Only 2% of VC funding reaches female founders. Nithya Ruff argues the problem doesn’t start at the pitch table. It starts with how girls are raised and who gets to make investment decisions.In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, host Dirkjan Hupkes talks with Nithya Ruff, former Head of Open Source at Amazon, chair of the Linux Foundation board, and LP in funds focused on South Asian women and diverse founders.We cover why VC funding for female founders remains structurally stuck at 2%, what her father’s advice about financial independence built over time, and how AI and open source are changing who gets to build technology.This episode is for female founders, women in tech, women entrepreneurs, and early-stage investors who want to understand why the funding gap persists and what structural change, not individual mindset shifts, can actually move it.What you’ll learn in this episodeWhy the VC funding gap is an investor pipeline problem, not a founder pipeline problem, and what that distinction means for changeHow financial independence, instilled early, shapes confidence and career trajectory for women in techWhy women now lead the Python, Rust, Apache, and Linux foundations, while the coding side of open source remains male-dominatedWhat AI is doing to the “priesthood of software development” and why it matters for non-technical foundersWhy women enter entrepreneurship later than men, and what corporate culture has to do with itWhat early-stage founders consistently underestimate beyond the go-to-market strategyWhy building a peer support community is as important as building the product itselfChapters00:00 Introduction02:43 Nithya’s Journey to the US11:17 The Influence of Family on Confidence18:06 Navigating Cultural Differences in Parenting27:24 Challenging Gender Norms in Family Dynamics27:40 The Funding Gap for Female Founders33:00 The Need for More Female Investors36:31 Empowering Women in Investment41:53 The Startup Path for Women47:04 Integrating Work and Life in Startups50:16 The Open Source Model and Its Impact56:35 AI: A Tool for Empowerment1:01:57 Building Community and Support Systems1:06:38 Underestimating the Go-to-Market Strategy1:11:58 Governance and Flexibility in Startups1:18:19 The Balance of AI and Human ConnectionShow notes and SubstackShow notes: https://womendisruptingtech.blog/2026/07/09/episode-160/Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/womendisruptingtech/p/episode-160?r=2v0lts&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=trueConnect with Nithya RuffLinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nithyaruffSubstack: https://substack.com/@nithyaruff779075Connect with Dirkjan HupkesLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dirkjan-hupkes/About Women Disrupting TechEvery week, Women Disrupting Tech covers the decisions, patterns, and structural realities that female founders and investors rarely discuss in public but run into every time they meet. Follow to get it in your feed.

More than 90 FemTech companies in the Netherlands are working to close the gender health gap. Most didn’t know the others existed.In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, I talk with Maaike Steinebach and Sophie van Dijk, co-founders of FemTech NL, the organization connecting FemTech companies across the Netherlands. We talk about why the ecosystem has been so fragmented, and what FinTech has already learned about moving from competition to collaboration.This episode is for FemTech founders raising their first round, investors building a thesis in women’s health, and women in tech curious about how a fragmented industry starts moving together.What you’ll learn in this episode:Why more than 90 FemTech companies in the Netherlands have been building in isolation from each otherWhat FemTech NL’s five pillars, communication, data, collaboration, research, and funding, are meant to fixWhy the most successful founders lead with the commercial opportunity, not the social caseWhat FinTech’s shift from competition to collaboration can teach FemTech about adoptionWhy the global opportunity here is valued at $1 trillion a year, according to a McKinsey studyWhy the goal isn’t “the future is female,” but equal healthcare for men and womenWhy closing the gender health gap would take more than a century, at the current pace, and what could speed that upConnect with Maaike Steinebach and Sophie van DijkMaaike Steinebach on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maaike-steinebach-8a3a304/ Sophie van Dijk on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-vandijk/FemTech NL website: femtechnl.comShow notesBlog: https://womendisruptingtech.blog/2026/07/02/episode-159/Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/womendisruptingtech/p/episode-159?r=2v0lts&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=trueAbout Women Disrupting TechEvery week, Women Disrupting Tech covers the decisions, patterns, and structural realities that female founders and investors in HealthTech, FinTech, ClimateTech, and AI rarely discuss in public but run into every time they meet. Follow Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube to get it in your feed.

