The world has always been a dynamic place that has progressed in leaps and bounds over time. With the emergence of startups, the world has made strides toward closing the gender gap in women-owned enterprises. However, since the epidemic entered our lives, it has disproportionately harmed women in the workforce around the world, who have had to lose jobs at a considerably higher rate than men.
Those who considered themselves fortunate to have jobs suffered similarly, both mentally and physically, while ensuring that their homes and work-from-home commitments were not jeopardised.
But as we know, women are strong enough to deal with any struggle, so from sustaining life to creating money, women entrepreneurs have spanned the micro to large growth in the business world. These include hair salon owners, high-tech innovators, bakers, scientists, and everyone in between, all of whom have contributed significantly to the economy.
Because of their trusted reputation in the community, women entrepreneurs are more likely to succeed. When firm characteristics are taken into account, research shows that women-owned businesses outperform their male counterparts. Then came educated women, of whom just a few have made a substantial impact throughout time. However, many uneducated women are also joyfully expanding family incomes through micro
There are many women who have been reinvesting their gains in their families and communities, which has gone unnoticed. These ladies also encourage other women in their communities to achieve their aspirations.
Companies are concentrating their efforts on mergers and acquisitions to grow their companies. As a result, it has become even more critical to assist the country’s women’s entrepreneurship ecosystem in order to educate them and expect an equal contribution from them to the economy.
However, with the unprecedented situation the epidemic provided, women-led businesses have responded with amazing agility and hope during the last two years. This emphasizes the importance of women entrepreneurs, since women have long been a part of the country’s revolutionary journey.
According to a report published in the Journal of Corporate Finance, adding a female director to the board reduces the cost of a successful purchase by 15.4 percent. It also shows that adding one more female director reduces the number of attempted takeover bids by 7.6%.
This year’s class exemplifies leadership both inside and outside of their organisations, as well as a dedication to giving back as role models and mentors. Not only are these successful dealmakers role models for other women, but also for the M&A industry as a whole. Women entrepreneurs can use DCirrus as a platform for dealmaking. DCirrus has always been one of the favourite platforms as it eases up their task and workflow.
The winners are distinguished by their achievements in the field of dealmaking. A significant component of the criteria was driving innovation and demonstrating influence in the broader M&A business.
Below mentioned are the few women who have remarkably contributed to M&A deals and startup world-
1. Makinen advises public and growth-stage technology and consumer products companies on a wide range of challenges, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, minority and control investments, and corporate governance. Whether on the buy or sell side, her transactions usually involve very sophisticated capital structures, intricate management incentives, talent retention difficulties, and intellectual property protection.
Makinen assists public firms with corporate governance and reporting requirements. She gives realistic disclosure guidance based on a thorough grasp of her clients’ business objectives. She is known for her smart interpretation of SEC rules and regulations. She counsels clients on both ordinary and significant public reporting concerns, including restatements and stock exchange rule compliance.
Makinan was one of twenty outstanding individuals honoured with an honourable mention in the annual honouring of accomplished dealmakers who are “not only trailblazers for other women, but for the M&A sector as a whole.”
2. Jennifer W Cheng is a partner in Reed Smith’s Global Corporate Group in New York. She is presently the U.S. vice chair of the firm’s Global Corporate Group and formerly served as the firm’s M&A Group’s global vice chair. Her expertise specialises in representing Fortune 500, foreign, and middle market corporations in domestic and cross-border corporate transactions.
Cheng was one of six finalists for The American Lawyer’s “Young Lawyer of the Year” award in 2021. She was honoured for her services to Reed Smith’s public M&A business, as well as her representation of high-profile clients in several notable M&A transactions.
3. Simons is the co-chair of Goodwin’s Technology M&A practise, which has been acknowledged for its competence in international and domestic M&A transactions for both private and public firms in verticals including gaming, cybersecurity, SaaS, healthcare technology, and adtech/martech. She most recently advised Digit on its $212 million acquisition by Oportun, Portworx on its $370 million acquisition by Pure Storage, Innovium on its $11 billion acquisition by Marvell Technology, Segment. io on its $3.2 billion acquisition by Twilio, and Datavant on its $57 billion merger with CIOX.
Aly Simons, a partner at Goodwin, was named to Mergers & Acquisitions’ seventh annual list of the Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A.
4. Falguni Nayar, the creator and CEO of Nykaa, is certainly in our thoughts, since she has been the talk of the town since Nykaa’s recent stock exchange debut. She is one of just 24 women in the world whose company has reached the IPO stage.
Nayar’s journey as an entrepreneur began in 2012, when she left her job as managing director at Kotak Mahindra Capital Company to pursue a career in the online cosmetics sector. Nykaa’s INR 5,352 crore initial public offering (IPO) was 82.5 times oversubscribed nine years later, and the stock began trading at INR 2,001.
