Who runs the world? Girls! On Sunday, over 800 ambitious entrepreneurs, creatives, and changemakers gathered in New York City for the annual Female Founder World Summit, a high-energy day designed to connect, inspire, and empower the next generation of business leaders.
The event lived up to its mission: bringing together the most innovative women across industries to share insights, spark ideas, and build powerful connections.
Female Founder World is a global community and media platform dedicated to helping ambitious women turn their entrepreneurial ideas into thriving businesses. Founded by journalist and entrepreneur Jasmine Garnsworthy, the platform has grown into a trusted space where founders connect with mentors, investors, and peers, both online and in real life. At its core, Female Founder World is about access and action. Through its newsletter, podcast, and signature Summit events in cities like New York and Los Angeles, it delivers tactical business insights, candid founder stories, and networking opportunities that actually move the needle for women-led startups.
Here in New York, guests were welcomed with light bites, drinks, and immersive brand activations before diving into a day of action-oriented programming. The summit’s speaker lineup included some of the most dynamic founders in business today, women whose brands have become household names and whose stories are rewriting the playbook for what’s possible in entrepreneurship.
At the EyeBuyDirect activation, guests had the fun opportunity to spin a wheel for exclusive prizes, including gift cards, accessories, and even pairs of Blue Light and Sunglasses! The activation also included many pairs of glasses for guests to try on, and a station where they could order them right on site. After seeing the work of Sunny Jiang, President & CEO of Eyebuydirect, for themselves, guests had the opportunity to hear about the company from her own perspective, as she took the stage at noon for a forward-looking panel on The Future of Retail. She shared how Eyebuydirect has achieved 4x revenue growth through innovation, accessibility, and a mission-driven approach. The brand’s interactive activation showcased its commitment to style, technology, and social impact.
Founded in 2006, Eyebuydirect is a leading online destination for prescription eyewear that combines style, affordability, and convenience. The brand offers thousands of fashion-forward frames starting at just $6, with endless customization options including prescription glasses, sunglasses, blue light protection, progressives, color tints, polarization, and Transitions®. As a digital-first company, Eyebuydirect makes it simple for customers to shop confidently with tools like Virtual Try-On, available on both mobile and desktop, ensuring a perfect fit without ever leaving home.
The panels continued throughout the day with inspiring grassroots stories and incredible advice for both future and current female founders, including keynotes and conversations with leaders like Christine Chang (Glow Recipe), Babba Rivera (Ceremonia), Taylor Frankel (Nudestix), Bea Dixon (The Honey Pot Company), Iskra Lawrence (Saltair), Natalie Mackey (Winky Lux), and many more, each offering candid insights into scaling businesses, raising capital, and building brands with cultural staying power. Additionally, founders like Phoebe Gates & Sophia Kianni (Phia) and Julia Haber (Home From College) shared stories representing the next wave of entrepreneurial voices, proving that innovation and impact are thriving at every stage of business.
The present and future of business is female, and it looks unstoppable. Hear more about Female Founder World here and Eyebuydirect here!