Most fitness apps are built to track everything. That's exactly why people stop using them.In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, I talk with Zoe Pineau, co-founder of Fitly AI, about how she lost 150 pounds through macro tracking, spent six years building a traditional fitness app that didn’t break through, and then rebuilt from scratch in one month using AI. We explore why friction kills fitness habits before they start, and how a chat-based agent changes that equation.This episode is for female founders, women in tech, and health tech entrepreneurs who want to understand how AI is reshaping user experience, and for anyone building in a saturated market where being better is no longer enough.What you’ll learn in this episodeWhy macro tracking is mathematically reliable but practically abandoned by most peopleHow Fitly AI lets users log an entire workout and meal in a single sentence, removing the admin burden that kills consistencyWhy “better” is not a differentiator in a saturated market, and what to build insteadHow Zoe used her own transformation as proof of concept when pitching investorsWhy apps are disappearing and what the age of agents means for founders building in this spaceHow a 30-day momentum report keeps founders motivated and investors informedChapters: 00:00 Introduction02:50 Introduction to Fitly AI and Personal Journey05:45 Transformative Weight Loss Experience08:47 Mindset Shift and Habit Formation11:32 Understanding Weight Loss as a Mathematical Process14:11 The Importance of Macro Tracking16:55 Innovating Fitness Apps with AI19:47 Simplifying User Experience in Fitness Tracking22:53 Building Fitly AI: Lessons Learned25:31 The Impact of AI on App Development28:25 Leveraging AI for Business Insights30:33 The Role of Prior Experience in AI Utilization32:30 Data Privacy and Security in AI Applications35:02 Collaborative Development: A Team Approach to App Building37:17 Navigating the Fundraising Landscape39:22 Addressing Competition: Lifestyle Changes vs. Quick Fixes42:18 Motivation and Consistency in Fitness Tracking45:13 The Future of Fitness Apps: Integrating AI Agents47:55 Building a Funding Coach AI for Female FoundersConnect with Zoe Pineau and Fitly AILinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoe-pineau-850588105/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoepineauTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thezoepineauWebsite: https://www.fitly.chatShow notes of the episodeBlog: https://womendisruptingtech.blog/2026/06/25/episode-158/Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/womendisruptingtech/p/episode-158?r=2v0lts&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=trueAbout Women Disrupting TechEvery week, Women Disrupting Tech covers the decisions, patterns, and structural realities that female founders and investors in HealthTech, FinTech, ClimateTech, and AI rarely discuss in public but run into every time they meet. Follow Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube to get it in your feed.

Most founders build their financial position in the wrong order. By the time the exit arrives, the decisions that mattered most have already been made under pressure. In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, I talk with Ana Herrero-Wallace, financial independence coach, former US-licensed equities trader, and founder of AdaInvest, about why financial independence is not an exit outcome but a tool you build while building your company. Ana is also the author of ‘Still Thinking? Act., a smarter money guide for women.' We explore how money mindset shapes the way founders price, fundraise, and negotiate, and what it takes to move from overthinking to action.If you're a female founder, entrepreneur, or woman in tech who wants to understand how financial agency changes the way you build, fundraise, and choose investors, this episode is for you.What you'll learn in this episode:Why the fundraising ask most founders make is shaped by what they think investors will accept, not what they actually needHow to build a personal financial floor in parallel with your company, and why liquidity matters more than home equity for foundersWhat the Dutch pension gap reveals about a system that rewards part-time work without accounting for its long-term costWhy moving from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset is less about attitude and more about having a clear financial planHow unpaid labor has real financial value, and why women can and should negotiate for it to be recognizedWhat "playing to win" looks like in practice, and why most women are socialized into a defensive financial posture before they ever start a companyWhy the goal of fundraising is agency, not validation, and how that difference changes the way you negotiateConnect with Ana Herrero-Wallace and AdaInvest: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-herrero-wallace/AdaInvest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/adainvestco/ Website: https://adainvest.co/ Still Thinking? Act.: https://mybook.to/rypMMkA About Women Disrupting TechEvery week, Women Disrupting Tech covers the decisions, patterns, and structural realities that female founders and investors in HealthTech, FinTech, ClimateTech, and AI rarely discuss in public but run into every time they meet. Follow Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube to get it in your feed.

