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☆ 34 of the most promising women's health startups of 2022, according to VCs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

We asked top venture capitalists to name the most promising women's health startups so far in 2022. The result is a list of 34 companies covering everything from menopause to cardiovascular health. Last year, funding for women's health startups exploded to an impressive $2.5 billion, about a threefold increase from the previous year, according to data from McKinsey and Rock Health. Some think the colloquial label "femtech" for women's health startups prevents investors from seeing the potential of the space. Insider asked top investors to nominate the most promising women's health startups they'd come across, both within and outside their portfolios.

My family budget has a line item for my income: my paid work as a writer, and my unpaid work as a mom. This budgeting strategy gives my unpaid labor value — it recognizes that I work 12-14 hours a day. This unpaid labor balances out in the expense column, so there's no positive cash flow from it, but it appears on the budget anyway. If stay-at-home parents spoke up more about our monetary value, we might be more accurately seen as aggressively employed. Maybe the judgments would subside if we spoke up more about the monetary value of unpaid childcare, starting at home with our personal budgets.

At 27, Pierson has defied the odds that many entrepreneurs, especially Latinas, face. Latina founders run nearly 2 million businesses across the country, but receive less than 2% of venture capital funds. Pierson was one of several Latina entrepreneurs speaking in New York City on Friday at a breakfast for investors and members of the media (disclosure: This reporter was one of the moderators). Focused on funding opportunities for women of color, Pierson and others discussed their trajectories on raising capital, scaling up their businesses and achieving significant revenues. One of the other Latina entrepreneurs who discussed her experience starting a business was Karla Gallardo, the founder of Cuyana, a highly successful lifestyle brand known for its sustainably sourced and premium leather accessories and apparel.

☆ This exec helped raise $100 million to fund Latino-owned startups: It's 'a smart economic strategy'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

As the U.S. slides closer to a potential recession, economists and business leaders are racking their brains for ways to improve the country's financial health. For Solomon "Sol" Trujillo, the answer is simple: Invest in Latino-owned businesses. In 2019, Trujillo, 70, founded L'Attitude Ventures, a venture capital (VC) firm that exclusively invests in Latino-owned businesses. Trujillo is a general partner at L'Attitude Ventures alongside former United Airlines CEO and chairman Oscar Munoz, Kennie Blanco, Laura Moreno Lucas and Gary Acosta, who is also a co-founder of the firm. "We want people to see that there are a lot of companies that can create growth and stimulate our country's GDP with the right support."

The AI software told banks to deny millions of legitimate purchases, at a time when consumers had been scrambling for toilet paper and other essentials. Seasonal variations, data-quality changes or momentous events - such as the pandemic - all can lead to a string of bad AI predictions. Also to blame was its AI system learning from corrupted data, the company said. Arize AI, which raised $38 million from investors last month, enables monitoring for customers including Uber, Chick-fil-A and Procter & Gamble. Zoldi said consumer habits were changing too fast to rewrite the AI system.

☆ Supply chain snarls loosen for U.S. companies, but plenty of problems remain
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Timothy Aeppel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Some parts of his supply chain have clearly improved, said the vice president of global supply for Graco Inc (GGG.N), the Minneapolis-based maker of fluid handling equipment such as paint sprayers. But the complex nature of global supply chains means that companies like Graco are still struggling, since the shortage of just one part can hobble them. The COVID-19 pandemic set off a crisis in global supply chains, which is showing signs of healing. This suggests falling prices for some goods and services are still far from working their way fully through the economy. The regional bank’s Global Supply Pressure Index tracks data on shipping costs, delivery times, backlogs and other statistics into a single measure compared to historic norms.

“They broke their promise to Black farmers and other farmers of color,” John Boyd, a plaintiff and the president of the National Black Farmers Association, told NBC News on Wednesday just before he held a press conference on the matter. John Boyd, president of the Black Farmers Association, plants winter wheat in one of his fields in Baskerville, Va., on Jan. 8, 2019. The $4 billion was never delivered to Black farmers and other people of color, however. The new legislation aims to circumvent white farmers’ grievances and create two new funds while nixing the initial relief program. In 1920, there were more than 925,000 Black farmers in the U.S., making up about 14% of the farmer population, according to data analysis by the consulting firm McKinsey.

