North America | United States | Business

Bumble Cofounder Becomes World’s Youngest Self-Made Woman Billionaire, Thanks To IPO

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Whitney Wolfe Herd ended the day Thursday with a net worth of $1.5 billion based on Bumble stock closing at $70.31.] Shares of dating app Bumble soared in its IPO on Thursday, turning its 31-year-old CEO and founder Whitney Wolfe Herd into the world’s youngest self-made woman billionaire. Her nearly 12% stake in the company was worth $1.6 billion as of 12:40 p.m. EST on Thursday. Bumble stock opened at $76, much higher than its initial IPO price of $43 per share. The company made its debut hours after the markets opened on Thursday.
North America | United States | Business

The Fortune 500 has a new woman CEO: Accenture’s Julie Sweet

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Accenture has named Julie Sweet as its next CEO, adding to the few woman who run major companies. The consulting company said Thursday that Sweet, 51, will take the top job in September. She's currently the head of Accenture's North America business, which accounts for almost 50% of the company's global revenues. Sweet joined Accenture (ACN) in 2010. She served as the company's general counsel after 10 years as a partner at the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore. There are more women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies than ever before. The latest Fortune list, publ
Africa | South Africa | Business

Meet the first black woman to own an airline: Fly Blu Crane’s Siza Mzimela

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In September of this year, Siza Mzimela became the first black woman to start her own airline. Fly Blu Crane started up its business in O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg as a low-cost airline offering flights domestically within South Africa. But Mzimela’s dreams extend far beyond South Africa. “We hope to expand our flight destinations to Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We currently have two 50-seat ERJ 145s. The airline will aim to keep its current rates in order to make flying affordable for both business and leisure
North America | United States | Business

Angels Ignite Blazing Growth for Women Entrepreneurs, More Fuel Needed

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Venture capital decision-makers don’t seem to recognize the investment value of women-led companies. Women investors do, thank you very much. While male VCs are turning their backs on good investments, women angels are not. More than one in four angel investors are now women, an impressive 318% growth in the last 10 years. With the rise of female angel investors, angel-backed, women- led companies has risen as well. Again that magic number: more than one in four angel-backed companies are women-led, a dramatic jump of 234% in 10 years. This is the second of a two-part discussion of impact
North America | United States | Business

Patrice Banks is Shaking Up the Auto Industry by Empowering Women Mechanics

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In the US, women impact up to 85% of car purchases yet make up less than 2% of mechanics and auto technicians. Patrice Banks is set to change that. Banks, a former "auto airhead," founded Girls Auto Clinic to create a supportive space for women to learn how to enter the male-dominated automotive industry. Through different workshops and classes, Banks helps women to overcome intimidation and stigmas surrounding car maintenance. In order to get rid of the manipulation and discrimination women face during auto repair, Banks encourages women to become knowledgeable.
North America | United States | Business

Built by women, flown by women: Boeing, United Airlines highlight female leaders at 737 handoff

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Women are increasingly at the controls at every level of the aerospace industry. That inspired United Airlines (NYSE: UAL) and Boeing (NYSE: BA) to collaborate on a unique aircraft delivery Wednesday morning. Nicole Piasecki, Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice president and general manager of propulsion, ceremonially handed the keys to the new 737-900ER to United executives Cheryl Kappes and Nancy Ricker, at a ceremony at Boeing Field in Seattle. Shortly after the ceremony, the jet took off for Chicago, piloted by an all-female flight crew, and with every seat occupied by women from every
Middle East | Saudi Arabia | Business

Saudi Women Can’t Drive To Work; So They’re Flocking To The Internet

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In a country where women are prohibited from driving themselves to work, technology is opening new avenues to the job market in Saudi Arabia. Thousands of women use Instagram, the popular photo-sharing site, to launch businesses that sell goods and services, from cupcakes to sushi, in the desert kingdom. At a recent convention of Instagram businesses, hundreds of women set up booths at a private girls school in the capital Riyadh to share success stories. Startups on social media became a draw for women because it's easier than tangling with government bureaucracy to get a business li
North America | United States | Business

