Hi, fintech fam! 💜

It’s April 8, which means it’s the official first anniversary of the inaugural Fintech Is Femme Leadership Summit. Can you believe it’s been a whole year? 💜

As the one building this summit behind the scenes—alongside my incredible team—I can say with full confidence: the growth we’ve seen in this community has been nothing short of exponential.

This year, we’re leveling up even more. We’re even launching our first-ever Founder Pitch Competition, giving three founders a shot at pitching live on the Fintech Is Femme main stage. (Apply here!)

And yes—I’m still hearing from last year’s attendees who say this summit unlocked real ROI: deal flow, job offers, new clients, and game-changing connections. That’s the power of putting the right people in the right room.

It all goes down on April 23 at The Times Center during New York Fintech Week.

Now, let’s dive into today’s column.

INNOVATION

Kirthiga Reddy Is Building Tech’s Next Chapter—And Redefining What Leadership Looks Like

In a space where capital, access, and power still skew in favor of the status quo, Kirthiga Reddy has carved out her lane—and made it impossible to stop her. 

The Indian-American entrepreneur, investor, and operator is currently the Co-Founder & CEO of Verix, a platform defining the industry standard for verification in the age of digital transformation and AI. 

Verix helps organizations—from Big Tech to nonprofits like Netflix and Room to Read—answer one essential question in an era of digital overload: Is this real? 

Whether it’s skills, certificates, awards, products, or content, Verix is building the infrastructure for authenticity.

She’s also the President of Athena SPACs, a group of female-led acquisition companies focused on closing the gender gap in access to capital.

Her career trajectory is marked by more than just milestones. It’s marked by firsts.

Reddy was Facebook India’s first employee and later served as the company’s Managing Director for the region. 

She set up one of Facebook’s global operations centers, which serves over 3 billion people, built the Asia Pacific Small Medium Enterprise business, and helped the India business attain hundreds of millions in annual revenue. Ultimately, Reddy played a central role in the country's digital and mobile growth.

When she found herself missing the thrill of building and scaling, she made the leap to the investing side—eventually becoming SoftBank’s first female investing partner.

There, she helped deploy $1 billion in capital as part of the firm’s $130 billion in assets under management, shaping deals at one of the most influential VC platforms in the world.

She also served on the Investment Committee for Emerge, a global accelerator for brilliant companies led by underrepresented founders.

But her next decade? It’s all about entrepreneurship and what she’s building next.

Leading the Next Generation of Verification

At Verix, Reddy is tackling a critical challenge: digital trust.

As AI and digital platforms continue to scale, so do questions around credibility and proof. Whether it’s a professional certificate or a viral piece of content, verifying authenticity is becoming a core function of our digital lives. 

Reddy’s work sits at the center of that transformation—bringing transparency, trust, and technology together.

Meanwhile, her leadership at Athena SPACs reflects a broader mission: increasing access to capital for women-led and underrepresented businesses. In a market that still favors familiarity over sheer data-driven revenue, she’s creating new on-ramps for founders and operators historically left out of high-growth opportunities.

And it’s not just lip service. It’s structure-shifting strategy.

Why Her Leadership Model Matters

In fintech and beyond, representation is just the start. Leadership—and action—drive real transformation.

According to a 2023 study from McKinsey, companies with more diverse leadership teams see up to a 30% increase in returns on invested capital. 

The World Economic Forum adds that businesses with above-average diversity generate 45% of their revenue from innovation—compared to just 26% for less diverse companies.

Reddy’s career reflects that data in motion.

At Facebook, she helped scale one of the most important international markets in the company’s history. 

At SoftBank, she brought a needed perspective to one of the most male-dominated VC environments in the world. 

Today, she’s leveraging that experience to build a more inclusive ecosystem—from capital markets to content verification.

The Gender Gap Remains—But So Does Momentum

Let’s be clear: the gender gap in fintech is still significant.

