- Startup founders are throwing "
business showers" to celebrate their new ventures, per the NYT. - One founder said she received about $10,000 in gifts to help grow her software business.
- Female-founder coaching firm Makelane has a virtual "business shower kit" to help throw the parties.
Startup founders are increasingly throwing "business showers" to mark a life-changing milestone: starting their own company. Some have received thousands of dollars worth of gifts to help grow their ventures, $4 reported.
Baby showers are for expectant mothers celebrating their new arrivals, and guests bring gifts for mother and baby. Some professionals are now applying this format to help with $4 and to generate client interest, The Times reported.
Caitlin Kelly, founder of $4, a digital branding agency, told the Times that she held a joint business and
"I remember when I first started telling people I was pregnant, I had never been congratulated like this for anything in my life," Kelly told the Times. "I know people were coming from a place of love and excitement, but for me, launching the business was that for me."
Kelly said she held a daytime baby shower for family and friends, which morphed into a larger work event in the evening, with investors, clients, and employees.
As the
Read more: $4
Makelane, a company that helps $4, said business showers can help redefine how women's lives are celebrated.
"Women today are no longer just defined by their roles as mothers and wives," Makelane says on $4 "It's time to update our traditions to celebrate women's professional milestones as well as their family ones."
The company encourages founders to "create a PayPal account or checking account" to receive money from guests, and to create a business registry gift list.
The company offers a virtual business shower kit, called Startup Stork, which includes an event-planning checklist and invite templates. The kit also provides an example business registry with costed items such as "G Suite" and "website design" that guests can contribute towards, according to $4.
Dulma Altan, Makelane's founder, told The Times that more than 1,300 kits have been downloaded in 2021.
Thkisha Sanogo, founder of $4, a project management software startup, told The Times that she used $4 a company that supports Black women $4, when she threw her business shower in 2019.
Sanogo said that she received about $10,000 worth of gifts, including tickets to work conferences and a Calendly subscription, per the Times.
Makelane did not immediately respond to Insider for comment.