Most brands are optimizing for search engines that fewer people are using. Rachel Gilley, CEO of Clarity Global, is tracking what happens when your customers stop Googling and start asking AI instead.In this episode, Rachel breaks down Generative Engine Optimization: why it matters, what it costs brands that ignore it, and how a consistent message across every touchpoint is now a technical requirement, not a communications nice-to-have. She also makes a sharp distinction between mentoring women and sponsoring them, and why only one of those actually changes who gets funded.What you’ll learn:Why LLMs treat inconsistent brand messaging as noise — and simply ignore itWhat Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is and why it matters more than traditional search rankingsHow a deliberate GEO strategy drove a 300% increase in AI citations for Monday.comWhy the human layer — strategy, nuance, reading a room — is the one thing AI cannot replaceThe difference between mentoring women and actually sponsoring themWhy fewer female unicorns is a capital routing problem, not a capability problem📋 Full episode notes + Rachel’s bio: https://womendisruptingtech.blog/2026/06/11/episode-156/Connect with Rachel Gilley🌐 clarity.global🔗 linkedin.com/in/rachelgilleySurfacd — track your brand in AI search:🌐 surfacd.comAbout Women Disrupting Tech Every week, Women Disrupting Tech covers the decisions, patterns, and structural realities that female founders and investors rarely discuss in public but run into every time they meet. Follow to get it in your feed.

FemTech represents a trillion-dollar opportunity. So why do all-female teams receive just 2% of early-stage venture capital?Beata Wandachowicz-Krason has spent years researching what is holding FemTech back — the funding gaps, the cultural taboos, and the structural misalignment between how healthcare systems are built and what women’s health actually requires. In this episode, she breaks down why the relatability gap between female founders and male investors is one of the biggest blockers in the sector, and what founders can do about it right now.You’ll hear why pitching FemTech as a social cause is the wrong move, how to pivot from risk-based investor questions back to growth, and why male allyship is not optional if the sector is going to scale.What we cover:The funding paradox: 85% female-led ventures, 2% of VC fundingWhy 90% male VC decision-making creates a structural relatability problemCultural taboos around menopause, miscarriage, and chronic pain — and how they suppress both patient voices and founder credibilityHow healthcare systems optimized for acute care create a prevention gap that FemTech is trying to fillWhy AI tools are censoring the very medical terms that took decades to legitimizeHow to build a data-driven, economically aggressive pitch that moves FemTech out of the wellness nicheThe pivot technique: answering risk-based questions without losing the growth narrativeWhy male allyship — done right — accelerates the sector rather than co-opting itData privacy in women’s health: why the taboo is a bigger barrier than the technologyPractical tools for combating gender bias in the funding processAbout Beata Wandachowicz-KrasonBeata is an executive at Organon and a researcher focused on the systemic barriers holding FemTech back. She works at the intersection of women’s health, venture capital, and ecosystem building.Resources mentioned in the episode:Funding Coach: ⁠fundingcoach.ai⁠Pieter van Keep and early menopause research: ⁠https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9089556/⁠Related episodes: Sabrina Nowicki Carmen van Vilsteren Femke DelissenIda TinSara OkhuijsenConnect with Beata: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/beata-wandachowicz-krason/⁠Find the show notes: https://womendisruptingtech.blog/2026/06/04/episode-155/Follow Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for weekly conversations with the women reshaping technology and healthcare.

The solar panels going up on rooftops everywhere are solving one problem, and quietly creating another.This episode is for female founders, women in tech, and anyone building at the intersection of sustainability and deep technology.Host Dirkjan talks with Andjela Bozinac, co-founder and CEO of Renovo Recycling. Andjela is building a modular, chemical-free system that uses Physical AI and robotics to deconstruct end-of-life solar panels and recover high-value materials like aluminum, silicon, and glass.Andjela's path combines mechanical engineering, intellectual property thinking, and a black belt in Taekwondo. She applies the same discipline she learned on the mat to building deep tech: showing up anyway, treating failure as feedback, and designing not just for what works in the lab, but for what gets adopted in the real world.In this episode, you'll hear:Why solar energy is scaling fast while quietly creating a waste problem we don't know how to handle yetHow Renovo's "vending machine in reverse" approach recovers materials without crushing or chemicalsWhy getting technology to work is only 30% of the journey — and what the other 70% actually requiresHow to sell urgency in deep tech without selling the futureWhy regulation in climate tech is a market, not a barrierWhy now is the moment for women to enter AI and robotics, while the rules are still being writtenAndjela also shares hard-won lessons from her first startup, TreeBlock, and how shifting from building the solution to building the right path to adoption changed everything about how she runs Renovo.Chapters: 00:00 Introduction03:00 Andjela’s Founder Journey06:02 Engineering Background and Its Impact on Entrepreneurship08:40 Lessons from Previous Ventures: TreeBlock Experience11:38 The Problem of Solar Panel Waste and Recycling Challenges14:38 Identifying the Core Issues in Solar Panel Recycling17:34 Innovative Solutions for Solar Panel Deconstruction20:20 Modular Systems and Their Advantages in Recycling21:19 Targeting Solar Installers: A Strategic Approach23:51 Current Status and Future Plans for Renovo Recycling24:02 The Role of AI in Physical Recycling27:18 Preparing for the Solar Waste Surge30:23 Fundraising in Deeptech34:50 Convincing Stakeholders of Urgency37:38 Regulatory Support and Compliance39:04 Expanding Beyond Solar Panels40:58 Practical Insights for Founders45:30 Empowering Women in Tech49:37 Building a Supportive Funding EcosystemConnect with Andjela Bozinac and Renovo Recycling LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bozinac-andjela24/ Website: https://www.renovo-recycling.it/ Renovo on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@renovosrlCheck out the show notes on https://womendisruptingtech.blog/2026/05/28/episode-154/Women Disrupting Tech on Substackhttps://open.substack.com/pub/womendisruptingtech/p/episode-154?r=2v0lts&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=trueEnjoyed this episode? Follow Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify so you never miss a conversation with the women and ecosystem builders shaping the next generation of technology.

