We're gearing up for Thursday's event in Austin, Texas. More than 350+ women entrepreneurs and business owners have RSVPed to join us, including our 10 incredible Launch Program grantees! 🤩 We are so excited to see everyone in-person, and for all the conversations that will take place.
If you're not able to make it, we'll miss you terribly! But we'll post photos and recordings from the event just as soon as we're able.
A few things worth bookmarking this September:
💰 Open grant opportunities: We're eyeing that $45K Fund Her Future grant from H&R Block! Don't sleep on that opportunity, or the others listed down below.
💻 Webinar: Non-Dilutive Funding 101: Want to learn more about ways to get funding without giving up part of your ownership? The Startup CPG community will be talking all about it on September 22nd!
🎧 Avoidance is Expensive: This 20 minute podcast might be the kick in the pants you need to make that hard decision, or have that unwelcome conversation.
🗓️ Upcoming events! Obviously, Austin, TX on September 10th. If you're keen to join us, RSVP soon, as we're nearly out of space! For those of you across the pond, we hope to see you in Dublin, Ireland on October 12th. Keep your eyes peeled on your inbox, as the official event ticket page will drop soon! 🇺🇸 🇮🇪 🇬🇧
🩵 Meet Stella: She built Snacksy around a simple belief: inclusive chocolate should still feel indulgent. Her story is about challenging the expectation that dietary restrictions have to mean settling for less.
In your corner,
The Ladies Who Launch team
💰 GRANT DEADLINES
For any questions about the below grants, including eligibility, please reach out to the granting organization directly.
[$45K] Fund Her Future grant. H&R Block is awarding $45K to four qualified recipients, along with one year of business services, including: tax preparation, bookkeeping, payroll, and business formation. Deadline: September 22, 2026
[$5K] Her Agenda Breakthrough Grant: Volume III. Requires a subscription to the Her Agenda newsletter, along with an entry fee. Deadline: September 18, 2026
[$1K] TRANSFORM Business Grant. In addition to funding, grantees participate in a customized year-long growth-based mentorship program, which includes access to pro bono services from a roster of experts in branding, coaching, skill-based learning, marketing, and more. Deadline: September 18, 2026
[$30K] Amber Grants for Women. WomensNet awards three, $10K grants per month to qualified businesses. Their September Business Category grant is for Education & Childcare businesses! Deadline: September 30, 2026
[$10K] Hey Helen Grant. A monthly opportunity for mission-driven founders generating less than $1M in annual revenue. Deadline: September 30, 2026
[$10K] High Five Grant. A grant specifically for the mamas who are building businesses while raising the next generation. Multiple grants are available, including the grand prize winner of $10,000. Deadline: September 30, 2026
💥 POWER PICKS
Your monthly shortcut to better decisions. Handpicked listens, curated reads, and expert events that will level up your thinking and skills.
🇺🇸 September 10th: Funded & Fearless in Austin, TX. Only a few tickets remain for Thursday's (free) event. If you're on the fence, now is the time to grab your seat!
🇮🇪 October 12th: Funded & Fearless in Dublin, Ireland. Right on the heels of Austin, we're bringing the incredible funding conversation across the pond to our ladies in Ireland! Tickets drop soon - join the waitlist to be the first to know!
💻 September 22nd: Non-Dilutive Funding 101. Hosted by the Startup CPG community, this free webinar will walk through how to think about equity vs debt funding, and will walk through a full toolkit designed to help you secure non-dilutive capital for your brand. RSVP to save your space!
🎧 Avoidance is Expensive. In less than 20 minutes, host Suneera Madhani will walk you through the decision-making framework used by the world's best CEOs. A perfect listen for your morning walk!
📚 The Product Context Layer: What It Is, and Why It Decides What AI Recommends. Love it or hate it, consumers are using AI to research (& buy!!) products. This article identifies the four gates that a product has to jump through, and goes deep on how you can solve for the Context layer, which is where a decision is ultimately made.
🩵 LAUNCHER SPOTLIGHT
In celebration of all women who build. Be sure to give your fellow Launcher some love online... It's easy, free, and means the world!
Meet Stella Aminova
Stella & her chocolate brand, Snacksy, supported Funded & Fearless in London earlier this year!
Some founders start with a pitch deck. Stella Aminova started with six children and a recurring problem: finding a treat everyone could actually enjoy.
Over the years, Stella had become especially aware of how limited the choices could be for people navigating food allergies and dietary restrictions.
There were treats for everyone else... and then there were the alternatives.
Stella wasn’t particularly interested in that hierarchy. She wanted chocolate made with more thoughtful ingredients, yes, but she also wanted it to feel like chocolate. Indulgent. Satisfying.
Something you would choose because you wanted it, not because it happened to be the option available to you.
During Covid, she came across a small raw chocolate business in Cornwall. At a moment when much of the world was reconsidering what mattered, Stella saw the beginnings of the idea she had been circling for years.
She acquired the business and began reshaping it around a simple conviction. Making a treat more inclusive shouldn’t require making it less of a treat. That idea eventually became Snacksy.
Of course, chocolate does not become a functioning business simply because people enjoy chocolate.
There were manufacturing challenges, retailer conversations, shifting consumer tastes, difficult decisions, and stretches when the vision was moving considerably faster than the logistics. Stella kept refining the product and the proposition, eventually moving the company’s headquarters to London and building Snacksy around the overlap between indulgence and wellbeing.
Today, the brand has found an audience among people who care about ingredients but remain, quite reasonably, unwilling to settle for disappointing chocolate.
Which explains Stella’s favorite piece of customer feedback: “I can’t believe this is vegan.”
It’s only six words, but they contain the assumption she has been pushing against from the beginning. Somewhere along the way, we got used to treating dietary restrictions as a warning that pleasure might be compromised.
Stella’s interest has always been in removing the warning. She doesn't want to be known for making “good vegan chocolate,” but for making chocolate that people actually want to eat.