According to Anthemis Group, just 3.4% of fintech VC dollars in 2023 went to companies founded solely by women. Globally, women-founded companies received only 11.7% of total tech funding last year, according to Tracxn. 

These numbers haven’t budged enough—and they’re a reminder that success stories like Reddy’s are still the exception, not the norm.

And yet, that’s exactly why profiles like hers matter. Because in a funding environment that continues to underinvest in women, Reddy is proof that women founders don’t just deserve capital—they outperform with it.

Research from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) shows that companies with gender-forward leadership gain a powerful market advantage. In fact, 58% of fintech firms with women in strategic leadership positions have implemented targeted efforts to serve female customers. 

The result? Increased customer reach, loyalty, and a stronger foothold in a $31 trillion female economy.

What’s Next: The Stage, the Spotlight, and the Summit

This April 23, Reddy will take the stage at the Fintech Is Femme Leadership Summit during New York Fintech Week to share her insights on building, scaling, and leading with conviction.

She’ll join 30+ powerhouse women on stage—and hundreds of founders, operators, and funders in the audience—ready to rewrite the rules of fintech and do business differently.

Together, they’re not just talking about equity—they’re building it.

Her presence on the 400-person main stage at The Times Center isn’t just symbolic—it’s strategic.

Because the next chapter of fintech won’t just be about capital, it will be about who controls it, who distributes it, and who builds the platforms we all rely on.

Leaders like Kirthiga Reddy are showing us the way forward.

And if we want to build a more inclusive, impactful financial ecosystem, we should follow her lead.

_{WTF ELSE?}

• Fintech is one of the most funded sectors for women founders

• Fintech companies caught up in tariff turmoil 

FINTECH IS FEMME LEADERSHIP SUMMIT

Last April 8, I launched the first-ever Fintech Is Femme Leadership Summit, a conference that centered on women’s stories, strategies, and leadership in an industry that has long sidelined them.

We hosted 300 women at Rise by Barclays.

We were standing-room only.

We were overflowing with ideas, collaboration, funding opportunities, and visibility.

We made history.

And now? We’re doing it again—but bigger.

On April 23, we’ll take the main stage at The Times Center in New York City for the second-annual Fintech Is Femme Leadership Summit.

FINTECH SECURITY SUMMIT

​🚨 Fraudsters are working faster—and smarter. It’s time we do the same. 🚨

​If the last year taught us anything, it’s that security can’t be an afterthought. It’s the foundation. The differentiator. The trust builder.

​We’re bringing together the brightest minds in fintech, risk, fraud, and identity for a high-impact day of strategy, innovation, and real talk.

​Expect actionable insights, serious networking, and the community momentum to stay ahead of evolving threats—without compromising user experience.

​💥 Space is limited and tickets are moving—secure yours today.

_{I WANT IT, I GOT IT}

• 📰 Today’s Read: Love this profile on Kay Koplovitz—the first woman to build a TV network and now the powerhouse behind Springboard Enterprises, which helps launch some of today’s most valuable women-led startups. We had lunch on Monday, and I’m thrilled she’ll be in the audience at the Leadership Summit.

• 🌍 Today’s Watch: Ariana Grande’s “Brighter Days Ahead” (a music video movie like visual album meets cinematic catharsis) is such a ride. The way she threads vulnerability into pop beats? Genius. You’re crying in one scene, belting out lyrics the next.

• 🎤 Today’s Listen: Episode 4 of Fintech Mavericks just dropped, with Sophia Goldberg sharing her gems on building Ansa and raising $20M with 95% female investors. Dive in here!

_FINTUNES

🎵 Lizzo - Still Bad

Lizzo is back—and serving exactly the energy I want to carry 🔥

_{LET’S CONNECT}

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🎤 Host an epic event by booking me as a speaker, moderator, or emcee.

📚 Increase your expertise by ordering your copy of my book, Fintech Feminists: Increasing Inclusion, Redefining Innovation, and Changing the Future for Women Around the World.

That’s all for now! See you Thursday!

Love,

Nicole 💜