Oct 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear McKinsey & Co's bid to escape a lawsuit by retired turnaround specialist Jay Alix accusing the management consulting firm of concealing potential conflicts when seeking permission from bankruptcy courts to perform lucrative work on corporate restructurings. Circuit Court of Appeals in January revived the case, saying Furman gave "insufficient consideration" to whether McKinsey undermined the integrity of federal judicial proceedings. McKinsey in its petition to the Supreme Court argued that the 2nd Circuit's decision ran contrary to past rulings by the high court holding that RICO lawsuits may be brought only by plaintiffs injured "directly" by wrongdoing. The firm urged the Supreme Court to consider whether lower courts must follow that standard "even if, in the court's judgment, the plaintiff's allegations implicate the court's 'supervisory responsibilities'" over judicial proceedings. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Will DunhamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Here's how the $360 billion electric car battery market will impact the future of EVs — and how affordable they are for car-buyers.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

There's also money to be made: The EV battery market could hit $360 billion by 2030, according to McKinsey. At Insider, we've looked at white-hot EV battery technologies that give automakers the EV performance they need at the price their customers want. It just led a $400 million investment into the little-known EV battery startup that could make it work. Giants like Tesla, GM, and Ford are going to be desperate for EV materials in the next decade. The soon-to-be $339 billion battery industry is on a hiring tear to power the shift to electric cars.

☆ The Biden administration wants to make it easier for gig workers to be full-time so Uber drivers and home health workers could qualify for benefits and better pay
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Jason Lalljee | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Labor Department announced a proposal making it easier for gig workers to be classified as employees. That proposal comes after years of pushback from gig work companies like Uber and Lyft. It's no secret that gig work has been spreading, as the rise of on-demand apps necessitated the rise of on-demand workers. Part of the expansion of unemployment benefits, which also included an additional $600 and then $300 a week, made gig workers eligible for benefits for the first time. The Labor Department announcement comes after years of organizing from labor activists pushing for gig workers to be classified as full employees.

☆ In Puerto Rico’s Troubled Energy System, McKinsey Gets Paid by Both Government and Vendors
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Alexander Gladstone | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

McKinsey & Co., the consulting powerhouse that advises not just Puerto Rico’s government but also the primary contractors and vendors for the island territory’s energy system, is facing scrutiny in the wake of the power grid’s continued dysfunction. Since McKinsey was hired as the top consultant to Puerto Rico’s financial-oversight board, which oversees public spending, the firm has helped officials shape efforts to overhaul the territory’s electricity system through a privatization process that resulted in a venture backed by one of McKinsey’s clients winning the lucrative contract to operate the grid.

☆ Compass employees question the real-estate brokerage's cost cutting, saying it threatens the startup's tech ambitions
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Kaja Whitehouse | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

This is Kaja Whitehouse reporting to you from New York City, where real estate isn't just a profession — it's an obsession. But you don't have to be preoccupied with real estate, or located in the Big Apple, to known about Compass, the fast-rising real-estate brokerage that IPOed last year. When Compass IPOed in April 2021, it garnered a $7 billion valuation — the highest price ever for a residential real estate brokerage. In other news:Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon moonlights as a DJ, and is now set to play at the Lollapalooza music festival in July. It's no secret that Goldman Sachs' CEO David Solomon has been under pressure over his burgeoning consumer banking division Marcus.

☆ Now might be 'as good a time as you've had in a decade' to build a company from scratch, says famed investor Bill Gurley
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Venture capitalist Bill Gurley talked about the environment for startups on a McKinsey podcast. Gurley said now might be as good a time as any in the past decade to build a company from scratch. The environment of the past five years was "really crazy" to start a company, Gurley said. In the macro environment, Gurley said events like Russia's war in Ukraine and Chinese escalations in Taiwan "are not things that start-ups can impact or control." So while they may "add anxiety," Gurley said they're not things that will "have any real impact" on startups.

