Entrepreneurship can be an uphill climb, and for women founders, the challenges - especially in accessing capital - are even steeper. It remains crucial for VCs at all stages to actively mitigate and remove systemic barriers.
At Antler, we’ve been committed to lowering these barriers from day zero - the pre-concept and pre-seed startup stage. [Read more about it here.]
From B2B enterprise and HR tech to AI, Climate Tech, and InsurTech, women in our portfolio lead some of the most impactful, high-performing startups. The message is clear: backing women founders isn’t just about social impact - it’s also a smart commercial decision.
But what’s it really like to build a VC-backed company? Why should more women take the plunge?
To answer these questions, I spoke with four Antler-backed women founders in Australia about their journeys.
With remarkable trajectories, collectively, their companies have raised $14 million in funding and are solving some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
1. Skye Theodorou, Upcover
Skye Theodorou launched her company, Upcover, with Antler in 2019, driven by a clear vision: to democratise business insurance for business owners across APAC. Her mission, unchanged since day one, is to make insurance simple, accessible, and even "sexy."
As she puts it, "I truly believe every business owner deserves a positive experience with risk management."
Skye began by developing a prototype solo, focusing on a niche product. However, she quickly realised the need for a co-founder and investment to truly scale her vision. Joining Antler’s first Sydney cohort in 2019 was pivotal, providing her with the opportunity to network and ultimately meet her co-founder, Anish. Reflecting on that time, she says,
"I really wanted a co-founder, and I felt strongly that, turning 30, it was time to take a chance on building my own business."
Fast forward to today, Upcover has raised $5.5 million and $2 million in debt, with another funding round in progress. The company has issued over 12,000 policies, served 50,000 customers, and handled 150,000 inquiries.
Skye acknowledges the unique challenges she has faced as a founder. "It’s been a bit of a trifecta," she admits, "being a female founder, operating in a heavily regulated industry and living regionally."
Despite these hurdles, she highlights the value of a strong fundraising process and the role of supportive investors in her journey. "We’ve operated with a bootstrapped mindset for much of the journey, which has shaped our resilience," she explains.
Her advice to aspiring women founders is clear: test your ideas, find a co-founder to share the load, and view setbacks as growth opportunities:
"It has to be something you’re deeply passionate about. It’s a journey full of lessons that you carry into the rest of your life."
Skye also stresses the importance of time-boxing, building a strong support network, and recognising that entrepreneurship doesn’t mean sacrificing personal life.
Balancing entrepreneurship and motherhood, Skye sees both roles as mutually enriching. "Being a mom makes you better at things," she asserts, demonstrating that with passion, resilience, and the right support, it’s possible to build a successful business and lead a fulfilling personal life.
2. Helena Turpin, GoFIGR
For Helena Turpin, the spark to launch her company came from an Antler advertisement on LinkedIn. Despite working alongside startups in corporate roles, the idea of becoming a founder seemed far beyond her comfort zone.
But joining Antler’s Sydney cohort in 2020 gave her the confidence and structure she needed.
“Without Antler, I’d likely be in another corporate role wondering ‘what-if."
Helena’s company, GoFIGR, is a career-tech platform with a bold vision: to help companies find, inspire, grow, and retain their internal talent. “We want to enable anyone to upskill into (almost) any role, creating enormous value for businesses and employees," she says.
With a growing presence across Australia, the US, and the UK, GoFIGR is innovating how people manage careers in the face of rapid changes in skills and roles due to AI. From providing virtual career coaching to helping organisations without HR teams, Helena is determined to shape the future of work.
“What better way to predict the future than to help create it?” she says.
Reflecting on her journey, Helena acknowledges the challenges of being a woman founder, “You’ll face decisions that make your head spin, doubt yourself constantly, and everyone will have an opinion.”
Her advice? Build a solid foundation of support, including a great co-founder, team, and network, and don’t let negative voices dominate.
“I remind myself that my experience makes me uniquely positioned to tackle this market, and every mistake helps me move forward."
Helena also highlights the systemic barriers women founders face in fundraising, such as being asked more risk-averse questions. Her tip? “Prepare three key facts you want investors to know and turn every question back to them.”
With $3.5 million raised to date and nearing $1M ARR, Helena is proving that women-led startups can drive significant impact while paving the way for parity in the ecosystem.
3. Carolina Dreifuss, Sync Technologies
For Carolina Dreifuss, the journey to building her startup began with a deep-rooted desire to solve a pressing problem she observed across construction projects worldwide. With a background in data science and years of experience in the global IT and construction sectors, Caro saw inefficiencies in how systems on construction sites operated - disconnected and poorly tailored for on-the-ground workers.
