From Bootcamp to Movement: How Stella is Scaling Support for Women Entrepreneurs
tl;dr
Women, especially women of color, remain shut out of venture capital, receiving just ~2% of funding, with systemic bias stalling innovation and growth.
Stella, founded by Dr. Silvia Mah, mas grown from a small San Diego bootcamp into a national nonprofit delivering free education, mentorship, and investor connections to women founders.
Through programs like Stella Angels Showcase, Angels Academy, and the annual Women’s Venture Summit, Stella is fueling a movement for equity in entrepreneurship.
In 2012, Dr. Silvia Mah saw a problem she could not ignore: women, especially women of color, were being systematically shut out of the startup funding process. Despite groundbreaking ideas and scalable businesses, they were rarely given access to the capital, mentorship, and networks their male counterparts took for granted. To help level the playing field, Mah launched a three-day bootcamp in San Diego to equip female founders with the tools and confidence to approach investors.
Twelve years later, that small bootcamp has transformed into Stella, a national nonprofit that has become one of the most impactful forces in helping women scale companies. What began as a grassroots initiative has grown into a thriving movement, serving women founders and investors across the U.S. and beyond. Next week, Stella’s journey comes full circle at its flagship event, the Women’s Venture Summit in San Diego, where I’ll be reporting live for Disruption Magazine.
The Problem: A Persistent Funding Gap
Despite progress in entrepreneurship, women still face staggering barriers when it comes to venture capital. According to PitchBook data widely cited in industry reports, women-founded companies receive around 2% of venture funding. The numbers are even smaller for women of color, with Black and Latina founders receiving a fraction of a percent.
These statistics represent more than missed opportunities. They reflect systemic biases that prevent innovation from scaling, jobs from being created, and communities from benefiting from diverse entrepreneurial leadership. Stella was founded to directly confront this inequity, ensuring that women not only start businesses but also have the support to grow and thrive.
From Bootcamp to National Nonprofit
When the pandemic disrupted in-person events, Stella made a bold pivot. Rather than scaling back, the organization expanded. Within a few years, Stella formalized as a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit, widening its reach beyond San Diego.
Today, Stella:
Partners with leading organizations like Comcast Lift Labs, BMO, PBS, NASDAQ, and Shopify.
Offers more than 300 free education modules to entrepreneurs online.
Maintains a growing national community of women founders and investors.
What makes Stella unique is its commitment to providing resources at no cost. For women navigating an already uneven playing field, free access to training, mentorship, and networking can be the difference between an idea staying on paper and scaling into a company that employs dozens.
The Programs Driving Change
Stella’s impact is visible in its suite of initiatives that serve both entrepreneurs and investors.
Virtual Programs: Advisory hours, masterclasses with corporate partners, and educational events that connect founders with expert insight.
Stella Angels Showcase: A platform that facilitates introductions between founders and potential funders, held several times annually.
Angels Academy: Designed to educate women about angel and limited partner investing, demystifying a space where women are underrepresented.
Stella Chapters: Bringing Stella’s presence to underserved regions, ensuring access isn’t limited to coastal hubs.
Together, these initiatives create a year-round ecosystem that supports women on both sides of the funding table, founders and investors alike.
The Women’s Venture Summit: Stella’s “Super Bowl”
While Stella’s work is ongoing, its annual Women’s Venture Summit (WVS) is where everything comes together. Described as their “Super Bowl,” the Summit showcases the energy, talent, and determination driving the women-in-venture movement.
Key highlights include:
Women’s Fast Pitch: Founders compete for a prize package of $50,000 in grants and services, with the audience participating in voting.
Stella Awards: Women recognized across categories for leadership, innovation, and impact.
World-Class Speakers: This year’s lineup includes leaders such as Lauren B. Leichtman (Co-CEO, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners), Cindy Gallop (MakeLoveNotPorn), Vlada Bortnik (CEO & Co-Founder of Marco Polo), and Andrea Holland (Dialed Communications).
The Summit is not just a celebration; it is a platform where new connections form, capital flows, and ideas gain visibility. For many attendees, it serves as both a milestone and a launchpad.
A Movement with Momentum
The story of Stella is not just about events or programs, it’s about building infrastructure for women entrepreneurs to thrive. From a single bootcamp in San Diego to a national nonprofit recognized by partners like NASDAQ and Comcast, Stella has grown because it has stayed laser-focused on solving the most critical problem: access.
Access to knowledge.
Access to networks.
Access to capital.
As I prepare to attend the Women’s Venture Summit next week, the sense of momentum is unmistakable. Stella is not simply hosting a conference; it is nurturing a movement that continues to scale. In doing so, it is rewriting the playbook for what is possible when women are equipped with the tools they need to succeed.
From bootcamp to movement, Stella has proven that change is possible when barriers are addressed head-on. But the work is far from finished. The funding gap remains real and urgent, and the need for scalable solutions has never been greater.
At Disruption Magazine, we’ll be on the ground at the Women’s Venture Summit, capturing the pitches, the stories, and the voices of the women building the future of entrepreneurship. Because when women thrive, we all win.
Related Content
