Entrepreneurs / Small Business  September 10, 2015

Vinetta Project aims to aid female entrepreneurs in Boulder

BOULDER — The Vinetta Project, a company aimed at helping connect female startup founders with capital and mentorship, is launching a chapter in Boulder this month, with a kickoff event slated for Sept. 16.

Vinetta, founded in New York two years ago, aims to be a sort of talent agency for female entrepreneurs. While some of the services provided are similar to those of startup accelerators, founder and CEO Vanessa Dawson said she doesn’t see the company as being in competition with accelerators. Rather, Vinetta is focused on helping established founders who have perhaps been through an accelerator already to continue growing longer-term relationships and structuring partnerships.

“We want to be there for those companies that have just gone through that amazing and intense experience (of an accelerator),” Dawson said. “I wouldn’t say we’re a competitor. I’d say we’re in the pipeline.”

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Vinetta, which has a membership-based revenue model, hosts a variety of programming for local entrepreneurs. Showcase events, hosted quarterly in each city, are open to the public and feature three to four women entrepreneurs pitching their business plans to a panel of entrepreneurs and investors, and getting feedback from the panel. Other programming, meanwhile, is for member founders, investors and market leaders or corporations who want to connect with such founders. Those events include founders and funders dinners and “mastermind” online workshops for entrepreneurs.

While investor and corporate members include both men and women, Vinetta is focused keenly on helping female entrepreneurs gain access to funding and mentorship to help increase the ratio of leading women in the tech startup realm.

“We want to be there to support our talent and give them access to everything they need,” Dawson said.

Entrepreneurs Mandaline Godown and Tim O’Shea will lead the local Vinetta chapter.

The first Vinetta event in Boulder is a showcase event that will feature a panel including Nicole Glaros of Techstars, Joe Zell of Grotech Ventures, entrepreneur Cheryl Kellond and Alicia Robb of the Kauffman Foundation. The event is slated for Sept. 16 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Galvanize, 1035 Pearl St.

BOULDER — The Vinetta Project, a company aimed at helping connect female startup founders with capital and mentorship, is launching a chapter in Boulder this month, with a kickoff event slated for Sept. 16.

Vinetta, founded in New York two years ago, aims to be a sort of talent agency for female entrepreneurs. While some of the services provided are similar to those of startup accelerators, founder and CEO Vanessa Dawson said she doesn’t see the company as being in competition with accelerators. Rather, Vinetta is focused on helping established founders who have perhaps been through an accelerator already to continue…

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