SXSW Panel | The $5T Opportunity: Gender Parity in Tech

SXSW is the essential destination for global professionals, featuring sessions, music and comedy showcases, film screenings, exhibitions, professional development, and a variety of networking opportunities.

At the event in Austin, TX this past edition, our COO and Co-Founder Cecilia Flores shared a panel named “The $5T Opportunity: Gender Parity in Tech” to discuss the importance of gender inclusion and equality in tech. The panel featured female founders, Maria Luisa Pineda CEO at Envisagenics, and Michelle Zhu, CEO at Huee and M12’s Priyanka Mitra as moderator. 
The discussion covered important challenges that the industry is facing, and here are the key points that were part of the conversation:
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• Gender biases and how much it affects fundraising. According to pitchbook’s research for 2021, only 6.6% of VC’s deals closed are with solely female-founded companies. Even then, that is almost twice as much as it was a decade ago.
• Stereotypes and the imaginary around tech entrepreneurs. Most people will think of a young, energetic, male as their tech entrepreneur image that doesn’t match what most successful entrepreneurs are like in terms of gender parity as well as lifestyle choices. Deconstructing it is going to take a long time.
• Motherhood and its impact on women's careers. Maternity plays a key role in defining female founders' success criteria. Contrary to popular belief and the stereotype around it, the panel shared their experiences on how motherhood opened up an entirely new set of opportunities as well as allow for new and existing skills to develop further. Parenthood brings a new sense of purpose that unleashes untapped potential for founders to achieve their missions.  
• The importance of creating a support network and finding allies. While true no matter what the gender, it is especially important for women to build a strong network around them that can empower them to achieve their full potential.

​As the panel came to a close and each participant delivered their final remarks, Cecilia said: “There is still a long way to go, but I’m hopeful that as we discuss this topic further, people will educate themselves around biases and we will all raise our awareness to reach equality”.