Money Tip 004: Funding for Women and Minorities in VC is better than ever.
Nothing in this post is a recommendation.
Underfunding while over-performing will not withstand systemic inequality in funding startups much longer. The time to create is now.
“Despite the severe funding gap, startups founded and cofounded by women actually performed better over time, generating 10% more in cumulative revenue over a five-year period, according to BCG.” Forbes
Do you ever think about becoming a founder of a start up? Starting your own company is not for the weak. The average amount of companies a person needs to start to have a success is 7. So being a successful entrepreneur is kind of like learning how to walk. Most people are still just crawling when they tell you they’ve failed once or twice. And yet, people still do it? Why? They want the ultimate freedom of being your own boss and achieving the American Dream, of course. Yet the thought of starting and failing that many times and working non stop, every day, makes many people content with a 9-5. Yet, with so much unemployment now, we will NEED many new companies to create new jobs. And if you’re a woman or a minority reading this, I urge you to be that change if you’re not happy where you’re at now or find yourself unemployed with a lot of ideas. It really does become the responsibility of the dreamers to dream and work us into a better future. All businesses were ideas at one time. I love the concept from the book Everything is Figureoutable which is something like this. Look around you. Everything you can see was at one time just an idea. Think about that!
For those who have vision to push this country forward and start new ideas so that our economy can get back on track, is a moment of opportunity. I hope that the new companies coming forward will be more conscious and more impactful in a positive way than ever before. I’m compelled to tell you my story, because I think it relates to this topic very much. And it just about killed me and my future. So I tell you, it’s not easy. But it will grow you, should you decide to commit to being an entrepreneur for some part of your life.
Scroll down to Lesson 1 if you’d like to skip my story of entrepreneurship.
In 2011, I started my clothing company, Paradisiac. Right now it sits on a semi-permanent back burner. And for good reason! As a trained fashion designer who worked in the industry as a merchandiser, designer, illustrator and model for 10 years before starting my own company, I thought I was ready. And I gave it my all. While all my friends were getting married and making babies, I was pumping my heart and soul into what I hoped would be a great success in the only industry I had ever known and loved. I lived in Bali and LA. I would spend 3 months in Bali doing all the manufacturing and branding with photoshoots and styling in Bali and then I would go back to LA and do all of the business and sales stateside.
By 2013, we were in several stores and we really needed help. I was financially overwhelmed all the time. I needed a financial partner. I needed more capital. We needed money so that we could grow. I needed an active partner. So I took my collection, my business plan, and my financials to several friends who knew the industry and to some people who I secretly prayed would hop onto this ship I had built.
One woman told me I was nuts to start a clothing company with under $50M. I see now what she meant and I don’t argue with that. At some point, I would definitely need that much, if I was going to take it ALL the way. But at this time I just really needed someone to believe in me to get me $1-3M with a factor for my manufacturing. I managed to get through 4 seasons and stay debt free with 4 shipments of goods for under $200K. But this was the thing Eva discussed on our podcast; I needed the debt. So that I could grow. I wanted to sell a piece of what I had built. It took all my might and power to push through this part. When my friends told me that it would be hard for me to get a bank loan, they didn’t offer much other advice or help. They were all white older men. But my company didn’t have enough revenue to even try a bank. They also told me that just any old clothing line was too “regular” for VC.
In fact, the only person who even muttered the word venture capital to me several times, which I assumed was only for tech start ups, was a woman. She said it so far under her breath I had to ask her to repeat it, and now I know why. Because the odds of me in 2013 successfully raising money for my company at a venture capital firm were small, very small, like miniscule. So what did I do? I started thinking. I thought and created more ideas off of ideas. I thought, maybe this is our time to pivot as a company.