“Working on construction sites from India to New Zealand, I saw the same challenges everywhere,” Caro shares. “Systems didn’t talk to each other, and they weren’t designed for the people on the ground. We were missing visualisation and simplification. I knew there had to be a better way.”
This realisation became the seed for her startup, Sync Technologies, which leverages technology to streamline workflows, increase transparency, and empower professionals within the building sector with better tools.
Caro joined Antler’s cohort in 2020, marking the start of her full-time entrepreneurial journey. Over the course of Antler’s residency, she refined her business model, validated her idea, and secured pre-seed funding to build her solution.
“Antler gave me the platform to not only test my idea but also find my footing in the startup world. I didn’t know much about startups when I began - I just knew I wanted to solve this problem.”
Sync Technologies has since raised $2 million in funding in total, expanded significantly with a focus on the building claims assessment and repair process, and services the building insurance and construction sector. It has onboarded major insurance companies and builders, delivering measurable results such as reducing claims/project delays and costs significantly.
Fundraising as a woman founder, however, hasn’t been without its hurdles. But instead of letting these experiences deter her, she channels them as fuel for her mission. “I have a daughter, and I’m committed to proving that it’s possible. It’s not about the obstacles—It’s about pursuing your dreams, overcoming challenges, learning along the way, and making it happen.”
Looking ahead, Caro’s vision is bold: to cement her company as a leader in Australia’s insurance and construction tech space and to expand globally to the UK and US. “We’ve proven our model in Australia, and now it’s time to scale,” she says.
For women unsure about taking the entrepreneurship leap, Caro offers:
“It might feel daunting at first, like standing on the edge of a cliff. But once you jump, you’ll realise you’re on your yellow brick road - doing something meaningful for yourself. This doesn’t make you less of a mum, a wife, or anything else. If anything, it makes you more - and together we show what’s possible.”
4. Catherine Long, Trace
Catherine Long’s entrepreneurial journey began not with a singular vision to tackle climate change, but with a quest to find a meaningful problem to solve.
"If you're going to spend so many hours of your day working, you need to truly believe you're doing something meaningful," Cat reflects.
This drive to create something impactful led her to build and launch Trace with Antler in 2020, right after the devastating Black Summer bushfires in Australia.
At first, Cat wasn’t set on building a climate-tech company and admits she "wasn’t destined to work in climate." Instead, she sought an opportunity that would allow her to spend her time working on a problem that mattered deeply to her.
"I wanted to do something I’d be proud of in the future."
While Trace initially aimed to help individuals mitigate their carbon footprints, the company quickly pivoted to focus on businesses, recognising a greater demand among organisations wanting to understand and reduce their emissions.
Now, Trace is not only a climate action platform but also a software solution transforming the carbon emissions reporting industry. "We are disrupting carbon emissions reporting and decarbonisation with software and our network of partners," Cat says.
Her path was not without challenges, especially as a woman founder. She acknowledges the difficulties women face in fundraising but resists defining her experience solely through that lens. "I can’t definitively say if it’s harder because I’m a woman. But I don’t doubt that my natural humility, pragmatism and occasional self doubt don’t help the process." Cat reflects.
Trace has raised $3 million to date, consistently doubled ARR each year, and is on track for similar growth in FY25. Relative to many competitors in the space, Trace has raised very little, which goes to show they punch well above their weight.
Cat’s advice to aspiring founders is to not overthink and take the leap, and emphasises the importance of having a strong support system, especially when balancing family and entrepreneurship, as “Having someone you can trust to brainstorm ideas and vent when things get tough is essential."
Cat also encourages women to embrace the journey without pressure to create a unicorn.
"Just give it a shot, do Antler, spend a few months on an idea, and learn as much as you can. Success isn’t always about building a billion-dollar company, it’s about stepping out of your comfort zone and giving it a shot."
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From breaking barriers to redefining work-life balance, these founders demonstrate that women can build, lead, and scale successful companies - on their own terms, with the right support.
Antler’s 13th residency is launching across Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne in February 2025. This provides founders - regardless of gender - with the resources, capital, and mentorship necessary to succeed from the earliest stages to Series C and beyond.
We are now accepting applications for this 10-week residency, and we encourage aspiring and serial founders, commercial leaders, technical builders, and domain experts to apply.
Apply now to be part of our next residency. Not for you? Refer a founder instead.
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