Female Founders Day: Peer Power

Jo Slota-Newson is a venture capital investor supporting early stage Deeptech ventures. Jo has worked in technology commercialisation for 18 years, in technical, commercial and investment roles. She has experience working with high growth technology businesses in the advanced materials, electronics, photonics, cleantech, industrial engineering, and medical technology sectors.

Jo started her career as a research scientist in nanotechnology and applied electronic materials at the University of Cambridge, and the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, where she also lectured in biomedical engineering and renewable energy technologies. She has also served as CTO for an early stage photovoltaics company, and director of operations for an online equity investment platform focused on the Life Sciences and Biotech sectors.

Jo holds an MA, MSci and PhD in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge, and the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Babita Devi is an experienced coach and mentor with over 30 years of expertise in driving growth across various business domains, such as business development, strategic marketing, and commercialisation. Her extensive interaction with numerous business owners and founders is the foundation of her program, The Alignment Accelerator. This program is based on the idea that personal and business growth are interconnected, leading to inevitable success when they align.

Early in her career, Babita excelled in Enterprise Resource Planning, constructing pipelines for average sales of £1 million through well-defined strategies with measurable outcomes. She quickly progressed into management in her early 20s and went on to join the world’s largest optics company. There, she played a pivotal role in European Marketing, focusing on brand strategy, communications development, and implementation planning. Babita believes that effective marketing acts as the driving force behind all business areas.

Founding bStrategic in Australia in 2003, Babita’s focus on strategic marketing led to her transition into a Coach and Mentor role. Returning to the UK in 2006, she continued supporting large corporates and early-stage ventures across various sectors, including games, party, licensing, gaming, health and med tech, software, and education. Her tech venture in 2015 contributed to shaping The Alignment Accelerator, which helps founders understand the relationship between personal growth and business success.

Babita collaborates with multiple organisations as a Coach and Mentor, including Barclays Eagle Labs, Raising Starts, and Oxford Innovation Space. Alongside her business efforts, she has shared insights through lectures on entrepreneurial marketing for MBA and Business Studies students. Babita mentors the Masters in Entrepreneurship students at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, advises early-stage companies in Edtech and Games, and serves as an Advisor to a Venture Capital fund.

She’s also a Non-Executive Director for the Global Entrepreneurs Network UK, connecting entrepreneurs from 200 countries.

Babita’s enthusiasm lies in connecting people, fostering strategic partnerships, and cultivating networks of innovators, thinkers, and change-makers.

Xann committed her life to group singing from an early age, graduating with music degrees from Berklee College of Music and the University of Cambridge.

She has an unyielding desire to use group singing as a driving force for good.

I’m the founder of BorschToGo, a project with a mission to unite the global food industry through an AI-driven platform that supports Ukraine’s reconstruction.

Our goal is to make Borsch a symbol of hope and resilience.

I have a strong passion for health and wellness, particularly in the areas of skin health and mental wellness. My educational background includes Marketing, Business Management and Entrepreneurship. With over 10 years of experience in marketing and scaling up startups in international settings, I have worked in
marketing research at Nielsen, Shanghai and joined Groupon during its startup phase in London, where I started as Entrepreneur in Residence, helped to set up and establish Groupon Travel business in the UK and IE, then progress to Business Analytics Manager for Groupon EMEA, analyse sales performance and improve EMEA business operation processes, finally taking on Sales and Account Management role to scale the UK business, where I was recognised with Groupon EMEA Outstanding Sales Award, Getaways Most Contract Award, and Groupon Sales President Club Award.

In addition to my marketing and sales expertise, I have in-depth studies and knowledge of skin science, skincare formulation, and mental wellness. I have studied 4 diplomas and certificates in skin science and skincare formulation. My interests include leadership, people management, branding, sustainability, creative arts, and product innovation.

I was named Top 25 Most Influential Leaders in Natural Beauty in 2023. I am also an ambassador for British Business Bank, Start Up Loan Company for East England region. I recently graduated from the FemTech Lab 2023 Spring cohort, and currently under mentoring at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School accelerate programme.

Miranda helps early-stage biomedical businesses attract investment and develop their business strategy. She founded BioBeat to spur entrepreneurial growth in life sciences and connect entrepreneurs with leaders in the sector.

