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Women business leaders pave the way for female entrepreneurs

SEATTLE — The Seattle-based Female Founders Alliance has helped thousands of women succeed in an industry typically dominated by men.

Brightly’s CEO and Co-Founder Laura Wittig of Seattle recently completed their accelerator program. She joins a thriving community dedicated to uplifting women in the startup space.

“The advice the Female Founders Alliance gave to me on behalf of my company Brightly was what enabled us to close our pre-seed round we did in January of this year,” said Wittig.

Celebrating Wittig’s success, along with other women and nonbinary founders, is why Leslie Feinzaig created the Female Founders Alliance in 2017. The challenges she had faced raising capital for her own startup propelled Feinzaig to build this network that has grown to 25,000 business leaders and nearly 2,000 companies across the country.

“Particularly difficult for someone like me or someone like you, and it’s even more difficult for a woman of color, and I just hope that our organization can make it a little easier for them and help create tomorrow’s companies to be more reflective of the people they serve,” said Feinzaig.

With only 2% of venture capital invested in women-led businesses, Feinzaig is dedicated to helping the female entrepreneurs who are often overlooked. She is focused on closing the gender gap and connecting women with a strong network to offer support and guidance.

“Helping startups get access to venture capital and access to general networking skills that we need in order to create billion-dollar businesses. The system as we think about it with venture capital is very stacked against women and people not from specific backgrounds,” said Wittig.

Wittig is proud to be a part of this powerful network that celebrates the success of strong female founders, with representation at every level of leadership. A mother of two daughters, Feinzaig believes this is shaping a more inclusive future that will help the next generation.

“What kind of world are we leaving for them? What kind of companies are we creating? How are we making decisions to make sure people are heard? This is about doing something with my life that someday my kids will be proud of,” said Feinzaig.

For information on the Female Founders Alliance go here: https://femalefounders.org/

For information on the company Brightly, click here.