Lula 'Mae' Reeves, one of the first Black women in Philly to own her own business, created one-of-a-kind and custom hats for celebrities, socialites, professionals and churchgoing women in downtown Philadelphia for over 50 years. She made hats for everyday wear, hats for special occasions, and magnificent 'showstoppers,' as she called them. Her celebrity clients included Eartha Kitt, Marian Anderson, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald and members of the du Pont and Annenberg families. In 2009, I was called upon to visit Mae's Millinery, her former store at 41 N. 60th St. in West Philadelphia, to help select objects for a new permanent exhibition at the Smithsonian that recreates Reeves' shop and showcases some of her stunning designs. A few years later, I returned to Philadelphia to attend Reeves's 100th birthday celebration. It was during that visit that I learned, to my surprise and intrigue, that Reeves had also used her millinery shop as a polling station. During my first meeting with Reeves, she shared her memory of the first hat she created after she opened her 60th Street store, a beautifully decorated shop, in 1941. Her original millinery shop was at 1630 South St., and many of her famous clients followed her to the new location in West Philadelphia....
This latest investment reinforces EBRD's longstanding role in Romania's private sector development. To date, the bank has invested more than '11.6bn in 560 projects across the country, with a focus on infrastructure, productivity, and financial market enhancement. Launched in February, Morphosis Capital Fund II has already secured over '100m in committed capital. The fund targets nine to ten investments, with individual equity tickets ranging from '10m to '15m. Victoria Zinchuk, EBRD's Head of Romania, described the commitment as a strategic move to strengthen entrepreneurship and sustainable economic development across the region. Andrei Gemeneanu, Managing Partner at Morphosis Capital, welcomed the support, noting that it enhances the fund's ability to help businesses scale and expand regionally. The partnership between EBRD and Morphosis Capital reflects growing institutional interest in Romania's evolving private equity landscape, particularly in supporting high-growth SMEs navigating capital constraints....
Spheric Bio's implants grow inside the body once injected, to fit within the patient's unique anatomy. This could improve stroke prevention because existing implants are one-size-fits-all devices that can fail to fully block the most at-risk regions, leading to leakages and other complications. 'Our mission is to transform stroke prevention by building personalized medical devices directly inside patients' hearts,' said Connor Verheyen PhD '23, a postdoc in the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology (HST), who made the winning pitch. Spheric took home the event's $25,000 first-place prize. The second-place prize went to nurtur, another MIT alumnus-founded startup, that has developed an artificial intelligence-powered platform designed to detect and prevent postpartum depression. Last summer, nurtur participated in the delta v startup accelerator program organized by the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship. The audience choice award was given to Merunova, which is using AI and MRI diagnostics to improve the diagnosis and treatment of spinal cord disorders. Merunova was co-founded by Dheera Ananthakrishnan, a former spine surgeon who completed an executive MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 2023....
Thankfully, LatAm already has what other regions lack: a natural impulse by women to want to start businesses. The challenge, however, lies in how to bring that drive into the formal technology startup ecosystem. While some progress has been made, the public and private sector can implement strategies to support women tech entrepreneurs, such as emphasizing building community, promoting access to new technologies, and establishing responsible metrics for investing in women-led startups. The good news is that regionally, LatAm has higher rates of female founders, particularly in countries like Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala and Panama. However, collaboration among those in that community, and inspiring the next generation of female entrepreneurs, remain challenges. A few organizations are doing this already, including Women In Stem Entrepreneurship (WISE) Latin America and Rede Mulher Emprende Brasil. And Endeavor has organized programs aimed at bolstering support for female entrepreneurs in countries like Colombia....
