2026 Top 9 Application
Now Open
A National Platform for Women Founders Preparing for Growth and Investment
Nine women founders from across the United States will be selected to participate in the 2026 Top 9 Investor Readiness Accelerator, an intensive training program designed to help founders prepare for growth, visibility, and future investment opportunities. Leading up to the Summit, founders will strengthen executive communication, refine strategic positioning, prepare for investor conversations, and build meaningful relationships with experienced executives, founders, and investors.
Unlike traditional pitch competitions, Top 9 founders are interviewed live on stage by experienced executives, founders, and investors in conversations designed to showcase leadership, traction, communication, and scalability while helping the audience better understand the founder behind the company and the vision driving the business forward.
The goal of the Summit is simple: to help more women founders build strategic relationships, increase visibility, become more investor ready, and ultimately secure funding to grow their companies.
Application closes on Wednesday, June 17 at 11:59 pm ET
Watch the Interviews
>>> See the vision, confidence, and growth that set them apart
Alyssa Antcliff
Founder & CEO, IndiAide
Pre- Seed, Generating Revenue
Jon Gilman, exited Founder of Clear Software, interviews Alyssa Antcliff. IndiAide is the research-backed daily organization platform that enables people with cognitive impairments to maximize their independence, benefiting individuals, families, businesses, and the healthcare system as a whole.
Cara Bognar
Founder & CEO, Top Tier Lessons
Pre-Seed, Generating Revenue
Christi Garcia, Lead, Talent Recruiting and Business Developer at E-gineering, interviews Cara Bognar. Top Tier Lessons connects student athletes with parents in the local community looking for sports lessons for their kids, handling the venue, payment, scheduling and safety of each lesson.
Chere Cofer
Founder & CEO, Open Books MD
Pre- Seed, Generating Revenue
Mike Hatfield, Chairman of Carium, interviews Chere Cofer. Open Books MD is a software scheduling platform that connects healthcare providers with their pharmaceutical industry partners to create, manage and execute medical information meetings.
Nithya Kasireddy
CEO, Levisonics Inc.
Seed, Pre-Revenue
Roger Deetz, Vice President of BluePrint, interviews Nithya Kasireddy. Levisonics Inc. develops advanced, minimally invasive blood clot analyzers for hospitals and clinics, providing a complete blood clotting assessment from a small finger or heel-prick sample with multiple test results in a single, quick test—reducing the need for repeated blood draws and benefiting both pediatric and adult patients.
Haley Marie Keith
Co-founder & CEO, MITO Material Solutions
Seed, Generating Revenue
Travis Tucker, EVP of Meyer Najem, interviews Haley Keith. MITO Materials offers novel technology that empowers manufacturers to improve their products’ performance and reduce material consumption. MITO’s products integrate graphene (the world's strongest material) into existing materials and manufacturing processes - creating lighter, tougher, and stronger components.
Suzanne McKenzie
Founder & CEO, ABLE MADE
Pre-Seed, Generating Revenue
Jon Dartt, Councilman in Westflied, IN, interviews Suzanne McKenzie. ABLE MADE, the Original Off Pitch Soccer Style brand, combines soccer-inspired apparel and accessories with responsible manufacturing by offering ready-to-wear apparel and accessories that are responsibly made and insanely comfortable.
Mara Smith
Founder & CEO, Inspiro Tequila
Seed
Doug Rammel, Founder & CIO of Abstract Reality Ventures, interviews Mara Smith. Inspiro Tequila is a clean, additive-free, ultra-premium tequila brand that is distilled, owned and led by women, redefining how women enjoy tequila by providing easy to drink and elevated spirits.
Leslie Young
Founder & CEO, Beautiful Dreamers
Pre-Seed
Teresa Danielson, Owner of TJ Northern Michigan Rentals and BDA, interviews Leslie Young. Beautiful Dreamers is leading a movement to create inclusive kids bedding and decor that supports fair and authentic representation for Black, Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial children at a young age and teaches all children to accept and value our differences.