I had a few options. I didn’t like what I saw environmentally with making clothes. The damage it was doing to the planet weighed heavy on my heart. The body image I was showing to women, with me modeling all the clothes to save money, also didn’t sit right. I decided all of our new collections first and foremost needed to support a cause. Because we were swimwear, I decided it would be water related charities. This would also give purpose to my life, which at this point I was starved for, struggling to make stuff to sell to people wasn’t doing it for me after 4 years of pushing hard at it. So I found one charity in the Philippines that delivered water to birthing camps and another for cleaning the great lakes, being from Michigan, it was also a cause close to my heart and in the US. I designed our upcoming campaign concepts around the idea. I thought maybe I could raise money if people saw we were doing good. I also thought maybe by creating a software that streamlines just one of the many broken processes I was dealing within the whole fashion industry, maybe that could raise money. I thought of turning the company into a B Corp that had ethics first and foremost, ROC (return on community), and sustainability at the forefront. The idea was too ahead of it’s time. People laughed at this. And when I started trying to create a totally transparent process of making a garment, I realized without funding or better resources, it would be just about impossible without hitting ethical or sustainable issues. So, I then decided to create a tech-fashion company concept. A store built into a container for the container park in Vegas, who had funding for ideas like this happening which I was connected to. The idea was that people could come in to shop and design their own creations on a screen and come back in a few hours and have custom clothing. Also, we could design that technology that would scan a person and give us measurements easily. We could use a 3D printer or a set of designs to create basic models for people to become their own clothing designers. I then created a whole website and social media platform idea for people who want to spend time online growing their mind, body, spirit, you name it, but a place to feel good, learn, and meet other people based on positive principles and interest. That idea was a 50 page deck with each page designed and ready to go. All I needed for all of the ideas was MONEY. One of these should do the trick.
I slowly shopped all the decks around one by one moving an idea that got rejected more than 3 times to the back. Often I would hear crickets or some white male would get back to me saying it didn’t “fit” their ethos or investing formula. It was like some form of modern torture. But I didn’t have a back up plan so I pushed on. It was gut wrenching. And I was losing steam. I couldn’t continue to pump all my modeling savings or go back for another round of funding from friends and family. I was stuck. Totally and completely trapped. I would have to make sure this last collection took it to a department store with a big enough order I could get a factor and just build it like that.
And then, the unthinkable happened. The factory I started to use in LA, since I was sick of living abroad for what now had been 8 years, ripped me off. The owner had a brother with a factory as well. The brother had a heart attack. So my factory had to take over all of his orders, for major retailers. My workload and upcoming collection, that would finally be in front of the major retailers, with a showroom I had finally landed in New York, fell to the bottom of the priority pile. I also didn’t have any of my samples to shoot to build a website around to go direct to consumer because the factory had them all to build new patterns of of. The factory oddly kept delaying me, ignoring me and my showroom asked me over and over where the designs were to sell for the buyers that season. I missed the selling season. So many excuses came from the factory.
When my designs finally showed up, they were made wrong, and worst of all, without my patterns or grading or any of my old samples. I went into the factory and the owner just shoved me out the door with more excuses. A few weeks later, I was at a Fourth of July party and I noticed a girl wearing two of my patterns pieced together. I asked her where she bought the outfit. There was no denying it was a Frankenstein of two of my pieces as I had done about 15 fittings to get both pieces to look right. Basically I was 100% sure it was my design. And this had happened to me in college and throughout my career so it wasn’t as shocking as upsetting. She said she bought it at Macy’s. I finally discovered that they stole all of my designs for the upcoming season and put their own label on it. This happens ALL THE TIME, in fashion. But I wasn’t going to let them do me like that. So I got a lawyer. I tried to sue them. Then my lawyer died in a freak accident. I threw my hands up in the air and just about lost my mind.
At this point, I had to decide if I would push on, or move to another industry. I could keep pushing, hard through an industry I had spent 15 years in, and maybe never make it. The thought of me being 50 and in this situation was too scary. How could I stay in an industry that felt like this. An industry that didn’t place a value on intelligence or hard work or actual talent. There was so much risk for so little reward. Where all the cards can often feel just totally stacked against you. The whole fashion world seemed to be based on luck and under the table deals. My 15 year love affair with fashion came to an abrupt end then and there. I decided to step back and move over to a new space.
