Marching Forward: Founders, Funders & The Businesses We Build

Essential Information:

📅 Date: Friday, 14th March
⏰ Time: 8:00 AM - 10:30 AM
📍 Location: The Cluster, Level 20, 31 Queen Street, Melbourne
🛠️ Sponsors: EverestEngineering and Antler
☕ Morning Fuel: Enjoy coffee, tea, and a selection of light but delicious breakfast items designed to power you up!

What else do you need to know?

The stats don’t lie—funding, scaling, and leadership opportunities still aren’t evenly distributed. The odds are often stacked against female and non-binary founders, but we’re here to challenge that. This International Women’s Day, join us to discuss how we push back, change the narrative, and march forward.

Whose Speaking?

✨ Jeanette Cheah – Co-founder & CEO of Hex
Jeanette has built a global education startup that helps emerging leaders think bigger, move faster, and create real impact. With experience across corporate, startup, and tech landscapes, she knows what it takes to grow a business from scratch - especially in a system that wasn’t built for everyone.

Panel Discussion: The Founders, The Funders & The Future

After the keynote, delve into the numbers, the patterns, and - most importantly - what we do next. Our panel of founders and investors will dissect what it truly takes to build, scale, and secure funding in a space that’s still playing catch-up with diversity.

🔹 Natalie Flynn – Founder & CEO of equidi: The funding gap isn’t just about capital—it’s about workplace culture, transparency, and long-term sustainability. Natalie is tackling these challenges head-on with equidi, helping businesses embed pay equity and fairness from day one. She’ll share how smart startups can use this to their advantage.

🔹 Rani Heraputeri – VC at Antler: Rani is a venture capital investor at Antler, working closely with early-stage founders as they navigate the startup journey. She has experience across global startup ecosystems and understands what it takes to build and back high-growth businesses.

🔹 Joanna Lee – Investment Associate at Giant Leap: Joanna is an Investment Associate at Giant Leap, Australia’s first venture capital fund dedicated to impact investing. With a background in corporate finance and infrastructure investment, she works with startups tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges in climate, health, and people.

Whose this Breakfast for?

👩‍💻 Aspiring & Current Female Founders – Whether you’re building, scaling, or just getting started, this is for you.
🚀 Startup Ecosystem Supporters – Investors, accelerators, and advisors who want to create real impact.
🤝 Allies & Advocates – If you care about driving change in the startup world, pull up a chair!

PLUS recieve an Exclusive Offer from HEX:

All attendees will receive complimentary access to our Personal Branding course (valued at $199), courtesy of the AFR Employability Award-winning HEX. This will help you stand out in a competitive market. The code and link will be shared post-event—you can choose to share your course with someone who may benefit from it.

🎟️ Spots are limited—RSVP now.

​Marching Forward: Founders, Funders & The Businesses We Build

​Essential Information:

​What else do you need to know?

Marching Forward: Founders, Funders & The Businesses We Build

Essential Information:

What else do you need to know?