3 Badass Women Owned Businesses to Look Out for in 2017

2017 is the year for women founded companies to thrive. Why? Because women bring innovation, new perspective, and new voices to the business world. 
Here are three companies to look out for this year! 
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1. Pictoclik 
After working for years in the film industry, Rebekah Renne started her own film company to shake up the industry which places men in the majority of leadership roles. 
Pictoclik is a collective for filmmakers, talent and movie lovers alike. Founded in 2012, our goal is to unite  emerging and established industry professionals through fun and engaging events, workshops, screenings and our annual film festival.
We are team of passionate individuals that believe in community and the collective wealth of ideas. The Bay is a wonderful place conducive for innovative and creative possibilities. We also want to provide filmmakers and talent with a dependable foundation. Our board members and creative team are a band of talented established industry professionals that genuinely want see more creative collaboration. Most of all, we believe in others capabilities. We are artists, filmmakers, advertising and marketing professionals; together, we plan to build a foundation that unites filmmakers and get more people to actively join and participate in the process.

2. Startwise 
Grace and Catherine were both working in venture capital in Silicon Valley when they realized that there were better alternative ways to fund a business. Driven by their passion for investment but being non-accredited investors themselves, the two spent their free time brainstorming out-of-the-box investing models to build a new way where small businesses and individuals can potentially profit together.
Blending the Title III of the JOBS Act and revenue sharing was the answer. The new legislation allows new financing models that leverage the crowdfunding capabilities of the Internet. This funding mechanism has been exploding since millennials have entered the economy – and Title III is opening new opportunities to democratize markets by better aligning community and capital. Revenue sharing helps align the interests of investors and entrepreneurs without involving equity, therefore providing an alternative exit strategy.
And this is how Startwise came to life – the platform enables individuals to invest in companies they are passionate about and if companies generate revenue, investors may receive a portion of those amounts. Entrepreneurship keeps evolving, innovation will keep happening – and the finance industry will have to keep up.

​3. Naturella Made
Naturella Made was founded in December of last year out of one woman’s frustration with the current status of the feminine health industry. Nicole began researching a cure to her own reoccurring issues with feminine health when she came across an article featured in Glamour. In the article, a woman expressed her trials in finding a solution to her recurring struggles with BV. After reading about how this woman used probiotics to support her vaginal and urinary tract health, Nicole had an a-hah moment. She asked herself: why aren’t there any trustworthy probiotics on the market catered to women? That is when she decided to bring them to market herself. Sourcing quality products and providing education about feminine health to her customers were just the beginning for this young entrepreneur. Starting a feminine health company opened her eyes to the opportunity for innovation in this industry. In addition to running Naturella Made, which has seen a loyal following of women who are trying probiotics for the first time, Nicole also started an initiative to create dialogue surrounding the taboo nature of feminine health topics and how to improve accessible and affordable women’s health care. Her new initiative is called My F Health and the new project has already held two impactful open panel discussions, one of which featured the VP of Medical Services at Planned Parenthood, Lisa Stern.