Women’s Health Initiative Kickoff Panel
Date: Sep 16, 2026Time: 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Sep162026
Women’s Health Initiative Kickoff Panel
Description
Women’s health represents one of the most significant—and historically underfunded—opportunities in healthcare innovation today. Despite representing more than half the world’s population, women continue to face substantial gaps in research, diagnosis, treatment, and access to care.
Join HBS Alumni Angels and HBS Women’s Association for the official launch of the Women’s Health Initiative, a new platform dedicated to advancing investment, innovation, and thought leadership across the women’s health ecosystem.
This virtual panel will bring together leading investors and ecosystem builders to explore the rapidly evolving landscape of women’s health, discuss emerging investment opportunities, and examine the trends shaping the future of care.
In addition to highlighting the market opportunity, panelists will share perspectives on funding trends, founder challenges, areas of unmet need, and where they see the greatest potential for both impact and investment returns.
Whether you are an investor, founder, operator, clinician, researcher, or simply passionate about improving health outcomes for women, this session offers a unique opportunity to learn from leaders who are helping shape the future of women’s health innovation.
Be part of the conversation as we launch this exciting new initiative and explore how investors, founders, and industry leaders can work together to drive innovation, improve outcomes, and unlock the full potential of women’s health.
Join HBS Alumni Angels and HBS Women’s Association for the official launch of the Women’s Health Initiative, a new platform dedicated to advancing investment, innovation, and thought leadership across the women’s health ecosystem.
This virtual panel will bring together leading investors and ecosystem builders to explore the rapidly evolving landscape of women’s health, discuss emerging investment opportunities, and examine the trends shaping the future of care.
In addition to highlighting the market opportunity, panelists will share perspectives on funding trends, founder challenges, areas of unmet need, and where they see the greatest potential for both impact and investment returns.
Whether you are an investor, founder, operator, clinician, researcher, or simply passionate about improving health outcomes for women, this session offers a unique opportunity to learn from leaders who are helping shape the future of women’s health innovation.
Be part of the conversation as we launch this exciting new initiative and explore how investors, founders, and industry leaders can work together to drive innovation, improve outcomes, and unlock the full potential of women’s health.
Bios
Speaker
Linda Greub
Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Avestria Ventures
Linda Greub co-founded Avestria Ventures in 2019 to invest exclusively in early-stage women’s health companies. Avestria’s portfolio has already produced notable exits, including Alydia, acquired by Organon for up to $240 million, and Uqora, acquired by Pharmavite. Linda brings more than three decades of investing and operating experience across life sciences, healthcare, and biotechnology, including leadership roles at Novartis Diagnostics and Applied Biosystems.
Speaker
Shalini Sardana
Co-Founder & Co-CEO, She Raises Capital
Shalini Sardana is an entrepreneur, investor, and ecosystem builder dedicated to expanding access to capital for founders, particularly women entrepreneurs. Through her work with accelerators including Techstars and Alchemist Accelerator, she has helped countless founders prepare for fundraising success while building bridges between emerging fund managers, investors, and startup ecosystems.
Speaker
Victoria Pettibone
Chief Investment Officer & Managing Partner, Astia
Victoria Pettibone is Chief Investment Officer and Managing Director of Astia and a Managing Partner of the Astia Fund, where she invests in Series A and B companies shaping the future of health, climate, and prosperity. Since 2013, she has led Astia’s investment activities, helping grow the organization from two investments to more than 100, with over $31 million invested alongside more than $750 million in syndicate capital and 14 exits. An active investor and advisor, Victoria has personally invested in more than 20 women-led companies and serves on the boards of several Astia portfolio companies.
Moderator
Nidhi Chadda
CEO, Enzo Advisors
Nidhi Chadda is a generalist growth investor and advisor across public and private markets. She is the Founder and CEO of Enzo Advisors, a global sustainability consultancy at the nexus of finance, strategy and technology, taking a holistic qualitative and quantitative approach advising corporates and investors on how to integrate sustainability initiatives to mitigate risk and unlock value creation. She also wears a dual hat as the Chief Impact Officer for Richmond Global Sciences (RGS), an AI intelligence platform focused on impact measurement. She has 20+ years of experience as an investment banker, strategic consultant and investor.
In addition to her sustainability and investment leadership, Nidhi has been actively engaged across various healthcare initiatives. She has served for several years as a mentor with Mount Sinai Innovation Partners (MSIP), advising entrepreneurs on the development of their business plans and commercialization strategies. She previously also served as Sector Lead for Digital Health at the Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of Greater New York (HBSAANY), where she led diligence and investment evaluation efforts across digital health, AI-enabled diagnostics, virtual care, and data-driven healthcare platforms. Nidhi also recently launched the Women’s Health Initiative through HBSAANY to invest in entrepreneurs focused on delivering innovation to support women’s health ranging from diagnostics, digital healthcare to medical devices and services.
Date Time
Date: Sep 16, 2026Time: 5:00 PM to 6:00 PMLocation
VirtualVirtual, View Map
Price
- Free / Registration
Sponsors
Organizer
HBS Women's AssociationVirtual
Virtual
