Women have traditionally been underrepresented in the tech industry, but recent trends suggest we might be in for a change. There are hundreds of well-known female influencers leaving a mark in the field, and the number of female employees seems to be expanding by the day. Better yet, the industry has seen women get more into company ownership, with some of the most promising startups being female-owned. If you want to offer support or simply learn more about women in tech, here are four top startups with women at the helm:
Affectiva
Founded in 2009 by female entrepreneur Rana el Kaliouby, Affectiva is an emotion-recognition startup that is now a leading light in Human Perception AI. The company aims to build technology capable of understanding everything from humans’ emotional aspect. There are plans to incorporate it into the automotive industry, conversation interfaces, market research, robotics, etc.
Affectiva has offices in Cairo, Egypt, and Boston, Massachusetts, and has more than 100 employees. If everything pans out, the company will take on a completely different growth gradient and might need help with office leasing in more than just Egypt and the United States.
Biobot Analytics
Biobot Analytics is a US-based company that specializes in providing wastewater monitoring and analytical services. It was founded in 2017 by Newsha Ghaeli and Mariana Matus. Over its three years of existence, it has established itself as a leader in providing insights into public health at the community level. Recently, the company began deploying its platform to monitor the spread and prevalence of COVID-19 in major US cities, and that has been considered one of its most notable contributions to society since its inception.
Blendoor
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Blendoor is a rising tech company specializing in linking job seekers to potential employers. Unlike other conventional companies that fit that description, however, Blendoor looks to do that without exposing the job seekers’ racial identity or any details that may give hints of their heritage. The company’s founder, Stephanie Lampkin, who is a woman of color herself, explains that her creation shouldn’t be taken for a diversity app and instead a solution to help recruiters find the most suitable talent for their companies.
Fetch Robotics
Fetch Robotics builds AMR or Autonomous Mobile Robot solutions for companies in the intralogistics and warehousing fields. Fetch’s cloud-based software allows users to transform robot data into useful insights for use in a wide range of industrial applications. The company was co-founded by 33-year-old Melonee Wise and has provided autonomous pallet moving solutions since 2017. The robots basically use sensors to identify pallets and carts and pick them up. For self-driving cars, the robots use 3D cameras, mapping software, and Lidar sensors to move around people and objects.
The Future
With these brilliant figures clearing the way for other ambitious women within the tech space, it is now a matter of when rather than if female professionals will finally get their fair share of the market. Most of these startups are still a work in progress, but looking at the funding they are getting and the progress they are making, it would be safe to say that they are here to stay.
