Writer / Alex Brown Source / www.insideindianabusiness.com
The chief executive officer of Indianapolis-based RepuCare says she is “in awe” of her invitation from President Barack Obama to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Stanford University. Billie Dragoo, a co-founder of the Indiana Conference for Women calls the invitation a “once in a lifetime opportunity” and hopes to bring what she learns at the summit back to Indiana.
The GES, which runs through Friday, will showcase entrepreneurs and investors from across the globe.
The GES includes workshops, panels, pitch competitions, mentoring and networking opportunities for more than 700 entrepreneurs and 300 investors from around the world who have been invited to attend. Dragoo tells Inside INdiana Business there is a plethora of events from which she can learn and bring that knowledge back to Indiana, such as building a startup ecosystem from scratch in emerging markets. She says many of the topics being discussed at the summit apply to Indiana.
“We’re trying to build an ecosystem of innovation and creativity of emerging businesses and support entrepreneurship,” says Dragoo. “In Indiana and across the country, there’s a big need for more access to capital and venture capital for women. I’m excited to learn and attend as many (events) as I can and bring back a lot of information that I can impart on a lot of my networks in this city and state.”
Dragoo says she hopes to continue her quest to bring in more venture capital funding for women-owned businesses. She says we can expect to see more women investing in women entrepreneurs over the next 10 years, especially in Indiana.