She has worked with many entrepreneurs on fundraising, business planning and technology transfer. She brings experience as a Technology Transfer Manager at Cambridge Enterprise, University of Cambridge, where she assessed and marketed life science technologies, negotiated licences, and spun-out companies. She was responsible for technology transfer at the University of Cambridge for the Cambridge-MIT Institute. In her five years at the seed capital firm, Cambridge Research and Innovation, she identified and invested in early-stage technologies. Miranda co-founded Cambridge Network with Hermann Hauser.

Miranda studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and has a Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. She is a Fellow of the Linnean Society and has edited eight science books.

Mainda grew up in East Africa before moving to England. She is an International Law and Business graduate with over 15 years of product management and marketing experience in multinational companies and startups covering various industries including publishing and education; professional services, shopping television, retail, travel, and the public sector. Currently, she is working in a computer vision and 3D tech company focused on the fashion industry. 

Mainda is passionate about working with entrepreneurs, makers and young people to help build successful ventures. Using her skills and expertise in commercial, technology and intellectual property management, she has been supporting students and entrepreneurs through programmes at Cambridge Judge Business School; the former The Queen’s Young Leaders Programme and other community engagement initiatives covering girls’ education, trade, bio-innovation and food security in Africa. 

Diana is a data science leader focused on empowering organisations to unlock business impact and value by leveraging data, analytics and models to deliver insights and drive decision-making. Diana is passionate about building teams across data disciplines and skill sets, and believes in investing in teams’ learning and development through coaching and mentoring. 

Diana’s experience spans multiple industries, including tech (Deliveroo and Monzo), banking (Goldman Sachs and Barclays) and insurance (AIG and Aviva), multiple geographies (North America, Europe and Latin America) as well as the private sector, public sector (The World Bank), consulting (The Boston Consulting Group) and academia. Diana also holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University and graduated magna cum laude from Yale University with a B.A. in Economics and Mathematics. She has lived in Argentina, the US and the UK and has working experience in the US and the UK. 

Ann is Head of Practice at the Entrepreneurship Centre working across the Accelerate, Ignite, Venture Creation and Envision programmes. Prior to joining the Centre, she was Enterprise Programme Director at the Scottish Institute for Enterprise, working across all Scottish Universities and Colleges to kickstart and support entrepreneurship and innovation. 

Her areas of interest include helping new founders develop a purpose led venture, identifying, and working with company values and prototyping and iterating into your value proposition. She is also a certified Design Futurist and Foresight Practitioner with expertise in helping ventures design and operate resilient, sustainable, and innovative business models. 

Anne Dobrée joined Parkwalk in 2024 and has been supporting University spin-outs and start-ups since 2001, working in various technology commercialisation roles at Imperial College and the University of Cambridge.

Anne formerly led the growth of the University of Cambridge’s Seed Funds team for 15 years, including establishing the first University EIS fund with Parkwalk and spinning out Cambridge Innovation Capital. Anne has served on multiple early stage boards, across all technology sectors.

Most recently Anne established the accelerator Founders at the University of Cambridge, to support founders at seed stage. Anne holds a BSc in Medical Microbiology and a PhD in Immunology

Emily joined Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) and Cambridge University Health Partners as the Business Engagement and Clinical Innovation Lead in April 2022.  

Emily’s role is to translate research and innovation into the NHS. Prior to this, Emily worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Cambridge in organic chemistry and machine learning. She previously obtained a Master’s from the University of York and a PhD from the University of Leeds. Emily has also held a European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) fellowship and conducted research into rare forms of cancer at pharmaceutical charity LifeArc. 

Dorinda, the visionary force at Mastering Awareness, personally curates and delivers the majority of our ground-breaking leadership courses. With nearly 2 decades of expertise in Quality Assurance, she remains a consultant, providing support to a select group of clients within the clinical research industry.
Driven by a deep-seated passion to reshape the narrative of success in STEM for Underrepresented Professionals and Leaders of Diverse Teams, she founded Mastering Awareness. She partners with leaders keen to promote and foster diverse talents and create equitable promotional pathways for all. The emphasis is on promoting an inclusive culture – a collaborative environment where all talent is recognised and celebrated.