What was the real problem here? What did I want to become an expert on? The answer was so obvious and yet it took me a few years. My passion was Money. Specifically, how to access it, and how to master making it work for me and for other people like me. Why wasn’t there access to capital, or people, to advise and help me in these times of ideas and growth? I decided I would learn everything I could about financial wellness and the finance industry. I would be the change I had needed. As soon as I put this idea out to the universe, doors opened. It was like all my time in the fashion industry I had been trying to open a door with the wrong key. They say when one door doesn’t open, it’s not your door. Now I see, it shouldn’t feel like you’re wearing cement boots to make a living. And now, I help tons of female entrepreneurs protect themselves for their future during the day with advising and I research VC and ESG all night. My podcast is to empower other people to emrace new things and change and unique career paths. And I love this life I live now. I don’t miss the factory days or the worry of owning a consumer faced brand that is hurting the planet. But I do think if I did fashion again ever, I’d do it right. And because of that belief, I do help young designers understand the importance of ESG, ethics, sustainability, charitable spines at inception, and the importance of strong financials and the right partners and advisors. Basically, I got a masters degree in business from the school of hard knocks and I am so grateful for it but at the time I thought I would never get to the other side of that mountain I was climbing. Daily, I am so inspired when I hear or read of female entrepreneurs getting the funding that they need to grow, and outperforming male run start ups when they do. Which, they do. The data is mounting and I’m so excited to share that with you. (Jump to end of article to read the 10 points that you won’t want to miss out on knowing the next time someone tells you that they might not want to invest in your ideas.)
There is a lot of material on this topic. It has taken a lot to filter through it for you. I’m going to share it with you now. I hope it will inspire you to think outside the box and to create companies, especially if you feel the call to do so. It doesn’t matter what your race, gender, sexual preference, or any other “limiting” identity you possess. Use your uniqueness as opportunity. There is now quantifiable data that proves these identities have and do hold us back…until now.. because the reality is, the hold back is less than ever before. And while it can be overwhelming, the future is bright and only going to get better and better for us.
I want you to learn from my mistakes. So I’m telling you information paired with some hopeful commentary and lessons that I’ve learned.
Lesson 1: Times HAVE changed. Women and minorities have opportunity now to get funding for their ideas, more than ever before.
Yes, it does help to have an ivy league degree, mainly for the network, to raise money in VC. Stanford has the most placement for start up graduates, but that’s not everything. And now more than ever, holes in marketplaces are valued with data that supports a niche. And there is a value in being diverse. So just prove there is a need for what you want to do, test it, document it, and develop community around your idea. Have a product that can grow with the people and support the planet and you’re golden. As more and more VCs are bringing on female and diverse partners to help make better investments, more of our ideas will get funded. ”Though the progress often feels slow, the past decade has ushered in undeniable improvements for women on the startup scene. The total number of VC-backed tech startups with a female founder has grown from 410 companies in 2009 to more than 2,700 last year. And that $46 billion invested in women-led companies 2018? “For perspective, only $3 billion went to female-founded startups in 2010, translating into a more than 15-fold increase over the past decade,” the Pitchbook and All Raise report notes. And VC funding for startups with at least one female founder more than doubled in 2018” *1 https://qz.com/work/1746745/vc-funding-for-startups-with-at-least-one-female-founder-more-than-doubled-in-2018/ Although dozens of firms have made concerted efforts to diversify their ranks, fewer than 10% of decision-makers at U.S. VC firms are women, according to a 2019 Axios analysis, which determined just 105 investors out of 1,088 were female. While the study noted an increase from the previous year’s 8.93% and 2017’s 7%, it proved venture capital is still very much a male-dominated industry. *2 https://techcrunch.com/2019/12/09/us-vc-investment-in-female-founders-hits-all-time-high/
More Women Became VC Partners Than Ever Before In 2019 But 65% of Venture Firms Still Have Zero Female Partners
*3 https://medium.com/allraise/more-women-became-vc-partners-than-ever-before-in-2019-39cc6cb86955
Lesson 2. When people lie, steal, cheat, ignore you; throw them an imaginary funeral and just move on. Karma has no time limit and your energy is better spent on building ideas up that support your life.
