Meet the 2024 Top 9!
Each of these women have chosen a scalable business model with viable markets that want, need, and are willing to pay for their respective products and services. With proper investment, each one of these startups is ready to start hiring people to grow their companies. Please meet The Startup Ladies Top 9 women business owners who will be interviewed by exited founders and senior executives at our third annual #InvestInWomenFounders Summit.
Alyssa Antcliff
Co-founder & CEO of IndiAide
Speech-Language Pathologist Alyssa Antcliff saw an immense need for innovation in the support provided and therapeutic approaches implemented when serving patients and their families across medical, community, and home settings. She observed how challenging it was for her patients and their families to communicate when not in the same location, coordinate patient care, and use either paper-based tools or multiple different mobile applications to track important information such as medications, appointments, physician contact info, diagnoses, and to-do lists. There had to be a solution, yet it was impossible to find. That’s why Alyssa co-founded IndiAide. IndiAide creates customizable, evidence-based web apps that centralize the management of important health data, personal information, and daily tasks to improve functional independence for the 33 million Americans living with cognitive impairment today. It enables individuals with cognitive impairments to better manage important day-to-day tasks on their own — tracking and implementing important information with the support of helpful reminders from the app.
Alyssa graduated with a Master's in Speech-Language Pathology from Purdue University in 2019. Since then, her keen interest in cognitive-communication rehabilitation has driven her to help patients across the entire patient care journey, from acute care to inpatient rehabilitation to home health. Throughout these experiences, Alyssa gained insight into the needs of patients at each step of the care journey, and has built technology to fill the gaps in needs that have gone unmet. In her down time, Alyssa loves exploring new coffee shops and hiking with her husband, son, and dog.
Cara Bognar
Founder & CEO of Top Tier Lessons
Cara Bognar is a Big 10 team captain, engineer and founder of Top Tier Lessons, a marketplace where NCAA college athletes make money, on their own terms, teaching the sport they love. Parents struggle to find their kids private sports lessons without a personal connection. Even after finding instructors, they then have to juggle schedules, figure out a location and remember payment information, which can make a simple lesson incredibly time consuming. Top Tier Lessons connects parents looking for in-person sports lessons for their kids to student athlete mentors in their local community, and handles the venue, payment, scheduling and safety of each lesson.
Within the first year of launch,Top Tier has been recognized as a leader by Sports Illustrated and worked with 6 universities to provide opportunities to their athletes. Under Cara’s leadership as CEO, she has raised $300,000 in funding to bring this equitable NIL opportunity to all athletes across the country.
Chere Cofer
Founder & CEO of Open Books MD
Chere Cofer has expertise in the bio-pharmaceutical and tech industries with over 25 years of progressive experience engaging health care providers (HCPs). So when her sister was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer, the challenges she encountered getting face time with doctors became personal. She used her knowledge and experience to found Open Books MD, which offers a web-based software that allows HCPs to connect with their pharmaceutical industry partners to learn about the latest developments in medicine, treatments and clinical studies.
Chere holds a B.A. in Journalism/Communications and an M.B.A. in Marketing. She is passionate about innovation within the healthcare industry and hopes to affect change in how HCPs view, engage and leverage the pharmaceutical industry. One way is through offering the Open Books MD suite of services to HCPs working in rural, underserved communities where healthcare disparities are greatest. This targeted approach hopes to increase HCP access to resources and have a positive impact on patient care where it's needed most.
Nithya Kasireddy
CEO of Levisonics Inc
Dr. Nithya Kasireddy is CEO of Levisonics Inc., a medical device startup focused on developing a novel platform for blood coagulation analysis and fluid rheological measurement. Levisonics develops advanced point-of-care blood clot analyzers that provide insights into blood coagulation that are significantly more comprehensive while using only a fraction of the blood sample typically needed. This new method greatly benefits pediatric patients while also being suitable for adults. As a co-inventor of the innovative acoustic tweezing platform technology, Dr. Kasireddy combines her deep technical knowledge with strong leadership and business acumen to drive Levisonics' mission forward.
Dr. Kasireddy spearheads the company's strategy, business development, product development, and commercialization efforts. With five years of entrepreneurial experience, she has successfully secured significant non-dilutive funding and participated in startup programs like NIH-C3i and EF's Female Founders Fellowship. Her strengths lie in creative problem-solving, integrating multidisciplinary knowledge, and applying analytical thinking to develop scientifically sound and commercially viable medical devices. Dr. Kasireddy's leadership has been pivotal in advancing Levisonics' groundbreaking solutions for blood coagulation analysis.
Ishita Majumdar
Co-founder & CTO of Inara AI
Ishita is a mom, technologist, entrepreneur, and changemaker, passionate about solving complex problems by leveraging technology, humanity, and the diversity of brilliant minds. She is the co-founder and CTO of Inara AI, a care-driven orchestration platform that provides an integrated "Inform + Connect + Manage" framework for neurohealth. Inara AI offers more personalized views into one’s health, enriched community connections, and streamlined care coordination for caregivers and families.
