attending Davos has grown into a structured paid membership community with events, partnerships, and a seat at the table wherever it matters most. Resources Mentioned 🌐 100 Women@Davos: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/100womendavos/?viewAsMember=true 🌐 Avandis Consulting: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-anino-emuwa/ 🏛 World Economic Forum: https://www.weforum.org/ 🏛 UN Women: https://www.unwomen.org/ 🏛 Cartier Women's Initiative: https://cartierwomensinitiative.com/ 🏛 Nottingham Business School: https://www.ntu.ac.uk/ Connect with Anne & Global Invest Her 🌐 https://www.investherpodcast.com/ 📂 Funder Directory: https://funderdirectory.globalinvesther.com/ 🛍 Buy From Her Directory: https://www.buyfromher.com/ 🗨️ LinkedIn: Anne Ravanona https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneravanona/ #WomenFounders #WomenLeadership #GenderFundingGap #InvestHerPodcast #WomenInBusiness #StartupFunding #VentureCapital #WomenEntrepreneurs #100WomenDavos #PolicyChange #InvestHer #FemaleFounders #WomenInVC #GlobalLeadership

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  Episode #60

  EP60: Money as a Tool: Julianne Zimmerman's Investing Playbook

  Jul 7, 20261h 6mS4

  "Whether you're a funder or a founder... we all have more levers than we tend to think of. Use all the levers." 💰 Money as a Tool: Julianne Zimmerman's Investing Playbook! 🎙 In this episode of the InvestHer Podcast, host Anne Ravanona speaks with Julianne Zimmerman, Co-CEO of Adasina Social Capital, about the current state of global startup funding in 2025, the generational wealth transfer reshaping who controls capital, and why social justice investing is not only possible — it's essential. 🌍 Discover how Julianne went from aerospace engineer and two-time NASA astronaut finalist to clean energy co-founder to venture capitalist — and ultimately to Co-CEO of Adasina Social Capital, a public equities impact asset manager with a global social justice investing strategy. Along the way, she was repeatedly told her ideas were impossible. She proved them wrong every time. Now she's on a mission to help founders and funders alike recognise every lever available to them — and use them all. 💡 Don't miss this episode with powerhouse insights on: • Why less than 2% of global capital still goes to female-led founder teams — and what's shifting beneath the surface • The generational wealth transfer: trillions moving to women, and what that means for the future of investing • Why our over-reliance on venture capital has distorted the entrepreneurial ecosystem — and which models are making a comeback • The hottest sectors for 2025: distributed energy, regenerative agriculture, circular manufacturing, employee ownership, and more • Why AI is only as fair as the assumptions it's built on — and why regulating it now, even though we're late, still matters • Julianne's core advice to founders: know your why, define your version of success, and never just "take the money and figure it out later" • How every founder and funder can use ALL their financial levers — from where your money sleeps at night to pressuring your pension plan Learn how to use money as a tool for systems change — and build a future worth passing on. 🔗 Listen Now | 🎧 Apple Podcasts | Spotify | ▶️ Full Show Notes About Julianne Julianne Zimmerman is all in on durable, transformative, reparative systems change. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience putting technology and capital to work for the greater good, she has been a change instigator across aerospace, clean energy, and venture — co-founding a seed stage venture practice, standing up a fund focused on women and people of colour, and teaching Innovative Social Enterprises at Tufts University for eight years. She is a 2020 World Changing Woman, a 2022 Forbes 50>50 honouree, and a two-time NASA astronaut finalist. 🌐 Website: https://adasina.com/ 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliannezimmerman/ About Adasina Social Capital Adasina Social Capital is a public equities impact asset manager with a global social justice investing strategy. They employ a holistic, community-centric approach to using the tools of the market to transform finance for the benefit of all — working to advance social justice across the entire market, with a team that is predominantly BIPOC, female or gender expansive, and queer. Resources Mentioned 🌐 Adasina Social Capital: https://adasina.com/ 🌐 Malaika Ventures: https://malaika.com/ 🏛 Boston Impact Initiative: https://bostonimpact.org/ 📊 World Economic Forum Global Risks Report: https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-risks-report-2025/ Connect with Anne & Global Invest Her 🌐 https://www.investherpodcast.com/ 📂 Funder Directory: https://funderdirectory.globalinvesther.com/ 🛍 Buy From Her Directory: https://www.buyfromher.com/ 🗨️ LinkedIn: Anne Ravanona https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneravanona/ #WomenFounders #SocialJusticeInvesting #ImpactInvesting #InvestHerPodcast #WomenInFinance #VentureCapital #SystemsChange #WomenInvesting #WomenEntrepreneurs #StartupFunding #Sustainability #InvestHer #FemaleFounders #WealthTransfer

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