Most fertility apps look at your past cycles and make a prediction. Sabrina Nowicki built something different.Sabrina is co-founder of Cyclisity, the digital companion to Taking Charge of Your Fertility — the bestselling book written by her aunt, Toni Weschler. What started as an annual lunch celebrating her first period became a mission to bring body literacy to women worldwide — and to build an app that teaches you to read your own body instead of outsourcing that knowledge to an algorithm.What you’ll learnThe 3 biomarkers at the heart of the Fertility Awareness Method and why each one tells you something differentWhy the 28-day cycle myth is holding women back — and what stress, travel, and lifestyle really do to your cycleWhy Sabrina’s husband, a trained physician, was never taught any of this in medical schoolThe data privacy risk most women don’t know about when using free health appsWhy self-funding was a values decision, not just a financial oneChapters 00:00 The Influence of Family Legacy on Innovation 03:08 Understanding the Fertility Awareness Method 06:10 The Basic Principles of the Fertility Awareness Method11:53 Cyclisity: The Role of Education About Women's Health14:47 Challenges and Learning Curves in Fertility Awareness17:55 The Importance of Personalization in Health Apps 20:47 The Future of Women's Health Research 23:58 Data Privacy and Women's Health 29:44 Protecting User Data and Future Studies 32:21 Impact of Roe v. Wade on Privacy 35:05 The Advantages of Low-Tech Tracking 38:01 Self-Funding and Business Strategy 41:10 Leveraging Complementary Skills in Founding 44:09 Designing for Correct Use and User Experience 46:57 The Evolution of Cyclisity's Name 50:23 Empowering Female Founders through Investment📋 Full episode notes + Sabrina’s bio: [link to blog post]Connect with Sabrina:🌐 cyclisity.com📱 TikTok & Instagram: @wanderingSabrinaThe book behind the app:📖 Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler → https://amzn.eu/d/0cX3icbHIf this episode made you think differently about your body or your health data, hit follow so you never miss a new episode.

