{"id":43103,"date":"2023-10-20T15:26:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/league-of-extraordinary-women-builds-app-like-happn-to-connect-female-entrepreneurs-around-the-world-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:26:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:26:07","slug":"league-of-extraordinary-women-builds-app-like-happn-to-connect-female-entrepreneurs-around-the-world-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/league-of-extraordinary-women-builds-app-like-happn-to-connect-female-entrepreneurs-around-the-world-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"League of Extraordinary Women builds app like Happn to connect female entrepreneurs around the world – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

After taking over the League of Extraordinary Women (LOEW) as chief executive, Cupcake Central founder Sheryl Thai is heading the development of an app that will connect women entrepreneurs across borders.<\/p>\n

Inspired by dating apps like Bumble and Happn, LOEW\u2019s app will let users swipe right to connect with like-minded women around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to change the world,\u201d Thai told Smart<\/em>Company<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a tech platform that will encourage more female entrepreneurs to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

After four years in operation, Thai says LOEW ran its biggest conference yet at Crown Melbourne last year with 500 women attending.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the women was heading back to Iran and she wanted to bring the league over there,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

But with gendered oppression and lack of support or encouragement for businesswomen in the Iranian woman\u2019s community, it would be difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have any systems in place to assist her in doing that, so I thought how can I create a tech platform to connect women?\u201d Thai says.<\/p>\n

By connecting businesswomen from aspiring entrepreneurs through to fast growth founders and well-established leaders, Thai hopes the app will accelerate LOEW\u2019s mission of growing female entrepreneurship around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just about having a business as an owner-operator but getting to that next level as a company that makes a difference, employs people and supports your lifestyle,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

How the app will work<\/h3>\n

The app works by matching users based on responses to quizzes that identify what stage they\u2019re at as entrepreneurs, who they\u2019re looking to meet and what their specific needs are.<\/p>\n

Instead of signing up through Facebook, the app will let users connect via LinkedIn.<\/p>\n

Profiles will then show up and users can swap left or right and start messaging each other on the app.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat starts the whole conversation,\u201d Thai says.<\/p>\n

Later down the track, Thai is hoping to add in a feature that will allow women to organise meet-ups on the app.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat really encourages people to share their experiences,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Next week, Thai and LOEW brand manager Maeva Haim are heading to New York to host their first US meet-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re testing the market to see if there\u2019s a need in the US as well,\u201d says Thai.<\/p>\n

Many of the LOEW\u2019s 60,000 plus Instagram followers are from the States.<\/p>\n

Thai and Haim will also be meeting with investors to raise $1 million in seed funding so they can get a test version up and running.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Victorian government have been very good to us, they\u2019ve connected us with their offices in New York and San Francisco,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The power of connecting and collaborating with like-minded women<\/h3>\n

Looking back at her own experience of turning a die-hard love of cupcakes into a nation-wide franchise that bakes 20,000 cupcakes a week, Thai says she couldn\u2019t have achieved it without connecting and collaborating with other women.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the startup growth phase, it\u2019s very difficult,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for having other women [around me], I wouldn\u2019t be where I am today.\u201d<\/p>\n

She remembers when she started out how daunting networking was.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was quite afraid to go to networking events, I was very much an introvert,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost like you feel you\u2019re not good enough to meet people because you\u2019re just starting out.\u201d<\/p>\n

But after connecting with a few women entrepreneurs who are now the founding team of LOEW, Thai was able to grow out of her shell and become the success she is today.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy creating the league and these meet-ups, where we encourage people to talk about their struggles by getting one of our speakers to tell everyone [about their journey], it opens up a conversation to say, \u2018Hey, I feel the same way and I have the same problems\u2019,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more we share stories about female entrepreneurship the more young people will go, \u2018I want to run a business\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was first published on SmartCompany.<\/em><\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook,<\/em> Twitter, <\/em>LinkedIn <\/em>and <\/em>SoundCloud.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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