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A woman leads a meeting.

Innovation

Meet five female founders driving innovation

16 July 2020

Barclays is committed to driving gender diversity, supporting the ambitions of female founders through initiatives such as the national network of Eagle Labs and the Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars. Five of the women leading game-changing businesses share how they are innovating in their industries – and their advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.

An image of Nami Baral, Founder and CEO of Harvest.

Nami Baral's company, Harvest, helps people reduce their debt footprint.

"I want to solve a $100bn problem"

- Nami Baral, Harvest

Nami Baral has accomplished a range of challenging feats: from getting chosen to study at Harvard to conducting cancer research with top medical faculty at Harvard Medical School and managing global teams at iconic companies like Twitter. Yet, she says describes starting her own business as “the hardest thing that I’ve ever done in my career”.

"It's exciting to be building a new, fairer financial services system"

Bailey Kursar, Touco

Founded in 2018, Touco (formerly Toucan) is an app that helps carers and families safeguard and manage the finances of someone they're caring for. It helps vulnerable customers, including people living with long term mental health problems, keep on top of their money.

An image of Bailey Kursar, Co-Founder and CEO of Touco.

Bailey Kursar says Barclays support has helped her learn more about building a scalable business.

An image of Christina Colmer McHugh, Co-Founder and Director of Moodbeam.

Christina Colmer McHugh was inspired by an experience with her daughter to start her company, Moodbeam.

“I want to help people feel mentally resilient, and give everyone a voice”

Christina Colmer McHugh, Moodbeam

“The question of what emotional and mental wellbeing looks like is complex,” says Co-Founder and Director of Moodbeam, Christina Colmer McHugh. “This is especially true during the current coronavirus pandemic.” 

“We’re taking on the problem that causes most business closures”

Ann Juliano, Muse

“I wanted to create something which had an impact on the world, other than making rich people richer.” That’s what motivated Ann Juliano to found Muse, the cashflow and invoice financing startup.

An image of Ann Juliano, Founder and CEO of Muse.

Ann Juliano's company, Muse, helps business owners visualise their cash flow.

An image of Carol Rossborough, Co-Founder and CEO of ESTHER.

Carol Rossborough's company, ESTHER, has been supported by Barclays' Eagle Labs network.

“When we succeed, it will be an enormous benefit to society”

Carol Rossborough, ESTHER

“Disruptive startups have the power to shape the world.” That is the ethos on which ESTHER was built by Co-Founders Carol Rossborough and Ailís McCaul.