Women in Tech: At the forefront of innovation - Key takeaways from Rena Maycock, Chirp (formerly Cilter Technologies)

We are delighted to launch our new Women in Tech series, where we will hear interesting stories from inspirational people leading the charge at the forefront of innovation.

In episode 5, we hear from Rena Maycock, Founder of child-protection software Chirp (formerly Cilter Technologies).

Interviewed by International Privacy and Data Protection Partner Anna Morgan in Dublin, Rena discusses her mission within the child protection technology field, the research she’s undertaken, and the challenges around gathering good quality empirical evidence.

Rena outlines the challenges and opportunities for female founders, becoming a champion for child protection, operating in the tech for good space, and navigating the technology and business worlds.

Listen to the podcast here and read the key takeaways below. These themes encompass the core aspects discussed in the podcast, including broader insights into gender dynamics in the tech industry and venture capital funding.

• Gender Bias in Tech Funding: Female founders, especially in tech, face significant challenges in securing venture capital. Rena highlights the prevalent issue of subconscious bias, where female founders are often met with questions focusing on risks rather than opportunities. This bias discourages many women from even approaching venture capital firms.
• Proposed Solutions for Gender Bias: To address the funding disparity, Maycock advocates for mandated quotas where 20% of venture capital funding, particularly from funds involving public money, should go to sole female founders. She also suggests increased transparency, with firms publishing their gender investment data to promote accountability and encourage diversity in investments.
• Unique Value Proposition of Chirp: Chirp is a deep-tech startup which aims to fill a critical gap in the parental control market by addressing cyberbullying and grooming, which other parental control apps fail to adequately cover. The software needs to be embedded at the operating system level to access and analyse content within encrypted messaging apps, where most harmful interactions occur.
• Future Aspirations and Impact: Rena's goal is to make Chirp a standard parental control technology on all computing devices, ensuring the protection of children from harmful online content. She also hopes for a future where her daughter and other young women can pursue entrepreneurship without facing the same biases and obstacles.
• Funding Challenges and Strategies: Raising funds for Chirp proved difficult, especially in Ireland, where venture capital for early-stage projects is scarce. To mitigate this, Chirp pursued public grants, successfully securing a €2.8 million non-dilutive grant from the Disruptive Technology Innovation Fund. Private investment was then raised through angel investors, as venture capitalists showed little interest.
• Current Progress and Future Goals: Chirp is in the midst of a two-year research and development project, with significant milestones achieved but still about a year from market launch. A key challenge has been building comprehensive data sets of harmful online language to enhance the software's detection capabilities. Despite obstacles, the team is making steady progress towards their goal of offering a robust child protection tool.