It’s okay to be down after a fail. But don’t let it keep you down. In fact, write down the lesson, light a candle, and move on as fast as humanly possible. I’m here to tell you, the other side of people like that, is beautiful and incredible souls who want to see you succeed. Just keep your head up, know the best things come from the worst things, that those fails are serving you, and don’t stop or take no for an answer. Usually if something doesn’t work out, it’s because the universe had bigger plans for you. But be smart. Document everything and only work, in every scenario imaginable, with contracts. If someone doesn’t want to give you a contract, they are likely not the kind of person who would honor one. Just keep looking for the right people. I’m not going to say I regret anything at this point in my life. But I did have a moment where I looked hard into my future and thought, this fashion company is just too risky. BUT, had I been successful in finding funding to start something new, one of my ideas, that solved a problem in a niche inside an industry I knew well, the future may have been more appealing to me to stay the course in that space, just with a pivot.
I urge women reading this to follow the advice of Cindy Gallop. Her advice in a Forbes interview with Carrie Kerpen was what a lot of us should take for the truth that it is. Use this as a jumpstart and light your fire. That fire we all will and deserve to feel the heat from.
“Take a long hard look around you at your industry...and identify what you think is missing, that you think should be there,” urges Gallop. “What has nobody yet done that you could bring to the table? What would you love there to exist that you could make exist? Identify the gap in the market—and there will be plenty of them in any industry where the default setting is male. So apply the female lens, apply the diverse lens...then begin road testing that idea.”
“We live in a world where the default setting is always male," Gallop continues. "Men have no idea how much happier they would be living and working in a world that was designed equally by all of us. And so what I urge women to do is to don’t worry about what you think the business world laid out before you looks like. Stop and ask yourself what would make you happy. And design that.”
“My personal philosophy is never waste your time banging your head against closed doors,” explains Gallop. “Instead, engineer yourself into a position where doors open automatically as you approach.” According to Gallop, our solution is simple: “Design the world that we want to live in. Because when we do that, the men will desperately want to be a part of that as well.” *4 https://www.forbes.com/sites/carriekerpen/2018/07/16/cindy-gallop-wants-you-to-build-the-world-you-want-to-live-in/#40a4332f5691
This advice is SO solid. Whenever you see success, you see that these companies are creating solutions to problems, or doing something better than the options that were available before them. And people who didn’t let the world tell them they’re a “dreamer”. The dreamers, at the end of the day, are the ones who create the world we live in, like it or not.
Lesson 3. It will not be easy. But it will be worth it. NOTHING, is easy. And when nothing is certain, everything is possible. But do find someone else’s money to grow it.
Don’t spend your entire life savings on ideas. If you do plan to invest your own capital, I would keep it under 5% of your net worth. [This is not a recommendation – my recommendation is spending next to nothing to start ideas but you do you.]
Look, you have a LOT of options for VC to take an idea to. Most startups need 30K to get started. 60% of entreprenurs use personal wealth to do that. *5 https://www.kauffman.org/currents/3-trends-that-prevent-entrepreneurs-from-accessing-capital/
This problem is much bigger than you could expect given that only 18% of new businesses get a bank loan and only .6% of all businesses raise VC Capital. Yes that is point.6%. So 81% of companies still don’t have access to capital. So this is systemic and hopefully congress is going to address this now especially with coronavirus strong holding our economy and job creation. But that’s all the more reason to think of solutions for problems in niches and to make sure you’re building for the future, that means with a tech feature and with diversity and ethics built into your company ethos.
https://www.kauffman.org/currents/3-trends-that-prevent-entrepreneurs-from-accessing-capital/
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/SM/SM27/20180724/108628/HHRG-115-SM27-Wstate-BairdR-20180724.pdf
https://smallbusiness.house.gov
So before you spend your own money, TRY to find an accelerator or a VC that will believe in you from the start. Funds like the January Fund actually urge women with ideas to cold email their ideas. They also state “We are women that have raised money and have been through the ups and downs of raising money in what is a very male-dominated world,” Neundorfer added. “We believe that investing in women is not only the right thing to do but that you can make a lot of money doing it.”
