The Business Landscape Wasn’t Built for Women.
Let’s start looking back at some of our winners from the Awards this year.
Why Press Play Ventures are a TechDiversity Award Winner:
Because Press Play Ventures did exactly what the Awards recognise: they saw a broken system, they didn’t wait for permission to fix it, they built solutions that redistribute power, and they’re proving that inclusive leadership drives impact.
They’re gamechangers. The kind who rewrite the rules.
So They’re Rewriting It.
Women make up 51% of Australia’s population.
Yet just 1 in 5 startup founders are women. And they receive less than 2% of venture funding.
The question isn’t whether women want to build businesses. The question is: why wouldn’t they want to belong in a system that was never built for them?
That’s the insight that drives Press Play Ventures, winner of the TechDiversity Awards 2025 in the Business Category.
Here’s Sangeeta Mulchandani, founder of Press Play, on what they’ve learned:
“In the last 18 months, we’ve helped 120 women in their transition from employment to entrepreneurship. And we’ve learned so much about WHY despite being 51% of the population, women CHOOSE not to participate at the same rate in business as men.
A big reason is because the current business landscape was never built for women or by women. So to expect them to just come in and belong is unrealistic.”
This is the insight that changes everything.
This isn’t about women lacking ambition, capability, or drive. This is about a system that wasn’t designed for them. And that ripples everywhere.
“This is why we are still struggling with gender balance in executive leadership positions in corporates, on boards, in small businesses and also in the startup ecosystem.”
It’s not a pipeline problem. It’s a belonging problem.
But Press Play isn’t waiting for the system to change. They’re rewriting it.
Through practical education, coaching, and direct access to investors, they’re helping women build businesses from the ground up. They’ve helped 120 women transition from employment to entrepreneurship in just 18 months. They’re building a future where women don’t have to force themselves to fit into someone else’s game.
They’re writing new rules.
And they did this with allies every step of the way.
Start thinking about nominating for our 2026 Awards!
Press Play Ventures is a pre-accelerator helping women transition from employment into entrepreneurship. Women make up half of Australia’s population, yet just 1 in 5 startup founders and receive less than 2% of venture funding. The system wasn’t built for women, and we’re changing that.
Through practical education, coaching, and direct access to investors, we help women launch high-impact tech startups. We’ve driven a 12% uplift in Victoria’s women founders and are now scaling nationally to build a more inclusive, diverse startup ecosystem – by changing who gets to build it.
Check their website here.