☆ Silicon Valley venture capitalist Bill Gurley said he 'hates' small rounds of layoffs: 'You get 100 percent of the pain and very little gain'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Silicon Valley venture capitalist Bill Gurley talked about startups in today's economy on a podcast. In the interview, Gurley said small-scale layoffs bring more pain and "very little gain." Gurley said that, compared to 2001 and 2009, which "had broadscale layoffs," layoffs today "happen so infrequently." "I hate the 5 to 10 percent layoffs," Gurley said in the podcast. Despite an unpredictable environment for startups, Gurley said right now is a good time for people "to build something from scratch."

☆ Ad agencies are calling their employees back to the office, setting up a potential clash with workers who want to stay remote
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Lindsay Rittenhouse | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Some ad agencies are making a renewed push to get employees back to the office after Labor Day. It's setting up a potential clash with employees, most of whom want the ability to stay remote. Some ad agencies are making a renewed push to get people back into the office after Labor Day, setting up a potential clash with employees who want to remain remote. Omnicom-owned GSD&M told employees they had to return at least three days a week after Labor Day, one current executive said. Christine Capone, president of experiential marketing agency MKG, said she planned to start holding monthly happy hours after Labor Day to get people back.

☆ What Kroger, Walmart, Target learned from China's Alibaba about grocery's future
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Rebecca Fannin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Kroger has adopted an omnichannel strategy, integration of offline or in-store sales with online orders and logistics. They looked at the New Retail model born in China for complete integration of offline and online channels," he said. But the action was jumpstarted when Amazon bought Whole Foods Market in 2017 and began introducing several advanced technologies to streamline in-store shopping, a shift that also spread to large retailers Walmart and Target. Kroger digital sales gained by 8 percent in the second quarter of 2022, while in-store and online combined gained 5.8 percent from a year earlier. He pointed out that "half of Kroger's app stores are bringing in incremental business and half are cannibalizing in-store sales."

☆ Black women are underrepresented in business and on the golf course. This Harvard Business grad is working to change that.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( Ebony Flake | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

CitySwing seeks to create pathways for Black women on the golf course and in the boardroom. Yet she knew many women who looked like her didn't share that comfort because golf courses can be unwelcoming to Black women. Cash's realization that day gave way to an idea: create a place where people from all backgrounds — especially Black women — could golf. But the dichotomy is that the boldness required to get ahead is often read as aggressive or pushy in Black women." According to US News and World Report, some 552,000 Black women have left the workforce in the years since the pandemic began.

☆ The perils and promise of quantum computing are nearing. Here are ways to invest
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( Hugh Son | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

"In a five- to 10-year timeframe, quantum computing will break encryption as we know it." Since its conceptual birth in the early 1980s, quantum computing has held promise for systems that could exponentially outperform today's computers. Rather than leaning on the zeroes and ones of classical computers, quantum computers emerged from quantum physics, which is the study of the fundamental building blocks of matter and energy. Those strange properties account for the technology's potentially explosive abilities; each additional qubit doubles a quantum computer's power. They are named D-Wave Systems , Rigetti Computing, IonQ , and Quantum Computing.

☆ The metaverse: How it became real estate's new frontier
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Thomas Page | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

The metaverse – a growing number of immersive virtual online worlds where users live and play – has become a hotbed of real estate speculation. Look beyond the numbers, however, and you’ll find whole professions being shaken up, from architects and designers to developers and real estate agents. But could real estate in the metaverse ever become as reliable an investment as bricks and mortar? “It’s hard to know if the real estate inside (metaverses) is going to be stable … Least of all us, and we’re deeply in it,” said Yorio. “It’s very possible that real estate in the metaverse is a stable investment in the future,” said Robson, of analytics company WetMeta, in an email.

