Thursday, October 29, 2026
Thanks to today’s partner Genea
There’s no doubt that women founders are building ambitious, solutions-oriented businesses, but their pathways and experiences can look wildly different from their male counterparts.
Take Ash Kansakar, who grew up with power cuts lasting up to 18 hours a day in Nepal. She’s just raised $3 million for her industrial AI startup, Syncrowin, to help keep critical infrastructure running. The round is about three times the median pre-seed round and the largest led by a female CEO at this stage in Australia this year.
While Kansakar might buck the trend, VC investment for all-women founded teams remains persistently at around 2% and Kansakar still notes she’s routinely the only woman in rooms of big-ego men.
Meanwhile, entrepreneur Samjam Kohli reflects on her experience of navigating the investment landscape and the assumptions women founders still encounter including a question she received that would never have been put to her husband.
In other news today, we share this personal account from Faye Evans, who notes that even as a psychologist, she spent years believing the abuse in her marriage was her fault.
And vale, Dolores Huerta. The civil rights icon and feminist activist has died aged 96. Here’s what you should know about her life and legacy.
Till tomorrow!
Tarla Lambert-Patel
Editor in Chief & Co-Founder
The Key Quote
Offences like this cause immense harm to the trust that must exist between families and the education system…For these reasons … no penalty other than imprisonment is appropriate.
Judge Elizabeth Ryan
Judge Elizabeth Ryan has sentenced former teacher Tayla Lee Brailey to 15 months imprisonment for sexual offences involving two male students. Brailey appeared in Parramatta District Court today after pleading guilty to four charges relating to sex acts committed against the teenage students in 2024, including using a carriage service to transmit and access child abuse material. "In July 2024, Ms Brailey made terrible mistakes," the judge said. "She used her position as a teacher … to abuse the trust of two young persons."
On Women's Agenda Today
An investor asked me a question he never would have asked my husband
A female founder questions why investors worry about who will run her business if she has a baby, but not her husband. Read more +
She grew up with 18-hour blackouts in Nepal. Now Ash Kansakar has raised $3m to keep critical infrastructure running
Ash Kansakar has raised $3 million for Syncrowin, drawing on her experience in industrial automation and AI. Read more +
I’m a psychologist, and I still spent years believing my abusive marriage was my fault
I realised how cultural expectations of marriage and womanhood kept me trapped in abuse, and why self-trust was essential to leaving. Read more +
Parents have one of Australia’s most important jobs, so why don’t we have policy for them?
We invests billions in children’s services, yet parents lack consistent support to prevent harm and improve children’s wellbeing. Read more +
Dolores Huerta, civil rights organiser who gave farm workers “Sí se puede,” dies at 96
Dolores Huerta, the labour leader who co-founded the United Farm Workers, spent six decades fighting for farm workers’ rights and women’s equality. Read more +
The Key Figure
68
The number of casualties following a train crash in Spain. Dozens more are injured after the two high-speed trains crashed, carrying hundreds of passengers, heading south from Madrid to Seville. A train operated by the state-owned RENFE company struck the rear of another train operated by private company IRYO that was stopped. The collision is the deadliest rail disaster in Europe since a 2013 crash in Spain's Santiago de Compostela left 80 people dead. It also comes only nine months after a deadly crash in Spain's south involving high-speed trains operated by the same two companies.
The win
The Diamonds, Australia’s Women’s netball team, have held on to their prized world No 1 ranking after avoiding a Constellation Cup clean sweep with a 68-58 win over New Zealand in Melbourne
New Zealand had already wrapped up the series 3-0 but would have leapfrogged Australia to the top of the netball world rankings for the first time since 2013 if they had won on Wednesday night. The 3-1 series loss maintains Australia’s record of never losing all four matches of the trans-Tasman tournament and will keep them as world No 1 when the new rankings are released in December.
On The Women's Agenda Podcast
Check out our weekly podcast
We unpack the week that was, inspired by the grace and dignity of Dr Helen Haines, her husband Phil Haines and Governor-General Sam Mostyn. Plus, our conversation with Dr Kayla Steele, a Clinical Psychologist for UNSW at the Black Dog Institute, and why "overwhelm" describes much of the mood of women in Australia. Kayla discusses the value of movement, connection, and friendship on mental health, and also why the Black Dog Institute and UNSW are studying the impact of IVF on mental health.
Trending On Women's Agenda
———
