Friday (8th March) marks International Women’s Day (IWD) with this year’s campaign theme being ‘Inspire Inclusion’. I can’t help but feel despondent though, last year I wrote about the inequalities female founders face when raising equity investment, and another year on I don’t feel much has changed. But – don’t despair – I’m also going to highlight why I think there are reasons to be cheerful too!
With Beauhurst’s The Deal 2023 Report showing that it’s currently harder than ever to secure equity investment, irrespective of gender, this week I’ve shared my thoughts on how we all have a role to play in making change happen, and that we all have the power to drive change.
Whilst I’m frustrated that of the 16 Funding Accelerator alumni startups that secured funding last year only 4 had female founders. I was heartened to see that 25% puts us ahead of the market overall. Beauhurst data revealed that only 19% of investment deals last year backed female founders. Although I wish this figure was higher, I’m encouraged that we have made a difference, albeit small. It’s a start in the right direction.
And that’s what I feel is key as we approach this International Women’s Day – that we all take the steps we can to make a difference, however small it might feel.
It is by doing things differently – slowly changing behaviour – that we all have the chance to make a difference and “Inspire Inclusion”. I’ve been discussing this topic over on LinkedIn this week. We’ve collaborated with Mint Ventures (a women-led business angel investment club and network offering a fresh approach to investing for women and funding for female founders and diverse teams) and have been piloting Investment Boards with Mint Ventures.
Investment Boards create a “safe space”, where startup founders and early-stage investors can meet in a confidential, facilitated, environment to co-develop specific growth plans. The board encourages a mutual understanding between the founders and investors through discussion, collaboration, and the alignment of stakeholders around achievable growth targets and milestones. The boards break down the historic stance of “them” and “us” and replace this with a sentiment of “let’s do this together”. It’s early days, but so far the feedback from mentors, exiting investors, new potential investors and founders has been overwhelmingly positive. If we are to inspire inclusion we need to recognise that we all have a role to play. We need to look for new and innovative ways of working to ensure greater funding for female founders.
Encouraging more women to consider angel investing is part of this process and I’ll be joining Mint Ventures at an event they are running on 12th of March in central London at 5:30pm. If you would like to find out more about becoming an angel investor, book your ticket here.
And from all of us at Focused for Business, Happy International Women’s Day.