“I don’t need to be an expert on any of these topics… that’s what I have my colleagues for.” — Izzy SayersWhat if the real obstacle for female founders isn’t a lack of knowledge, but the idea that they have to know it all themselves?This episode is for female founders and women in tech who want to scale without needing to know everything themselves.Host Dirkjan talks with Izzy Sayers, who leads the Emerging Giants team at KPMG Netherlands. Izzy helps startups and growing companies tackle tricky challenges like tax, finance, risk, and expanding internationally—areas that can make a big difference to a company’s success.Izzy didn’t follow a typical path into tech. Her history degree turned out to be her “secret weapon”—not because it made her a technical expert, but because it taught her to ask good questions, connect ideas, and bring the right people together. This approach also helped her handle imposter syndrome, focusing on where she adds value instead of trying to know everything.In this episode, you’ll hear:• Why knowing when to outsource is one of the most underrated founder skills• How to recognize the moment when complexity starts slowing you down• What post-COVID networking has cost the startup ecosystem, and how to bring serendipity back• Why women in tech often stay in the facilitator role, and what it takes to step forward• How safe spaces help female founders ask the questions that actually move them forwardIzzy also talks about getting ready for motherhood while working in a fast-paced environment, and how this change is teaching her to manage her energy, be more selective, and think long-term.Chapters:00:00 — Introduction05:17 — The history degree as a secret weapon08:12 — Techstars NYC and the intensity of New York11:20 — Transitioning from TNW to KPMG14:05 — Overcoming imposter syndrome in a new role16:18 — When and what to outsource as a founder22:12 — How networking became transactional after COVID25:04 — Strategies for better event attendance33:22 — Safe spaces for women in the startup ecosystem36:21 — Why women stay in the facilitator role (and how to step forward)41:07 — Navigating motherhood and the startup world46:30 — What makes a meaningful connectionConnect with Izzy Sayers and KPMG Emerging GiantsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/izzy-sayers/KPMG Emerging Giants: https://kpmg.com/nl/en/home/industries/private-enterprise/emerging-giants.htmlCheck out the show notes onWomen Disrupting Tech Blog:Substack: Enjoyed this episode?Follow Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify so you never miss a conversation with the women and ecosystem builders shaping the next generation of technology.

How do you build the next generation of global gold standards in women’s health, and why is it one of the biggest economic opportunities of our time?In this episode, Carmen van Vilsteren — healthcare innovation leader, angel investor, and one of the Netherlands’ most experienced medical device executives — shares her mission to fund and coach seven female founders toward creating seven new gold standards in healthcare.Having spent decades at Philips developing cardiovascular imaging systems now used every second of every day in hospitals worldwide, Carmen is done advising from the sidelines. She’s getting her hands dirty — investing, coaching, and building the ecosystem that women’s health has always deserved.We dive deep into what it actually takes to create a global gold standard in healthcare, why women’s health represents a $1 trillion untapped economic opportunity, and how Carmen is shifting the conversation from niche issue to societal imperative.By listening, you'll learn about:The Seven Gold Standards: From microsurgery robotics to advanced breast reconstruction — why these innovations are poised to reshape global healthcare.The $1 Trillion Market Failure: Three times more money is spent on solving erection problems than on all women’s health issues combined. Carmen explains why that’s not just a gender issue — it’s an economic one. How to Build Credibility with Doctors: The three-level key opinion leader strategy that gets medical innovators from prototype to global adoption.Angel Investing as a Multiplier: How strategic early-stage investment helps female founders reach the inflection points that unlock serious venture capital.Shifting the Advocacy Language: Why framing women’s health as an economic opportunity — not a fairness issue — is the most effective way to move male-dominated Venture Capital.Connect with Carmen van Vilsteren:Connect with Carmen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmen-van-vilsteren-a069a49/ Resources mentioned:Fe+Male Tech Heroes: https://femaletechheroes.com/FemTech NL: https://www.femtechnl.com/Borski Fund: https://borskifund.comHealth Holland: https://health-holland.comCarmen's co-authored publication in The Lancet titled ‘Why investing in women's health is a societal imperative’: ⁠https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)00404-6/fulltext⁠Chapters:00:00 Introduction and Background in Tech and Healthcare03:57 Why Healthcare Became Carmen’s Passion07:24 Development of Imaging Systems for Cardiovascular Applications09:07 What Goes into Developing a Global Standard14:43 Carmen’s Ambition to Fund Seven Global Healthcare Standards17:01 Innovations in Preclinical and Clinical Imaging19:08 The Role of Acceptance and Credibility in Healthcare23:07 The Seven Golden Standards in Healthcare32:50 Changing the Healthcare Ecosystem and Gender Balance40:39 Women’s Health as a Societal Imperative44:21 Engaging Men in Women’s Health Advocacy49:24 Impact of Women’s Health on Society and Personal Life54:00 Angel Investing and Supporting Female Founders58:35 Paying Forward and Building a Support Ecosystem01:10:47 Netherlands as a Global Center for Women’s Health01:17:08 Vision for the Future of Healthcare and Innovation01:21:32 Advice for Female Founders and Investors01:22:48 Connecting with Carmen on LinkedInAbout Women Disrupting Tech: Hosted by Dirkjan Hupkes, Women Disrupting Tech features female founders, tech leaders, and women in STEM who are building the next generation of technology. We provide the actionable strategies and proven frameworks female entrepreneurs use to succeed.👉 Subscribe to Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for weekly insights from women reshaping the industry.