Announced! TechRound’s 50 Women In Startups & Tech 2024 Winners

Sunita Grote, Ventures Team Lead at UNICEF

Sunita Grote leads the Ventures team within UNICEF’s Office of Innovation and co-founded its Venture Fund which provides seed funding in fiat and crypto – the first in the UN system.

UNICEF Ventures explores how emerging frontier technology can accelerate results for the most marginalised children, including through investments in open-source solutions from emerging markets. She steers UNICEF’s co-leadership of the Digital Public Goods Alliance, a network of partners who collectively contribute to the discovery, development, and deployment of open-source digital public goods. Sunita has a background in innovative financing and previously spent 10 years working in the global HIV and health response based mostly in the UK and in South Asia. She holds an MBA from INSEAD and lives in Stockholm with her partner and two children.

Find out more about what Sunita is looking for from entrants in her interview here.

Lissele Pratt, Co-Founder at Capitalixe

As co-founder at Capitalixe, Lissele Pratt pioneers cutting-edge fintech solutions for underserved industries. From launching her first business at age 16 to scaling a seven-figure fintech consultancy in three years, her journey showcases determination.

With 9 years in financial services and a global perspective, she’s a recognised authority in foreign exchange, payments, and technology. A Forbes 30 Under 30 Finance alum and TechRound 29 under 29, her expertise is featured in publications and podcasts like Entrepreneur, Business Leader, TechRound, Fintech Times, Valiant CEO, Finextra, Thrive Global, and Female Techpreneur.

Emma Kay, Founder at WalkSafe

Emma is Founder & Director of WalkSafe, growing it into the UK’s #1 safety tech business. Her dedication to tackling gender-based violence has led her to become a thought leader in the personal safety industry. She has worked with global brands across international media, and is an experienced keynote speaker. Emma is passionate about utilising her technology to make the world a safer place.

Prior to WalkSafe, she founded several other businesses, spent many years volunteering and has a background in early years education.

Lorna Reeves, Founder & Director at MyOhMy Events

Lorna was a member of the Met Police, spending over 15 years in Forensics. It’s everything you are imagining; evidence, fingerprints, firearms and serious investigations. Lorna finished her career in the Senior Leadership team, managing a team of 160 people, managing the forensic work of 3000 cases annually, contracts, procurement, HR and staff development, communication and negotiation. She took these skills and used them in her business.

Lorna then made the leap to pursue her passion for creating experiential, game-changing business events; elevating her clients’ brands, in the campaign for #NoMoreBoringWebinars. MyOhMy Events is a global leader in delivering immersive, interactive events in Pharma, Bioscience and charity sectors, face-to-face and hybrid.

Lorna’s solution focussed, no-nonsense style ensure her client’s events elevate their brand. Lorna is an advocate and change-maker of women in stem and Women in Business – driving change through actions.

Find out more about what Lorna is looking for from entrants in her interview here.

Alice Busvine, Editorial Writer and Head of Social at  TechRound 

Alice is an editorial writer and the brains behind TechRound’s social media channels, posting far and wide and spreading the word about startups.

Monica Eaton, Founder and CEO of Chargebacks911 and Fi911, as well as Chief Information Officer of Global Risk Technologies

Monica has worked tirelessly to educate merchants and financial institutions about hidden threats in the rapidly changing payment fraud landscape. Chargebacks911 has successfully protected more than 10 billion online transactions and has recovered over $1 billion in chargeback fraud.

Recognising that the impact of chargebacks goes beyond merchants, Fi911 provides unrivalled support to financial institutions with innovative back-office management technologies. Fi911’s pioneering DisputeLab™ tool streamlines chargeback management for acquirers, automating legacy processes and standardising methods that simplify and speed the end-to-end workflow.

Monica is a passionate diversity advocate committed to empowering the global fintech space. She has earned numerous awards including the Retail Systems Awards, where she received the ‘Outstanding Individual Achievement Award’ and was named ‘Global Leader of the Year’ at the Women in IT Awards.