Welcome founders, investors, and executives! Julie Warnecke, Founder & CEO, Found Search Marketing It was an absolute thrill to open The Startup Ladies’ fourth annual Invest In Women Founders Summit  at the Skyline Club in Indianapolis. Today, I’m excited to introduce you to the people at the heart of it all, our 2025 Top 9  women founders and the smart, talented, generous, and deeply connected interviewers who had the privilege of reviewing them. For nearly a decade, I’ve pr

Traditional pitch competitions rarely translate into actual funding for women founders. In 2024, of the $209 billion invested in U.S. startups, women founders received just 2%  of that total. To counter this persistent gender disparity, The Startup Ladies  take a radically different approach. Instead of a high-pressure pitch stage, each of the Top 9 founders  is paired with an exited founder  or seasoned executive  for an Oprah-style interview  that brings their story, strate

Why Investor-Ready Documents Matter for Startup Fundraising When you’re raising startup funding, being prepared isn’t optional -- it’s everything. Investors want to see that you understand your market, have a clear path to growth, and can execute your business plan. Whether you’re raising your first pre-seed round  or preparing for Series A , having complete, investor-ready documents builds trust, demonstrates professionalism, and accelerates the fundraising process. This gui