Taryn Andersen is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Impulse4women. She is the backbone behind the global platform focused on assisting female-led technology businesses and creating a social impact simultaneously.
Taryn began her career in private banking in the year 2000. She worked and accumulated experience for 13 years and later created Pluribus United Foundations with 15 private foundations. She was an active mentor at Start-up Bootcamp, a jury member at the EIC Acceleration program, and began as Investor Relations Director at THCAP Venture Capital in 2016. Masters’ degree from IESE Business School helped her understand business management. Impulse4women’s creation stemmed from her background as an investor. Founded in 2017 Barcelona, ES based Impulse4women acts as a marketplace, connecting female-led technology start-ups and social impact projects with investment opportunities. It operates both online and offline. The services include Webinar Sessions, Podcasts, Mentoring Sessions, Pitching Sessions, Online and Offline Events, Grants Communications, to support start-ups in every life stage from the MVP until the IPO. The goal is to provide a platform for investors to find female-led tech start-ups from distinctive life stages. She says, “MVP to IPO, and from different sectors, maturities, and geographical locations.” The motive of the organisation is clear: to increase investment in female entrepreneurs and social impact by giving them the skills and visibility they need.
Taryn, who comes from an investment background, noticed a difference between men and women when it came to accessing investment and forming relationships with investors. Her venture solves this problem by giving investors a platform where they know they can find high-quality female-led start-ups and social impact projects, and by giving these start-ups opportunities to be invested in, supporting them with any additional skills or knowledge they may require. Currently, the platform has over 4,000 start-ups led by female entrepreneurs in the technology sector and social impact projects, as well as contacts with 6,000 start-ups, with 10,000 start-ups expected in the short to medium term. The company also offers to provide start-ups to business angels and early-stage investors to help them build their portfolios.
Taryn’s journey, on the other hand, has not been simple. While climbing the stairs of success, one of the biggest challenges Taryn faced was ensuring the platform was able to support the company’s goals. In addition to this, the pandemic was a tough moment. However, it enabled her to diversify their offering and expand online through virtual events.
“We are global and started in 2017, ahead of the game. We want to make our services competitive. We support in multiple ways in addition to our matchmaking platform which gives us the edge over our competitors.”
Staying agile
“The market now has more business matchmaking platforms,” says Taryn. “There are always new services and solutions emerging, and due to our role in connecting these new services and solutions as start-ups or social impact projects with investors, we have to be adaptable and ready to welcome innovation.” She and her team consistently recognise the new trends and stay up-to-date to provide the best service to their clients. Further, she states that in the year 2022, the company will be preparing academic courses for females aspiring to become investors, which will be provided through its website, with more courses to be added in the near future. “We are always striving to create more connections and relationships with public and private organizations and collaboration in events to propel the start-ups in our ecosystem towards superior investment,” says Taryn.
The company’s advisory board and the team supporting it have been vital to the brand’s success. It includes 75 people from different countries supporting Impulse4women with their knowledge and time through its events, bringing more start-ups into the ecosystem, and communicating any opportunities that would support its start-ups further. “It’s not an individual success, it’s a community success,” she exemplifies. The company’s growth is led by the market, and the market is flourishing. Investors need a platform to find quality projects led by female entrepreneurs, and that is what Impulse4women offers. In particular, venture capitalists are only investing 2.3% of their funds into female-led tech entrepreneurs. “There are also more and more female entrepreneurs,” says Taryn. She highlights that any venture capital coming into Impulse4women recognises the need to invest in women. Start-ups led by females have a high success rate, which is a significant additional value to any investor.
Envisioning the bigger picture
Taryn envisions a bigger picture and desires to become the next Crunchbase for female lead tech entrepreneurs as well as social impact projects and be positioned as a reference in the market. The key risk factor is its competitors. “However, if competitors start to do what you are experimenting with, it shows that there is a need in the market for the product you are offering,” says Taryn. “We are global and started in 2017, ahead of the game. We want to make our services competitive. We support in multiple ways in addition to our matchmaking platform which gives us the edge over our competitors.”
Moreover, she also wants ambitious women to find a platform where their work is valued. She mentions, “teams made up of women are often more successful than only male teams, although I always think that a diverse team is the most successful team; this has been proven by data.” She and her team encourage every woman to become a problem solver. “Equally, this goes for any entrepreneur, not just females,” says Taryn.