*6 https://www.january.ventures/contact-us
Lesson 4. If you don’t think your ideas matter, just think about the fact that we are the majority of the economy and college degrees. Women do most of the spending, caretaking, cooking, consuming of brands, and raising the next generations.
Women drive 83% of all U.S. consumption, through both buying power and influence, African Americans spend $1.2 trillion annually in the U.S. , Latinx consumers’ buying power is expected to reach , $1.7 trillion by 2020
The data at some point has to align with the companies that are being at least considered to be funded. As boards include women and minorities or people frustrated with the white old boys club start their own funds, the world will start to shift. Until then, we need to educate ourselves of the past. Specifically, for women, we lag in inventing in general. This PDF is incredible and will make you want to go back to the drawing boards for your ideas like stat.
*7 https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Progress-and-Potential.pdf
So the problem with funding startups and women being encouraged to create ideas is systemic. But we can change this. We just need to know what we don’t know. It’s in our own belief system that we aren’t good enough or educated enough. But the problem is that we just don’t’ do it. In this incredible survey Progress and Potential; A profile of women inventors on US Patents, surveys show that “between 1978 and 1997, the share of patents with at least one female inven- tor nearly tripled from 5% to 14%. Such a rapid increase is reasonable consid- ering the share was quite low in the mid-1970s, making it easier to achieve high growth rates. Likewise, women’s opportunities to invent expanded rapidly as more women entered the labor force over the period.5 Since 1998, however, the share of patents with
at least one female inventor has only increased from 15% to 21%, suggest- ing the pace of entry into patenting by women has slowed.” “ Second, even though more patent inven- tor teams include women, the gender composition among all inventors has
not changed significantly. As shown by the women inventor rate (middle line in Figure 1), through the mid-1980s women comprised less than 5% of all patent inventors. The women inventor rate only reached 10% in 2000. And in 2016, more than a decade and a half later, only 12% of patent inventors were women.” It is widely recognized that many factors shape the opportunities for women to become patent inventors. Educational and occupational choices are two important influences.7 Historically, science and engineering fields produce the most patentable inventions (Marco et al., 2015). Naturally, when fewer women pursue careers
in science and engineering fields, they will make up a smaller share of patent inventors. “ “ In 2015, women made up about 28% of the total science and engineering work- force (all S&E occupations in Figure 2) but only 12% of inventors on granted patents (women inventor rate in Figure 2). Across nearly all science occupations, women participate at a much higher rate than they invent patented technology. It is only in engineering that women’s workforce participation rate (yellow, hollow circle line in Figure 2) resembles the overall women inventor rate. “ Observed gender differences among patent inventors reflect a wide variety of influences that ultimately shape the opportunities for men and women to become inventors. One such factor is educational background. Women make up 31% of science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) college graduates, even though they account for 60% of graduates across all degree fields (Munoz-Boudet, 2017). Within STEM fields, women comprise 18% of graduates in computer science and engineering versus 40% in life science. “
This matters because basically, women are smart enough to be inventors. Women just need to be in the right careers like in science tech, mathematics, and engineering. But with that being said, if you have an idea, you can always just meet with an engineer and collaborate! Why wait?! We need to improve the numbers on patents AND start ups and the way to do this is think, think hard, and then act. At times, the data can make us feel like maybe it’s not worth it. But then you have to think that these numbers used to be zero. Sure “women-led startups that did raise capital, on average, raised 36 times less money in 2017 than those founded by men, according to PitchBook Data Inc.” *8 https://www.forbes.com/sites/allysonkapin/2019/01/28/10-stats-that-build-the-case-for-investing-in-women-led-startups/#3584183059d5
BUT they still did raise. And that’s what matters. There is a plethora of what matters to invest in diverse start ups here. *9 https://ratemyinvestor.com/pdfjs/full?file=%2FDiversityVCReport_Final.pdf
Lesson 5. Know the data and know your worth. Come to all “parties”, packed with knowledge and numbers. Don’t ever let someone tell you that women don’t perform. We do. In fact, we outperform. AND find people smarter than you to grow your company with you.