Ishita excels at building and leading high-trust teams to transform ideas into scalable, customer-centric solutions. With a talent for connecting dots and creating cross-functional workflows, she brings vision to execution in fast-paced, ambiguous environments. Ishita leads with inclusion and inspiration, striving to create a better world and a lasting impact for all.
Suzanne McKenzie
Founder & CEO/COO of ABLE MADE
Award-winning entrepreneur, Chief Creative Officer and designer Suzanne McKenzie is passionate about using design and collaboration to make the world a better place. She is Founder and CCO of ABLE MADE, the Original Off Pitch Soccer Style brand that combines soccer-inspired apparel and accessories with responsible manufacturing and giving back. ABLE MADE responsibly manufactures and produces ready-to-wear apparel and accessories using only upcycled, certified organic, plant-based, or cruelty-free fabrics and yarns.
Prior to founding ABLE MADE, Suzanne's 24 years of experience includes work in the advertising and design consultancy worlds for numerous national and global brands, including Tom Ford, Timberland, Puma, Supergoop with Maria Sharapova, the Olympic Games, ESPN, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Titleist, and many more leading brands. Suzanne has been on the jury for numerous international design award shows, including the 2022 One Show and the Ad Club. She was selected and recognized at the White House by President Obama as a Global Emerging Social Entrepreneur, and also is a Sappi Ideas that Matter North America Grant recipient. Her work has been featured in Business Week, Vanity Fair, Graphic Design USA, Vogue, WWD and more. Her work has been recognized by the Art Directors Club, the Hatch Show, the One Show, WebAwards, and Mobius Awards. Suzanne is a 2024 AIGA Fellows Award recipient.
Jessica Patterson
Co-Founder & President of The Wonder and
Music Factory
Jessica Patterson is Co-Founder & President of
The Wonder and Music Factory, an immersive music attraction coming to Indianapolis to transform the science of sound into an interactive family adventure. The Wonder and Music Factory provides an immersive experience with access to multi-sensory attractions, space rentals, food and beverage, portable exhibit experiences for schools and community events, as well as group instrument lessons via WAM JAMS. Their focus is on creativity and music — skills that have been proven to strengthen social connection, reduce loneliness, cultivate a stronger sense of self, and improve belonging by providing a medium for social agency and action.
Jessica spearheads the company's strategy, creative direction and operational development. With years of experience in the Arts and Performing Arts industry, she spent the first decade of her career as a professional vocalist and songwriter, and the last eight years doing social cause and impact media production along with mentoring. A Merit Scholarship recipient, Billboard charting songwriter, college valedictorian, and award-winning marketer, she employs strategic thinking and detailed project management to everything she does. When not going to a concert or playing “science-dude” with her 5 year old son, she enjoys board games, spending time in nature, and cuddles with her goldendoodle, Mr. Chase.
Mara Smith
Founder & CEO of Inspiro Tequila
Former attorney and corporate strategist Mara Smith is the Founder and CEO of Inspiro Tequila. She began her legal career at Mayer, Brown & Platt in Chicago before joining the corporate strategy team at McDonald’s Corporation. After her twins were born prematurely, Mara made the difficult decision to leave the corporate world to become a stay-at-home mom, but she never stopped thinking about what was next and had always envisioned running her own company.
Mara spent years searching for a quality tequila brand free from additives to fit into her active lifestyle. When she realized what she was looking for did not exist, she decided to create it by founding Inspiro Tequila, an additive-free, ultra-premium 100% Blue Weber Agave tequila that is distilled, owned and led by women. The name, Inspiro, comes from the Spanish word for “inspired,” reflecting both the determination that gave life to the brand and their mission moving forward. As a Certified B Corp, Inspiro Tequila is committed to social impact and elevating other women in business. The company provides grants and mentoring to other female founders to support them on their entrepreneurial journeys.
Leslie Young
Founder & CEO of Beautiful Dreamers, LLC
After dedicating her 30 plus year career to advocating for and supporting the growth of hundreds of minority and women-owned businesses, Leslie A. Young felt inspired to bring her 20 year vision of Beautiful Dreamers to life. Beautiful Dreamers is leading a movement to create inclusive kids bedding and decor that supports fair and authentic representation for Black, Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial children at a young age and teaches all children to accept and value differences at a time when this is significantly challenging for our society.
Leslie established Beautiful Dreamers in 2020, driven by her passion for developing small, minority, and women-owned businesses. Her diverse work experience includes roles in small businesses, business development training, and corporate supplier diversity programs. As Event & Program Manager for WBEC ORV, she developed programming for over 1,000 certified woman-owned businesses and helped to launch a business development program in partnership with Procter & Gamble and Cleveland Clinic, among others. Leslie managed minority business development initiatives at the African American Chamber in partnership with the Ohio Department of Development, supporting over ninety minority-owned businesses. She holds an M.B.A. from Xavier University, a bachelor’s in marketing from Ohio University, and has completed several business development programs, including the University of Cincinnati Venture Lab Accelerator and the Lightship Capital Bootcamp.
Purchase Tickets to the #InvestInWomenFounders Summit
Click here to purchase individual tickets, tables, and group tickets for universities.
Comments