How I Raised My Seed is a gathering centered around open discussion regarding best practices for raising a seed round. Every other month, we invite two or three founders who have successfully raised a seed in the past few months and foster an open dialogue around what worked and what didn't.
Speakers:
Emma Bates, Co-Founder & CEO at Diem
Emma Bates is the CEO and co-founder of Diem, and a founding member of the Collective Media movement. Diem is a social search engine inspired by the way women have shared stories for centuries. The Collective Media movement describes digital, social spaces that unlock deeper connection, greater utility, and freer play.
A lifelong advocate for gender equity and equality, Emma is on a mission to showcase how inclusive internet platforms that recognize real world behavior, like Diem, can help close the gender information gap, and usher in a "new internet" that fosters real connection through new, innovative technology. Emma is a Forbes 30U30 nominee and Diem is a Techstars NYC portfolio company backed by leading investors like Flybridge, Acrew & Stellation. By trade, Emma is a marketer and community builder and has held marketing roles at some of the fastest-growing consumer brands in NYC and the UK. Most recently, prior to founding Diem, Emma led Partnerships at the DTC travel brand, Away. Emma grew up in the UK before moving to NYC in 2016.
Jeff Fernandez, Co-Founder & CEO at Dandi
Jeff Fernandez is dedicated to building businesses that help people.
He is CEO and Cofounder of Dandi, the analytics platform for advancing DEI (www.itsdandi.com). Started in stealth mode in 2018 and launched to the public in 2022, Dandi’s customers today include Oscar Health, Braze, Care/Of, Teachable, Catalyst, and Blue Shield of California.
As an advisor, Jeff works with socially-conscious companies including Sealed. He is a seed investor in Hone and a limited partner at Combine, a design-led venture capital firm.
Prior to Dandi, Jeff led Grovo, the enterprise learning company that he co-founded in 2010. Built with a mission to remake employee training, Grovo was used in 190 countries around the world and named by Fortune the second-best workplace in the US. Grovo was acquired in 2018 by Cornerstone OnDemand (NASDAQ: CSOD).
Originally from Dumont, NJ, Jeff graduated with highest honors from Harvard, where he wrote his thesis on maximizing human performance. Jeff has spoken at events including TEDx, SXSW, Internet Week, and ASU+GSV, and has contributed to Inc., Fast Company, Forbes, and more.
Jeff lives in New Jersey with his wife Cori and their two kids Remi and Rafael.
Cameron McCarthy, Co-Founder & CEO at WeStock
Cameron McCarthy is currently the CEO and Co-founder of WeStock. A Techstars-backed company that helps brands unlock omnichannel success through first-party data. The company has continued to grow since launching in 2019 and now has over 700 brands and 150,000 shoppers using the platform. WeStock recently raised a $2.2M seed round led by Laconia Capital.
Cameron was previously the sales director for Delighted By Hummus, where he grew the brand to over 7,000 retail locations including Target, Costco, and Aldi. Cameron has worked both on the distribution and brand side prior to starting WeStock, accounting for over $50M in retail sales.
Cameron has a deep passion for emerging brands and what the future of retail will look like which he discusses weekly on The Honest Retail Podcast.
Moderator:
Charlie O'Donnell, Partner, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures
Presented by:
