Female Founders Showcase 2026
Be inspired by women who’ve done it, in a room with people who get it.
Women all around Australia are building incredible things. The Female Founders Showcase is here to celebrate that.
To spotlight women-led startups and celebrate the incredible women who are building, leading and creating change in Australia's startup ecosystem.
For close to a decade, UNSW Founders has made a deliberate bet on women. Not as a gesture, and not as a seasonal campaign, but as a sustained, structural commitment to building an innovation ecosystem that reflects the full range of human ambition and ingenuity.
UNSW Founders has run New Wave, the dedicated women incubation program since 2017, which has supported over 1000+ women build their network, explore their ideas and give them the first funding to kick start their startups.
UNSW Founders has also consciously designed our programs and events for inclusion, recognising that to have equal attendance and participating in entrepreneurship we need to design for family-friendly events, as well as flexible online delivery modes for those who have caring responsibilities.
These are simple, but intentional choices that UNSW Founders has made to ensuring that we’re creating inclusive spaces. These actions has contributed UNSW Founders creating a close to gender parity portfolio of startups and is reflected directly in our investments – with 61% of UNSW’s total capital invested going to startups with one or more women co-founders in 2025.
This year the Female Founders Showcase was created to recognise the extraordinary women who are already creating change and bring together the community to showcase and support their vision.
"UNSW Founders made an active choice to create a space to celebrate and showcase the women who are creating extraordinary innovation." - Nina Juhl, Senior Manager, Curiosity.
What Happened on the Night
Guests arrived to a room full of energy, women excited to share what they’ve been building and people ready to have genuine conversations.
Fourteen female founders took the stage, to share their startup with a live audience. Each person with a unique idea, motivated and ready to connect with like-minded individuals. The atmosphere was exactly what we wanted from the night: warm and open, making the room feel less like a conference and more like a family gathering.
The Keynote: Michele Stansfield
Michele Stansfield is one of Australia's most exciting founders, but she didn't set out to build a startup. She spent years working in science and industry before unlocking a new process for biomanufacturing, one that was cheaper and better than anything that existed.
This year, Cauldron Ferm raised $13.25 million, was named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies in the world and earned a spot on the World Economic Forum's Tech Pioneers list.
David Burt, Director of Entrepreneurship, introduced Michele with an observation, about how she operates. He described her as someone with the rare ability to be both unapologetically direct and genuinely warm. A combination that sounds simple but, in practice is remarkably hard to find. Most people can do one or the other, Michele does both and has refined that balance every single day. Michele delivered a keynote that left the room inspired.
She shared three keys points of advice for any founder:
1. Choose a problem worth the sacrifice.
Things will get hard, but they will also be beautiful. The problem you’re solving needs to be one you care deeply about to be able to weather the challenges.
2. Your job isn't to do everything. Your job is to lead.
Many founders believe that doing more makes them more valuable. Michele pointed out it’s much more the opposite. The most important thing she could give her company and team, was a clear vision and leadership.
3. Nobody builds anything meaningful alone.
Building an extraordinary team is about finding the right people: people who compliment your strengths and skills. For Michele, she found a CFO to build structure and process, so she could lead as CEO.
The audience left the room with a valuable lesson, “invest in yourself,” something that founders often forget to do.
It's no surprise that Michele is someone who builds extraordinary teams around her, not just inside Cauldron Ferm, but everywhere she goes. She puts it down to fostering self-awareness and giving people the confidence to advocate for themselves, something she says has shaped her team, her investors and her family alike.
What the Night Meant
The Female Founders Showcase delivered many things at once. It was a celebration of women, a stage for female founders to be heard and a room full of warm connections that could genuinely impact someone’s venture. More than anything, it was proof of the great outcomes that are unlocked when you create an inclusive space for women to lead.
To read more about just some of the amazing founders, their stories and advice for aspiring innovation leaders see the event booklet below ⤵
If you are interested in exploring your innovation potential, we invite you to join the UNSW Founders community! We are committed to supporting all founders build their impact.
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