Join Julia Elliott Brown, Founder & CEO of Enter the Arena as she sits down with Nicola Piercy, the Founder of Stripe and Stare, the world's most comfortable knickers sustainably sourced from trees. Nicola shares her life as a serial entrepreneur, from founding Stripe and Stare with co-founder Katie Lopes to getting £3.6million in investment.

From marketing agency owner to SaaS tech entrepreneur, Lisa Eaton didn’t have the intention to raise investment when she started up Fabric Academy, an online training provider for marketers. However, it was when she realised the business potential and her ambition to dominate the space globally that she started looking at the equity investment route.

Like many women starting businesses, the motivation for Rebekah Brown’s entrepreneurship, MPowder, was in response to her own experiences and spotting a gap in the market. She was struggling with a multitude of symptoms during perimenopause and felt there was barely any information on how to deal with it.

From being in turmoil and struggling to eat and sleep, to Kate Middleton wearing a dress from the brand; elevating the business to new heights. All in the same year. Oh, and add in raising over £11m in funding, and a couple of pregnancies. Not easy!

Sheila Hogan is the founder of Biscuit Tin, a TechDeath company and digital vault that securely holds information and makes managing our affairs when we come to the end of our life easier. With an extensive background in tech and business strategy, Sheila secured grant funding from Scottish Enterprise, utilising her skills in writing business cases. She initially thought it was possible to get plenty of funding just from having the idea for the business, but this wasn’t the case.

Cindy Gallop founded MakeLoveNotPorn, the world’s first user-generated, human-curated ‘social sex’ video-sharing platform. Over 1 million people have signed up from 200+ countries, generating around £60K revenue per month despite many business growth challenges involved in marketing a SexTech business.

Katy Cottam is the CEO and Founder of Luna Daily, the award-winning body care brand for all skin, including intimate care. Katy’s own personal experience with traditional, often stigmatised feminine hygiene products was what led her to want to develop something better for women. Fast forward 15 years of a career in the beauty and wellness industry, Katy made the leap and started on the brand during Covid. She enlisted the help of expert dermatologists and gynaecologists and Luna Daily was born.

Vivi Cahyadi Himmel is the CEO and Co-Founder of AltoVita, and is on a mission to build the largest, most connected ecosystem in corporate accommodation.

Lucy Hall is the co-founder and CEO of LOANHOOD, a gender inclusive fashion rental marketplace for the next generation. Before Lucy founded Loanhood in late 2019, she had a long career as model agent and had entrepreneurial experience before, with her farm to fork restaurant in Covent Garden, which is where sustainability became front of mind.

Stamena Dimitrova is the co-founder and CEO of The Refillable, a grocery store bringing people single-use plastic free everyday products that are kinder to the planet, sustainable, local, organic, and ethically produced.

Linda Wade is the CEO & Co-Founder of Spinview, a virtual reality platform that simplifies the way organizations access, understand, and communicate information about the world around them using powerful digital twin technology. Linda spent over ten years in business development and partnerships for major organisations including Microsoft.

Dr Vineeta Tripathi is the founder of Vitarka Theraputics, a biotech start-up developing technology to unleash the power of RNA therapeutics, a new class of medications which will help combat untreated late-stage cancers.

Abbie Miranda is the co-founder and head of design at iconic lingerie brand Beija London which responds to the needs of different cup sizes from AA-H. Their collection is beautifully practical, without compromising on style.

Gabi Jennings is the founder of Love Ocean, a sustainable bathroom products brand creating an ocean-friendly children's range in a striking whale tail-shaped bottle. Before Gabi set up Love Ocean, she spent 20 years as a brand and beauty specialist, working for companies including Harpers Bazaar, Youx, Net-A-Porter and Conde Naste.

Alexandra Pluthero is the founder and CEO of Freedom Underwear which is renowned for creating innovative non-wired bras in D+ cup sizes. She started her brand after experiencing the many pain points of bras and learning how to use a sewing machine on YouTube. Alexandra used her own savings to take the risk of quitting her job and developing ‘the world’s most comfortable’ bra.

Farah Kabir is the co-founder of HANX, a leading sexual wellness challenger brands in the UK. As a former Goldman Sachs investment banker, Farah’s entrepreneur journey started with being seen purchasing condoms by her boss and feeling embarrassed, to co-founding the company with her childhood friend, Sarah who is a gynaecology doctor.

Nicole Smith is the Founder and CEO of Flytographer, a global marketplace that connects people with hand-picked local photographers for fun, one-hour photo shoots.

Gayle Harrison is the Founder of Untagged, a gamified fashion resale platform that launched in February 2022. It saves you money, and you get rewarded for being sustainable through your carbon savings. Gayle has raised around £200k in investment mostly from angels after a stellar career in consumer behaviour change and is currently raising again. She started her fundraising journey with a friends and family round, which she found difficult, conceding, “it was horrible asking for money”. Gayle was repeatedly told by investors that she wouldn’t get investment as a single female founder and needed a co-founder. Since then, she realised through a “baptism of fire” that this isn’t true. Gayle is fully capable of succeeding and taking the sustainable fashion world by storm with Untagged.

Tersha Willis is the co-founder and CEO of terrible*, a MusicTech business that enables bands, artists, musicians and content creators to produce and sell merchandise.

Yang Liu is the co-founder and CEO of JustWears, a direct-to-consumer brand that brings biodegradable materials and ergonomic design into everyday men’s underwear, with the strapline of "The only underwear your balls deserve.”