In her one-on-one coaching and mentoring sessions tailored to individual needs, Dorinda collaborates with both seasoned and aspiring leaders who are enthusiastic about harnessing their character strengths. She assists them in aligning their goals with a profound sense of purpose and drive.

In her approach, Dorinda exudes a dynamic and vibrant energy that goes beyond her professional credentials. Enthusiastic, cheerful, and genuinely dedicated to unravelling the complexities of human psychology, she is committed to empowering others find purpose and drive in navigating change amid challenging circumstances. Employing a holistic perspective, she brings a refreshing approach to both personal and professional growth in her work.

She is an accredited Senior Practitioner Coach and Mentor with the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) and completed a programme on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: DEI Strategies for Business Impact from Cambridge Judge Business School.

Clarisse is a New Harvest grantee, whose Master’s degree at the University of Cambridge was on software-driven cultured meat development. Furthermore, she is the lead author of the ‘Automation and AI’ chapter of the world’s first textbook on cultivated meat. She is a Joint Honours Graduate in Management and Biological Sciences from Imperial College London, and has spent years leading the charge towards a sustainable future in finance, charitable, and engineering organisations.

Dr Sarah Mardle has enjoyed a successful career as a senior leader in healthcare, including executive roles in medical device businesses. Starting as a research scientist in academia, she has significantly grown several startups into sustainable enterprises.  

Sarah’s extensive experience spans multinational pharmaceutical companies and product development consultancy firms. With decades of expertise in business operations and compliance, Dr. Mardle has introduced numerous in vitro diagnostics and medical devices to markets in the US, EU, and Asia.  

Sarah actively contributes to medical standards development, shaping the future of healthcare. A passionate advocate for leadership development, Dr. Mardle has coached many to C-suite levels. She shares her expertise through lectures, mentoring programs, and speaking engagements. 

Farnaz is currently a consultant at Deloitte’s London office and prior to that was a consultant based in McKinsey’s Istanbul office.  

Farnaz specializes in Life Sciences with 11 years of combined research and consulting experience. Farnaz has management consulting experience leading corporate and business unit strategy, digital transformation, big data strategy, operating model transformation, organizational model redesign, capability design, productivity improvement, business process re-engineering, and business case development for clients. Farnaz primarily focuses on clients in the Healthcare Life sciences space, namely the pharmaceutical sector. 

 Farnaz also has experience serving clients in other industries including: medical device, retail, financial services, consumer packaged goods, nonprofit and the international public sector. Her strong soft skills and work experience at a global level has enabled her to engage with teams and clients at all levels.  

Farnaz is an active volunteer at United Nations developing partnership and communications strategy for the community hospital construction and operations. She also initiated and currently leads the Next Generation Women in Leadership at Deloitte with the mission of empowering females in becoming future leaders and reducing existing gender gap. 

Bingbing is a multi-faceted Entrepreneur, Business executive, Investor and Mentor. She Managed >£20b and led mergers & acquisitions of hundreds of millions £s in the Energy industry • Led ambitious growth agenda of Renewables businesses as CFO. 

Built a multi-million £ property business funded by investors • Holds non-executive board directorship of an early year education start-up with scale-up plan to £100mln valuation within 5 years. 

Makes space for quality time with her husband and two boys. She confesses, “it was not always like this. In 2015, I went through a personal low driven by the challenges of motherhood and work commitment as senior executive in a large corporate. That pushed me to build my own high-yield real estate business and achieved personal & professional break-through from a successful albeit single-dimensioned career to an inspired and yet multi-faceted life, with a sharp purpose on climate.” She is now on a mission to help start-ups that seek to build profitable scalable businesses while benefiting our planet. Executive Experiences Highlight • Highest profit in one transaction of >£400mln. 

Extensive network in the New Energies industry among technical and commercial leaders Real Estate Start-up • Founded property business that creates high-end co-living accommodations filling a gap in Cambridgeshire. 

Return on Equity > 25% with revenue growth of >20% year on year 5 years in a row Mentorship Success.  

Hosted educational seminars to >1000s of attendees on scaling while sustaining profitability • Mentored entrepreneurs who built own profitable business via acquisitions within 9-12 months.