☆ Steel makers fear deepening crisis from energy crunch as output halted
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Philip Blenkinsop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Stainless metal coils are seen at the Belgian site of stainless steel maker Aperam, which has been forced to slow production due to spiralling energy prices, in Genk, Belgium September 22, 2022. Even with four wind turbines and over 50,000 solar panels at its site in eastern Belgium, stainless steel maker Aperam has been forced to halt production as surging energy prices bite. Hallemans says the potential payout producers such as Aperam would receive is unclear and could be months away, with energy prices sky-high just as Aperam seeks to bind customers to annual contracts. ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe has trimmed production there, with customers hesitant in the face of an emerging recession and energy prices that challenge its international competitiveness. Eurofer says the situation has worsened markedly since its August forecast of a modest 1.7% decline of European steel consumption this year, but a solid 5.6% rebound in 2023.

☆ New York’s Landmark AI Bias Law Prompts Uncertainty
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Richard Vanderford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

“If you are an organization that’s using some type of these tools…it can be pretty confusing.”The city law will potentially impact a large number of employers. New York City in 2021 had just under 200,000 businesses, according to the New York State Department of Labor. AI technology can help businesses hire and onboard candidates more quickly amid a “war for talent,” said Emily Dickens, SHRM’s head of government affairs. Which is scary,” Ms. Zuloaga said, adding that she supports the scrutiny AI systems have started to receive. Some critics have argued the New York law doesn’t go far enough.

☆ Farm and food investors face $150 bln loss on climate change - report
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Ross Kerber | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Cattle gather in a field near a wind turbine in the Landes de Couesme wind farm near La Gacilly, western France, April 26, 2014. The study, seen by Reuters News, found the companies' value would decline by an average of around 7% by 2030, equivalent to some $150 billion in investor losses, if they did not adopt new practices. The report does not name specific companies so it is not taken as investment advice, a campaign representative said. It is being published by Race to Zero, a U.N.-backed campaign to address climate change. The report will be presented at Climate Week in New York, a series of events tied to the gathering of world leaders in the city.

☆ The future of fashion is in everyone's hands
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Insider Studios With Electrolux | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

And while many global economies and industries are still in recovery, it could be said that fashion — and sustainable fashion — is not only recovering but in the midst of a revolution. Power to the consumer: Environmental solutions within reachElectroluxWhat if the future of sustainable fashion is already within reach – literally? Butani said that small changes to our behaviours and "breaking the pattern" of legacy habits holds the key to making more sustainable fashion choices. Which is why Electrolux's partnership with Rave Review, an upcycling fashion house, is so relevant. If you would like to discover more about sustainable fashion practices and how Electrolux is shaping the future of garment care, please visit our website

☆ Citi exceeded its 2022 goals to make leadership more diverse. A top exec explains what the firm is focused on next.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Marguerite Ward | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

In June 2021, Citi hired Erika Irish Brown to lead diversity and inclusion at the firm. Since then, Citi exceeded its goals to increase Black and female leadership. "As proud as we are of our representation goals, it's just one tool in the toolkit," Brown told Insider. "We have very specific development and retention programs for mid-level Black employees as well as women," Brown said. For Brown, diversity and inclusion isn't a one-department job; it's a company-wide priority.

☆ Inside Salesforce's ambitious new plan to propel the carbon-credit market to critical mass and make a dent in the climate crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Big companies are rushing to buy carbon credits to meet net-zero emission goals. Companies like Delta Air Lines, Alphabet, and Disney have been buying carbon credits to meet net-zero emission goals. Unlike the carbon-credit market regulated by the government, the voluntary market allows companies to opt in, purchasing credits to fund sustainability projects in exchange for the right to emit more carbon. But companies are often skeptical about the efficacy of carbon credits because it's not always clear where the funds go. It also worked with carbon-credit providers such as Climate Impact Partners, Cloverly, and Pachama to vet carbon-reduction projects for quality.

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