KPMG becomes the second Big Four accounting firm to have a female CEO

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Accounting giant KPMG announced Tuesday that its new CEO and chairman will be company veteran Lynne Doughtie, the first woman in the position. She was elected by KPMG partners for a five-year term, and will start in her new position in July. Her appointment to CEO follows that of Cathy Engelbert at Deloitte, another “Big Four” consultancy. Doughtie, 52, has been at the company for three decades. She started at KPMG in 1985 as an auditor. Most recently, she led the the firm’s US consulting branch, which has grown at a 17% annual rate (paywall) since she took over in 2011.
Middle East | UAE | Business

Developing Dubai’s female entrepreneurs

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The winds of change are blowing as strong as ever for female entrepreneurs in the UAE. The stereotypes that once relegated women to the sidelines of business have been washed away, with increasing numbers of executive roles being filled by females, and more and more groups, workshops and programmes being developed to encourage women into entrepreneurship. One such platform is Ro’Ya, an initiative by the Dubai Business Women Council (DBWC) and MasterCard to, as they concisely put it, ‘empower and encourage budding female entrepreneurs in the UAE’. Now in its second year, the inau
North America | United States | Business

5 Black Women in Tech Bring Innovation To the Male-Led Industry

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As BlackEnterprise.com gears up for the tech-focused talk, we highlight five black women in tech who are making significant entrepreneurial strides and also expanding the opportunities for other minorities. Mary Farrow Mary Farrow is the Founder and CEO of Gramsly. Ayori Selassie Ayori Selassie founded Pitch Mixer in 2011 Kaya Thomas Kaya Thomas created the app We Read Too Kelechi Anyadiegwu Kelechi Anyadiegwu started Zuvaa Riana Lynn Riana Lynn was inspired to launch FoodTrace Read their profiles at the source.
North America | United States | Business

A tech veteran’s ‘amazing’ new chapter championing women

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Who: Cynthia Tee, 45, a 20-year Microsoft veteran. Her latest venture: Tee starts her first day Monday as executive director of Ada Developers Academy, a free software-development school in Seattle for women. Why the change: Tee, who has a master’s in computer science from MIT, took a leave of absence from Microsoft in September. When she heard about the opening at Ada, she knew she wanted the position and officially left Microsoft earlier this month. Having been a mentor and mentee at Microsoft, Tee wants to see more women in tech. “The whole concept of championing women and support
North America | United States | Business

How Five Women Entrepreneurs Are Building A League of Extraordinary Teens

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TEDxTeen Curator and We Are Family Foundation Executive Director Jess Teutonico says, "Teens are no longer just the leaders of tomorrow, they're the leaders of today." While the wisdom that comes with life experience isn't something young people will acquire until many years from now, their capacity to access and process information combined with their agility and imagination creates an alchemy other generations have not had while growing up. As these teens and their magic mature, they deserve a seat at the table. To get there, they need the support and guidance of visionaries who can spot
South Asia | Indonesia | Business

Wobe: Entrepreneurial tech for disadvantaged women in SEA

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TODAY, April 16, marks the soft launch of Wobe (pronounced ‘Woh-Bay’), a small startup with a very big mission: To enable the entrepreneurial will of women in Indonesia. At its core, Wobe is a micro-business app with an e-wallet, designed to make it easy for anyone with a smartphone and mobile Internet access to start a business in selling prepaid phone airtime, electricity and water payment vouchers, and even bus and train tickets. It is a business and mission borne out of the time founder Adrianna Tan has spent over the years volunteering at non-profit organisations focused on he
Africa | South Africa | Business

The entrepreneurs behind the schoolbag that transforms into a light at night

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When South African childhood friends and later entrepreneurs Thato Kgatlhanye and Rea Ngwane finished high school, they knew they wanted to start something that impacted young people and underprivileged communities. At age 18, they founded Rethaka, a social enterprise they hoped would do just that, although it would be two years before they figured out how. Repurpose Schoolbags is an environmentally-friendly innovation made from ‘upcycled’ plastic shopping bags with built-in solar technology that charges up during the day and transforms into a light at night. The initiative targets scho