Tag: Komal Dadlani Lab4u

What it’s Really Like to be a Female Founder and Investor in Latin America, Ep 95

In honor of the seventh edition of the IDB’s WeXchange annual event taking place in Asunción, Paraguay next week, this episode highlights the stories of seven women from both sides of the investment table featured in past Crossing Borders episodes. These high performers share their experiences of what it’s like being a woman in technology in Latin America.

This episode starts off with a55’s Jackie Hyland talking about how gender balanced teams improve the long-term health of a business, and Lab4U’s Komal Dadlani talking about her experience as a female founder in science. 

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Komal Dadlani, Lab4U: Turning Smartphones in Science Labs, Ep 63

From a very young age, Komal Dadlani has wanted to make a difference in the world. After studying the careers of people who had changed the world – Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Pablo Valenzuela – Komal realized that she wanted to be a scientist, specifically a biochemist. Studying science in Chile is not easy; up to 88% of schools don’t have lab equipment, and even those that do are not using it. This struggle inspired Komal to cofound Lab4U, a company that democratizes science by turning smartphones into scientific experiment devices. Komal has grown Lab4U across Chile, the US, and Mexico, while working alongside the Inter-American Development Bank to test her educational tools and overcoming the challenges of being an immigrant, female founder starting her company in Chile and doing business across borders in Silicon Valley.

I was glad to finally have a chance to sit down with Komal to talk about raising capital across Latin America and the US, growing up as the child of immigrant parents in Chile, and how a serendipitous Startup Weekend run by Start-Up Chile entrepreneurs launched her into her entrepreneurial career. Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to learn how Komal journeyed from Arica in the North of Chile to Santiago, and finally to Silicon Valley.

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