Morgan Stanley conducted a study that showed that actually If VC firms stay homogenous and keep investing in people who look like them, they’ll get left behind. According to Morgan Stanley, they risk losing out on as much as $4 trillion on the table by not investing in women and other underrepresented entrepreneurs.” *10 https://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/venture-capital-funding-gap
The data shows 6 companies that had a woman or multicultural founder that paid off. HopStop had $2M in funding and sold to Apple for $1B. Duo Security raised $119.8M and sold for $2.3B, Sundial had $240M in expected revenue and is valued at $1B. Carol’s Daughter raised $18M and sold to L’Oreal for an estimated $100M, Lastly Nextdoor raised $408M and valued at $2.1B. Ok, yes a lot of these have a male partner. So cool, invent something and then take the smartest and most open minded, hard working male you know and head to the races.
So it’s now just a matter of time. And also women and minorities MUST ask for fair and equal equity. It’s not just about a pay gap in these roles. It’s about equity. Listen to guest Eva on the podcast about Start ups. She had a very not fun experience learning that the guys who started with her first company the same time and qualifications as she did, had higher equity cuts, just because they ASKED for more than she did. *11 https://www.morganstanley.com/content/dam/msdotcom/mcil/Morgan_Stanley_Beyond_the_VC_Funding_Gap_2019_Report.pdf
Here is an article from Forbes siting stats for the case for investing in women led startups. * 12 https://www.forbes.com/sites/allysonkapin/2019/01/28/10-stats-that-build-the-case-for-investing-in-women-led-startups/#3584183059d5
“All the data shows that women-led startups, on average, have better ROI when invested in. Due to the paltry amount of investments currently going to women-led startups, investors now have an enormous market opportunity to invest in many of the most innovative ventures, which just happen to be led by women, and make billions of dollars. So if you work with investment associates on your team, tape yellow sticky notes to their laptops so they never forget this money-making data.
1. Private technology companies led by women are more capital-efficient, achieving 35% higher ROI, and, when venture-backed, 12% higher revenue than startups run by men, according to the Kauffman Foundation.
2. Women founded companies in First Round Capital’s portfolio outperformed companies founded by men by 63%.
3. In a study of over 350 startups, Mass Challenge and BCG determined that businesses founded by women deliver higher revenue—more than 2 times as much per dollar invested—than those founded by men, making women-owned companies better investments for financial backers. The authors calculated that VCs could have made an additional $85 million over five years if they’d just invested equally in both the women- and men-founded startups.
4. Despite the severe funding gap, startups founded and cofounded by women actually performed better over time, generating 10% more in cumulative revenue over a five-year period, according to BCG.
5. Companies in the MSCI World Index with strong women leadership generated a Return on Equity of 10.1% per year versus 7.4% for those without strong women leadership, according to MSCI ESG Research.
6. “Women-owned businesses are growing much faster than all businesses. From 2007 to 2018, women-owned businesses grew by 58% in terms of the number of firms and 46% in terms of revenue,” according to American Express research advisor Geri Stengel. “What’s driving these numbers are women of color. Women of color over that same period of time are starting businesses at a much faster rate. The number of firms owned by African-American women has grown by 164% since 2007.”
7. There is a strong and statistically significant correlation between the diversity of management teams and overall innovation. Companies that reported above-average diversity on their management teams also reported innovation revenue that was 19 points higher than that of companies with below-average leadership diversity—45% of total revenue versus just 26%. And Gallup, found that more diverse companies have 22 percent lower turnover rates. Less staff turnover creates a stronger company which aids company growth immensely.
