Mez Gallifuoco

Mez is a serial entrepreneur with more than 13 years experience in emerging technology, product, growth hacking and business strategy. She has raised more than $25mil from VC funds globally, including Greylock Partners and Andreessen Horowitz, participated in the Y-combinator programme, grown and run a publicly listed augmented reality startup in Australia with a successful exit in 2018, and is passionate about building sustainable profitable growth through great products. She currently runs the Sydney & NY based venture studio called The Mad Ones helping corporations and scale-ups become leaders in their field through data driven strategies and innovative cultures.

Personally, Mez was diagnosed with MS when she was 18, and being diagnosed with a chronic illness so young shaped her perception and approach to life. She is an active and passionate MS Research Australia ambassador. More recently Mez became a mom and was catapulted (quite dramatically) into the very real experience of witnessing the investment gap for female founders and the difficulties women and mothers experience growing businesses and a careers. As such she has launched she:invents, a community matching female investors with female founders.