Nykaa is also India’s first unicorn startup founded by a woman, and Nayar is the country’s second richest entrepreneur, after Savitri Jindal of the O.P. Jindal Group.
5. Indra Nooyi was born and raised in the city of Chennai. In 1974, she graduated from Madras Christian College with a bachelor’s degree in science. She went on to Yale University for her master’s in public administration and IIM, Kolkata, for her master’s in finance and marketing.
She began her career as a product manager at Johnson & Johnson and went on to work for Motorola and Asea Brown Boveri, among other organisations.
She joined PepsiCo in 1994 and took over as CEO from Steven Reinemund in 2006. PepsiCo’s fifth CEO in 44 years was Indra Nooyi. She was also awarded the prestigious ‘Padma Bhushan’ award for her commercial achievements.
6. Fashion designer Tory Burch is well-known. Her brand has become so well-known in the fashion world that there are currently over 70 Tory Burch stores throughout the world. She’s also one of the most accomplished fashion designers today, having been inducted into the Council of Fashion Designers of America after only three years in the industry. Her fashion line has grown in popularity around the world, with over 1,000 outlets carrying her products.
Tory Burch has had a long and illustrious career in the fashion industry. She was accepted into the Council of Fashion Designers of America three years after starting her career in fashion and received an award two years later.
She is also one of the world’s wealthiest female entrepreneurs, with a net worth of one billion dollars, according to Forbes magazine.
7. Ms. Fields has served on multiple company boards as an investor and as an independent corporate board director in both public and private companies. She frequently acts as a qualified financial expert due to her more than 25 years of financial and investment management knowledge, as well as her many years of audit committee board experience and her MBA from North-western University. Ms. Fields is a NACD Board Leadership Fellow, and in August 2021, the NACD selected her to the NACD Directorship 100 for 2021.
Ms. Fields is a partner of Pelham S2K Managers, LLC, which invests in middle market firms with junior capital and private equity. Pelham S2K is the General Partner and Manager of Pelham S2K SBIC, a $100 million limited partnership established in 2016.
She was also named one of the 35 most influential women in mid-market mergers and acquisitions in Mergers & Acquisitions’ 2021 Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A.
8. Watermill Group’s President and COO is Julia Karol. She is in charge of the firm’s general operations as well as assisting Watermill portfolio companies in developing and implementing their plans. Julia formerly worked as a Watermill Principal, where she assisted in the day-to-day operations of the firm, supervised investor relations, and managed acquisition fundraising campaigns.
Julia is a member of ACG Boston and the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), and has been recognised as one of Mergers and Acquisitions Magazine’s Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A for the past three years. Julia was named one of the Boston Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 honorees and won the Women of Influence Award from ACG Boston in 2019. Julia was designated an Emerging Leader by M&A Advisor in 2017.
9. Jeri Harman is the founder and chairman of Avante Capital Partners, as well as its former CEO. Fund strategy and management, the Investment Committee, portfolio management, investor communications, and brand management are among her responsibilities. Harman has over 30 years of financing and M&A experience, with over $1 billion in total investments under his belt.
Prior to creating Avante, Harman founded and ran the Los Angeles offices of two publicly traded private equity and mezzanine investment funds, American Capital and, more recently, Allied Capital, where she was also a member of the Investment Committee. Earlier in her career, she held several senior-level positions with Prudential Capital. She has served on the boards of approximately 20 private middle market companies in the United States in a range of industries, including healthcare, business services, consumer goods, and industrial.
10. Nanette C. Heide is a partner in Duane Morris’ Corporate Practice Group, as well as the co-chair of the firm’s Private Equity Division and the team leader of the firm’s Private Equity Industry Group. Ms. Heide has extensive expertise in assisting clients with complex transactions and general company advice. She advises private equity and venture capital investors as well as multinational and domestic corporations (public and private) on a wide range of corporate finance transactions, including private equity and venture capital investments, mergers and acquisitions, institutional private placements, cross-border transactions, debt and equity structuring transactions, joint ventures, and strategic alliances. She has also set up and managed private equity and hedge funds. She is a member of the firm’s Partners Board and the Senior Advisory Partner for the Fashion/Retail/Consumer Branded Products Group.
Mergers & Acquisitions group recognised Ms. Heide as one of the Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A for four years in a row.
Women have an intrinsic ability to adapt, comprehend, multitask, and learn new skills, making them even better corporate leaders. Women should be the leaders and step out of their homes to live a life of their dreams. They have contributed in areas such as education, mergers and acquisitions , technology, etc and in future also they will. As a result, it is paramount to put in place a well-balanced and well-thought-out plan to encourage women to work on their skill development and gain access to mentorship programmes while also receiving low-interest loans and financial assistance to help them on their path to self-sufficiency and entrepreneurial growth.