8. Latinx women-owned businesses saw more than 87% growth between 2007 and 2012, according to Project Diane.
9. Women were the sole or majority owners of an estimated 12.3 million U.S. businesses at the beginning of 2018, and were starting additional businesses at a rate of more than 1,800 (net) per day, according to “The 2018 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report,” commissioned by American Express.
10. According to Golden Seeds, many women-led startups are led by serial entrepreneurs bringing a wealth of experience to companies that need to scale quickly. In 2017, serial entrepreneurs were 1/3 of the women-led companies in which Golden Seed’ network invested, marking a significant shift. “
Lesson 6. I am here for you. Know the resources. Meet the funds.
If you have something you’re interested in, I’m always willing to help you. You can always reach out to me for advice or mentoring. The ladies at LaunchPop, who inspired this article, have made a business out of incubating start-ups by diverse founders. There are tons of accelerators and incubators today. There are a bunch of VCs with female board members AND who focus on female start ups. Find the right partners for you. And don’t always take the first offer, men don’t, and people respect people who know their own value. But don’t’ be inflated, we’ve all seen what can happen on Shark Tank when people have an attitude. Having a permanent positive attitude with a large amount of intelligence and good numbers to support you will always serve you. The internet is your best friend. When you’re ready, here is a list of a bunch of VCs who may consider you. Build slow, but steadily. And be strong. Very very very strong. Soft power is everything. Just don’t forget the power part.
It’s still a white man’s world in VC. “Only 9.65% of decision-makers at U.S. venture capital firms are women.” Says Axios. *13 https://www.axios.com/venture-capital-women-tech-diversity-29c3f2f0-2d1e-4ec5-b542-7878ab149d45.html BUT, that’s so much better than just a few years ago when I tried my hand at “raising” VC partnership. So, I guess, the point is let’s get real but also get smart. If you’re not into starting a start up, becoming a female executive at a VC is not only a great idea, but you don’t have to take nearly the amount of exams that you do to be institutional and I think it sounds very fun. Although, let’s get one thing clear, it’s very much still a whitewashed mans world, and we need to change that.
Remember what Eva Chan said on the podcast about her company. They look for people who take their ideas very seriously. “There is no shortage of opportunity. Or distraction. So I challenge you to commit. To something, anything, but just commit.” Eva says. There is still a lot we are up against. Women of color have it the hardest in this space, but with the right partner by your side, you can and will overcome. There is also a lot going for you now, more than when I tried, by miles. Hopefully in 10 years the growth here will be exponential. Make sure you’re confident, with a great idea and market reserach and willing to give it a piece of your soul. Above all else, take the chance. Who knows where it could lead you. Hopefully right into the American Dream and to effecting change for the planet and all our Seastars. Good luck!
https://www.inc.com/magazine/201810/kimberly-weisul/female-founders-funding-guide.html : “
1. Amplifyher Ventures
New York City
Started in October by Tricia Black, who was formerly the vice president of ad sales at Facebook, Amplifyher says it is fully financed to make 10-15 investments of $100,000 to $300,000 in the next three years. Steering the investments with Black will be Meghan Cross Breeden, who was formerly a managing partner at Red Bear Angels. The fund says most of its investments will probably be in New York or Boston.
2. Backstage Capital
West Hollywood, Calif.
In May, when Backstage Capital founder Arlan Hamilton announced the formation of a $36 million fund to invest in black women, she was surprised at the reaction. "They're calling it a diversity fund," she tweeted. "I'm calling it an IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME fund." That new fund is her second; her first is investing $5 million. Hamilton has now invested $4 million of that in 100 entrepreneurs who are women, people of color, and/or members of the LGBTQ community--including the founders of Tinsel, BeVisible, Blendoor, and Uncharted Power.
3. BBG Ventures
New York City
BBG ("Built by Girls") began in 2014 as a $10 million fund started by AOL to invest in consumer internet and mobile startups that have at least one female founder. Helmed by former Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia CEO Susan Lyne, it's still following that mission, but now AOL is part of Oath. BBG's check sizes are generally $100,000 to $250,000, and it does not take board seats at the businesses it invests in. So far, BBG's portfolio companies include Glamsquad, goTenna, and HopSkipDrive.
