Meet Edwina Sharrock, the midwife and entrepreneur who scored a $200,000 deal with Janine Allis

Edwina Sharrock is a registered midwife and mum of two from Tamworth in New South Wales who is building an empire helping women give birth. On this week’s episode of Shark Tank Sharrock successfully attracted a $200,000 investment from Boost Juice founder Janine Allis for a 10% stake in her business. Given how few female founders attract venture capital, it’s something she’s proud of. “It is super exciting,” she says.“Only 2.2% of VC funding last year went to female founders which is nuts.”

Driven by the closure of 41% of Australian maternity units in the past 15 years — primarily in rural, regional and remote Australia — Sharrock wanted to give more women access to the best information possible.

She created, Birth Beat, an online platform that combines convenience with the latest in childbirth education. Within six months she had been selected by HCF Catalyst, a 12 week intensive Slingshot accelerator program, at the end of which HCF invested.

“The closure of nearly half the country’s maternity wards has drastically reduced Australians access to quality childbirth classes,” Sharrock says.

“Birth Beat provides a solution to that problem through an accessible, fun and comprehensive online course with all the information expectant mothers and their partners need.” Read more

Georgina Dent - SmartCompany - 9 August 2018