Stella is a social enterprise that supports the female entrepreneurial journey at every stage by providing rigorous action-based business training, high-touch mentorship, curated consulting services, and access to capital for female founders. Stella programs include Community, Labs, Angels, and our signature event Women’s Venture Summit. Stella programs are open to all while ensuring a supportive environment for those who identify as women.

COMMUNITY

Community is just that — our community of over 5,000 people who believe in equality for female founders. In 2020, we began building tech-enablement to our services in order to reach people all over the world. Our digital community is free of charge and provides access to pre-recorded video courses, one-on-one advisory sessions, group sessions, mentorship matching, and features on Stella’s media. The digital Stella Community provides master classes in seven core areas with 59 modules with pre- and post-assessment in order to track knowledge and behavior changes. Masterclasses are available for both entrepreneurs and investors. Join our Stella Community to view all of our courses and events.

COURSES

Labs is the program that digs in deep. All Stella Community members are encouraged to apply to our intensive and specialized cohort-based learning communities to tap into our network of professionals, serial entrepreneurs, and investors with deep functional expertise across industries. While the strengths of our network trend toward life sciences and deep tech, we are positioned to serve all industries. Stella targets 50-75 high-performance women to serve each year through high-touch consulting and advisory programs including:

  • Intensive – (16-week, 14 modules) offered three times per year to cohorts up to 15 women per cohort

  • Pitch – (8 modules) offered prior to access to capital events

  • Expert – Access to 1:1’s with 40+ mentors per cohort and funding through Women’s Fast Pitch, Women’s Venture Summit, Stella Angels, and syndication with partnering venture capital firms

Weekly group meetings and advisory hours are included for all Labs participants. Stella Labs weaves techniques on how to address and mitigate bias in business management and fundraising throughout all programming and events as well as prioritizing a shared commitment to gender equity among program partners. Join our Stella Community to apply.

CAPITAL

Angels is our exclusive network of accredited investors. These angel investors review deals together, conduct due diligence, and invest in female founders sourced through our network. In 2021, Stella Angels invested in 14 female-led startups, syndicating over $1.3M via direct investments and indirectly via syndications and crowdfunding. Our minimum check size is $50K and goes up from there depending upon investor interest. Since we are not a fund, all of our angels choose to participate on a deal-by-deal basis. Join our Stella Community to apply.

  • Target – 40-50 accredited investors who believe in female leadership

  • Educational & Social Events – to activate more emerging angel investors and fund managers

  • Meetings – quarterly deal flow meetings

  • Syndicates – with partnering VCs and angel networks

CONFERENCES

Women’s Fast Pitch is a series of five regional access-to-capital events taking place across America. Finalists advance to compete at the Women’s Venture Summit for $10K investment. Women’s Fast Pitch targets 150 applicants to fill 25 spots (5 pitching founders in each of the 5 regions) and also includes 20 investor judges to ask questions and provide commentary during this live streamed virtual series of events.

Women’s Venture Summit is an annual event in its tenth year. The goals of the conference are to boost female founders’ access to capital and to grow the number of female investors who invest in female-led startups. Founders and funders get to meet women from across the globe in a vibrant and intimate virtual setting to learn about and explore opportunities for increased funding and collaboration.

Oxytocin Tour is Stella’s road trip across America! As a national organization, we make a goal to visit three cities who represent clusters within the conSTELLAtion. Founders and investors alike are invited to contribute to these one-day events filled with thought leadership from our community partners, Stella programming, and community-building to support local engagement in Women’s Fast Pitch and Women’s Venture Summit. The 2022 tour included Chattanooga, Tennessee; Seattle, Washington; and either New York City or Washington DC (TBD).

RESIDENCE PROGRAMS

Stella Residence Programs include both Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) and Angel-in-Residence (AIR). These programs offer Residents the opportunity to learn more about the work of Stella, the entrepreneurial and VC ecosystems that we work within, and to gain more visibility within our network. It is our goal to work with Residents for one year and support them in their startup careers after the program. We aim to ensure the success of more startups and to educate emerging fund managers to change the landscape of venture capital. We plan to source 20 applicants and confirm 5 participants in both the Entrepreneur- and Angel-in-Residence Programs. Join our Stella Community to apply.

Join the conSTELLAtion.

We rise by lifting others. Join our email list to gain tools & connect with people who are fortifying women’s businesses. Let’s connect the stars, TOGETHER.