What happens when you get 85 tech women in a room together for one weekend? Innovation, collaboration, and tech solutions ranging from charitable weddings to money management for Millennials.
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The event was Startup Weekend DC’s first women’s edition. Held at General Assembly and 1776, teams of women (a handful of men were allowed) collaborated on tech ideas from Friday night through Sunday. Judges choose winners after team pitches Sunday night and Heartful.ly grabbed first place. The team worked on a service that gives couples a way to create charitable wedding registries. Startup Weekend DC co-organizer Babs Lee says the event was a way to change the usual dynamic at tech-focused gatherings: lots of men and a handful of women.
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Second place went to this trio known as ForgetmeNot, which created a car seat that alerts parents when a child has been left in the car. And third place was Moneyfit, a money management game for Millennials with rewards for hitting goals. Babs, who runs a DC startup called Kilo, says the event was different than the usual Startup Weekend in DC in that the teams were more collaborative and supportive. For most of the participants, it was the first time they had attended such an event. Startup Weekend is part of Up Global, a nonprofit trying to create 1,500 female-led startups this year.
