After quitting a comfortable job in Silicon Valley to dive into her lifestyle startup, Brightly, Laura Wittig found herself in a world of unknown with the start of a global pandemic. The in-person component of Brightly’s Snap Inc. accelerator program was abruptly cut short, and she, along with all others attempting to raise in the summer of 2020, had to adjust to a new virtual dynamic with advisors and potential investors.

Wittig says she felt disadvantaged as a female founder, which she said invited more scrutiny during pitch meetings compared with founders who looked more like the investors sitting on the other side of the Zoom meeting. But she found a helpful ally in the Female Founders Alliance, which runs a program called Ready Set Raise that supports female founders during fundraising.

If she could offer advice to other first-time founders, it would be this: never give up. Sometimes you might feel like you’re the only believer. It might wear on you. But once you get that lead investor and your first meaningful check, things will start to fall into place.

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