Painting the Startup Scene Purple: A Summer With Amela

Purple is known to represent ambition and power but also creativity and magic. More than that, it is recognised internationally as the colour of women and gender equality.

This summer, I joined INSEAD alumna Anais Cisneros in her vision to foster a more inclusive start-up and tech landscape, where gender is no barrier to tackling the world's most pressing issues. She co-founded Amela when she realised that the percentage of venture capital funds that go to female founding teams is only 2%, far from a fair distribution. After a year of experimenting with multiple paths to create a sustainable business for Amela, she was ready to ramp up operations and expedite customer acquisition – and this is where I came in.

When I joined Amela, they had just kicked off their membership for aspiring founders: women who dream of starting a tech company in the next year or two and are looking for a safe space to get off the ground. By tackling the problem earlier on, Amela ensures that more women feel empowered to make the jump into entrepreneurship, are better trained to be successful and have a community that understands and supports them.

Amela also has a community of female founders – the largest in Latin America – and is expanding into Europe and the US. The two groups comprised almost 300 motivated women across all early phases of entrepreneurship, from idea to Series A.

Anais and I were at our first event together in Berlin, a breakfast for female founders and angel investors, where we discussed legal must-knows.

My motto this summer was 'get things done'.

This meant I touched on various topics – from the members' experience to re-evaluating the value proposition to the ideation of new growth strategies. I was involved wherever help was needed. I had the chance to attend events where I met the founders, understood their challenges, and, most importantly, saw their passion for changing the world.

Hosting an event in Mexico City between Amela and Mujeres Invirtiendo (the largest network of women VCs and angels in Mexico), where aspiring founders, founders, and investors met and exchanged best practices.

It was a pleasure to join the Amela team and see my work's impact on the women of the community. I drew on my experience at early-stage start-ups and scale-ups, becoming a trusted sparring partner for Anais. More than that, I could also develop new skills, dive into an unfamiliar ecosystem, and rekindle a spark for the entrepreneurial path. I am happy to have become a lifelong member of Amela. I can't wait to start my own company one day – with all the support, understanding, and connections I will need to succeed. 

The Hoffmann Institute made this experience possible, and I am grateful for their contribution to my career and INSEAD's purpose of business as a force for good.

This internship experience was supported by the INSEAD Hoffmann Institute Impact Internship Stipend and gifts from alumni.