The Covid -19 pandemic has caused an evolution in the technology sector, the world was probably in an era of digital transformation but what was going to translate into an evolution of eight to ten years has been carried out in one year. “We can speak that we are in a technological revolution, many new technological tools have arrived to solve a transitory situation, but they have created new habits of life and interaction with the consumer,” says Taryn Andersen. She is the CEO & Co-Founder of Impulse4women.
Taryn believes that the lockdown has caused many consumers to explore new tech applications that will make their life easier. All this has as a result that sectors such as health, gaming, delivery, financial, education etc, become more important than before the Covid-19 for new consumers as well as for investors who already invested in technology. She opines “As an NPO we have seen how Covid-19 has made people aware of more ethical and moral values and remind us that we are a society where we must support each other, that we are all vulnerable to disease and to the pain of losing loved ones. This positive part has helped organizations that were supporting in a humanitarian way to receive more funds to positively impact those projects aimed at both humans and our ecosystem.”
Impulse4women is positioned in the technological world since 2017th, since then the company offered an online service where investors can find projects that are looking for financing. As per Taryn, if Covid19 has brought something positive, it is an increase in demand for online tools, providing users with services and products in a simple way. This new situation has shown that her online connection model has made it easier for investors to access a market niche at an international level.
Impulse4women has also noticed an increase in the number of women who have joined to undertake their own project. All this added to the new habits generated by the global lockdown, has given more value to the company’s model.
Story Behind the Impulse4women
For a year, things have changed a bit. Before, Taryn was traveling continuously, participating in technology events, closing agreements with public and private organizations in different cities to increase the presence of women- led entrepreneurs in technology. Since March 2020, the team has been working worldwide as well but online. The team has pivoted its offline events into a 100% online model. It has started a new adventure that until recently they were unaware. The team has had to transform digitally in order to continue creating a position in the market and offer a service to investors, connecting them with start-ups with social impact and those led by women entrepreneurs in technology.
It has been a challenge to stay in a new environment trying to offer quality and service without testing if it would give good results, in a time of uncertainty. Changing and incorporating new work processes and tools to coordinate ourselves from different parts of the world.
Taryn asserts “We have a team that goes from Hong Kong to UK, Spain.” She further adds, what has not changed is since Impulse4women NPO was born in 2017th, the team has been building community, communicating through its social networks, and the purpose of connecting and increasing investment in women entrepreneurs who are leaders in technology and also for those who are social impact projects as well. To create this ecosystem, the company has invested an average of two hours a day in contacting them and explaining the project. At the same time, it has carried out the same action with investors and companies, offering them access to these wonderful projects from different sectors, maturity, location and thus being able to learn more investment opportunities.
“To summarize our day to day is to increase our ecosystem and develop new online events such as #PitchingSessions, #MentoringSessions, Podcast, #Webinars in order to support and join efforts. Every day is a new experience for us,” says Taryn.
Initial Challenges
According to Taryn, at first the team detected that the relationship that existed between women entrepreneurs and investors was different compared to men. To change this situation, Impulse4women NPO was created. It was about connecting them with investors and increasing investment. “Our objective was to start in Spain but we didn´t have enough female entrepreneurs that is why we had to move to Europe, analysing the market of women entrepreneurs in technology, social impact projects and investors. The next market step was supposedly to go to US and Canada, for the maturity of the start-ups and for the relationship between the venture Capital in which I am as director of investor relations. The fund has been investing in this market since 2008th in early-stage start-ups,” says Taryn.
The first challenge was that the team began to close agreements with public and private international organizations that wanted to increase the quota of women – led entrepreneurs and made a connection by contributing as a third party. Start-ups could make themselves known, entities could raise the female presence on the stage and investors could have access to female entrepreneurs.
Collaborating with international entities Impulse4women could grow in other cities and develop the ecosystem for social impact projects and for women -led entrepreneurs in technology.
This is when the team decided to incorporate into any international project that came from other cities; thanks to the support of the ambassadors and to collaborate with large public and private entities.
The second challenge was to start dealing with software developers, finding someone who understood the requirements. The services, team wants to offer initially seemed easy, but the team has gone through several meetings to be able to define its need and translate it into what it wanted.
The third challenge was when Taryn started Impulse4women there were not so many associations supporting women-led tech entrepreneurs or those projects with social impact. “Today there are much more organizations supporting women in general and duty is to differentiate ourselves by communicating our objective; increase investment in women-led entrepreneurs in the technology ecosystem,” says Taryn.
A Stage for Women Entrepreneurs
Starting from the base that Impulse4women is an international platform. The company is considering itself as a great defender of diversity, the integration of different cultures, religions, mindset, etc., All this provides added value to any team. The team says, “We should also remark that there is data that shows how a work team gives better results and is more effective when the teams are mixed.”
The way to approach a situation from a woman´s or a man´s point of view is different, nor better not worse just different. That´s the good point!
In general terms, women are more holistic, and the team at Impulse4women thinks more in the long term; the community is an important point in their decision-making. Man is much more focused on one goal; he is more competitive and accepts risk in a different way. All this generates a wealth in the team that in the medium term, translates into benefits for the company.
From Impulse4women, the team gives all the necessary tools so an entrepreneur woman who wants to develop a project can meet other females who are going through the same situation, experiences, joys and frustrations. Of course, the company’s support is aimed at female entrepreneurs.
“Since Impulse4women was founded we have been growing the ecosystem seeing where we could offer more support and little by little, we are expanding that coverage,” says the company.
“The most important thing about our work is to offer the possibility that entrepreneurs can grow, jump barriers, be successful and for sure be invested!”
Sharing Stories, Success, and Challenges
The principal contribution is bringing investors closer to women entrepreneurs in raising those women who are role models for others, in communicating the awards that they can find depending on their allocation, maturity, sector etc. Creating online events with different purposes as; the company’s Podcast start-ups can listen to the successful experiences and not so attractive stories of other start-ups. The main objective is to help other start-ups through the experiences of entrepreneurs that have go through the same before.
“We also offer webinars; we want to cover them offering pills on different topics that may be important for the entrepreneurs depending on their maturity. We cover all stages of maturity, from the beginning until the exit,” states Taryn.
Initiatives for Women Empowerment
Since 2017th, www.impulse4women.org has contributed to offering an ecosystem to those women who wanted or were starting up. The company has an advisory board of 71 persons, including investors ranging from Business Angels to Private Equity and ambassadors. All of them from the technological ecosystem, where they support women entrepreneurs in technology and social impact projects with their time and knowledge. “Thanks to them we have been able to grow internationally and support start-ups,” says Taryn.
Inspiration and Learning
Taryn believes her father is the role model who helped her to get this far. “I have come this far, thanks to my Father, he has always trusted me and respected me in my decisions, allowing me to make mistakes on several occasions, and then come to help me,” says Taryn. When Taryn started her professional career in Private Banking, she had her first mentor, who was also her boss from she really wanted to learn, and who always explained the behaviour of the stock markets, how to act and proceed. Later Taryn changed jobs and had another boss who taught her that there was nothing that was priceless and effortless. The challenge was to open a branch for a Multi Family Office in times of crisis.
According to Taryn, the books that have impressed her have been many, some of them are “Siddhartha” by Herman Hesse, “Goddesses in Everywoman” by Shinoda Bolen, “In the name of Identity” by Amin Maalouf. One book that she considers helped her a lot professionally was “How to win friends and influence people” by Dale Carnegie.
Taryn Andersen, CEO & Co-Founder, Impulse4women
