"The biggest mission is just to help women think bigger."   🌍 Global Sisterhood: Carine de Meyere on Trade Missions & Angel Investing!   🎙 In this episode of the InvestHer Podcast, host Anne Ravanona speaks with Carine de Meyere, Founder & CEO of Women of the World, about her remarkable journey from women's college graduate and Harvard gender equality researcher to founder, fundraiser, and angel investor — and how she has spent over a decade curating transformative all-female trade missions to Silicon Valley, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and soon China, connecting women entrepreneurs and investors across borders and building what she calls a true global sisterhood.   🌍 Discover how Carine's lifelong passion for gender equality — ignited at a US women's college in the late 1980s and deepened through graduate research on corporate board diversity at Harvard — shaped her decision to launch Women of the World in 2011, evolving the organisation from a fundraising platform for female founders into a global movement that combines immersive trade missions, angel investing, and cross-border community building to help women entrepreneurs access capital, markets, and their own ambition on a world stage.   💡 Don't miss this episode with actionable insights on: • Launching Women of the World in 2011 after a stalled startup and one too many all-male pitch meetings • Opening every trade mission with a cultural day — museums, temples, heritage sites — before a single business meeting • Capping trade mission groups at 15 — big enough for diverse perspectives, small enough for real connection • Running a talking stick ceremony at the start of each mission that turns strangers into a sisterhood • Turning trade mission connections into angel investments, from Silicon Valley's Happyo to women's health company Naptah Health • Women's health as Carine's sharpest investment thesis, and the growing wave of female angels backing it • Why the 2% VC funding stat hasn't moved in 30 years, and what it will actually take to change it   If you're ready to think bigger, connect globally, and back women who are changing the world, this episode is for you.   🔗 Listen Now | 🎧 Apple Podcasts | Spotify | ▶️ Full Show Notes   About Carine Carine de Meyere is the Founder & CEO of Women of the World, a global advocacy and fundraising platform she launched in 2011 to accelerate women's access to capital, markets, and each other. Educated at a women's college in the United States and later at Harvard — where she researched gender equality in corporate boards — Carine describes herself as a conduit, an impact investor, and an activist for women's rights, climate, and sustainability. As an angel investor, she has backed women-led companies including Naptah Health and Happyo, and invests alongside Future Planet Capital, Antler, and Asterion Ventures, with a particular focus on women's health. She lives in the Netherlands, where she also serves as Netherlands Delegation Lead for the InvestHer Summit.   💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carinedemeyere 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/carinesigfrid   About Women of the World Women of the World is a global women's advocacy and fundraising platform founded in 2011 to connect female entrepreneurs, investors, academics, and executives across borders. The organisation is best known for its annual female leadership trade missions to destinations including Silicon Valley, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and — coming soon — China, each carefully curated to combine cultural immersion, high-level business access, and the kind of deep community-building that creates lasting global partnerships. Women of the World operates on the belief that when women think bigger and connect globally, they change the systems around them.   Resources Mentioned 📸 Women of the World on Instagram: https://instagram.com/womenoftheworldglobal   Connect with Anne & Global Invest Her 🌐 https://www.investherpodcast.com/ 📂 Funder Directory: https://funderdirectory.globalinvesther.com/ 🛍 Buy From Her Directory: https://www.buyfromher.com/ 🗨️ LinkedIn: Anne Ravanona https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneravanona/   #InvestHerPodcast #InvestHer #WomenFounders #FemaleFounders #WomenEntrepreneurs #WomenOfTheWorld #AngelInvesting #WomensHealth #TradeMissions #GlobalSisterhood #Netherlands #WomenInvestors #GenderEquality #FundingWomen