4. Belle Capital USA
Detroit
Belle Capital is the successor to Phenomenelle Angels, both of which were started by Lauren Flanagan. All of Belle's limited partners are women. The fund focuses on Michigan and other areas that don't attract a lot of venture capital. Check sizes range from $100,000 to $1.5 million, and the fund prefers companies with $1 million or more in revenue. It's invested in Vital Vio, Digsite, and NopSec, among others.
5. Bumble Fund
Austin
Whitney Wolfe Herd is adamant about putting women at the center of her business. Bumble, her matchmaking app, requires women to make the first move. Eighty-five percent of the company's employees are women. In August, Herd announced she'd be putting women at the center of her business in another way: She launched Bumble Fund to invest in women founders. Herd has not disclosed the size of the fund, saying she didn't want to wait until she had a large fund to begin making investments. The fund will invest in early-stage companies, and has already made commitments to Beautycon, Mahmee, and Sofia Los Angeles.
6. Female Founders Fund
New York City
Entrepreneur Anu Duggal created Female Founders Fund in 2014 to make early-stage investments in women-led companies. Her first fund was about $6 million and took stakes in around 30 companies. This year, Female Founders raised a second fund, for $27 million, with investors including Melinda Gates, Stitch Fix founder Katrina Lake, and Rent the Runway co-founder Jenny Fleiss. The fund's investments include Zola, Maven Clinic, and Tala. Female Founders Fund also tracks the venture investments that are going to women-led companies across the U.S.
7. Golden Seeds
New York City, Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Dallas, Silicon Valley
Golden Seeds was one of the first angel groups to invest exclusively in women-led companies. It's now one of the biggest and best-known, with headquarters in New York City and chapters in five other locations. Golden Seeds also runs three venture funds and has invested more than $100 million since 2005. Its portfolio companies include Poshly, Tot Squad, and Cognition Therapeutics.
8. Intel Capital Diversity Fund
Santa Clara, Calif.
At $125 million, Intel's is the largest diversity fund, and has been since it launched in 2015. The fund invests broadly in what it calls "underrepresented tech entrepreneurs"--women, minorities, people with disabilities, LGBTQ entrepreneurs, and veterans. The fund's investments include Brit + Co, Venafi, and Vidcode.
9. January VC
Cleveland and London
January VC launched in October with a $2 million fund. It's looking to write checks of between $25,000 and $150,000. Unlike most funds, January VC says it's perfectly fine if you're not connected--they'll seriously consider cold pitches that come in over the transom. The idea is that this will help them find entrepreneurs who live outside of entrepreneurial hotspots, who are underrepresented, or who just don't have the kind of backgrounds that would lead to chummy relationships with rich folks. So far, the fund has backed ProFormex and Hatch Apps.
10. JumpStart Focus Fund
Cleveland
The JumpStart Focus Fund is a $10 million fund for women and minority entrepreneurs. It comes out of the powerhouse accelerator and economic development hub JumpStart, which is based in Cleveland and aims to support entrepreneurs in Ohio--or those who are willing to move there. It's looking to invest in entrepreneurs working in medical technology, software, advanced materials, aero propulsion power management, fuel cells/energy storage, sensing/automation technologies, situational awareness/surveillance systems, and solar photovoltaics.
11. Merian Ventures
San Francisco and London
At $100 million, Merian is one of the largest funds to invest solely in women, but it still invests at the earliest stages: seed and Series A. Its investments are split pretty evenly between the U.S. and the U.K., and it searches for companies in cyber technologies, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and consumer-facing technologies essential to the Internet of Things.
12. New Voices Fund
Amityville, N.Y.
When Richelieu Dennis sold his Sundial Brands to Unilever late last year, the deal came with an unusual stipulation: Unilever and Sundial would set up a venture fund to invest in entrepreneurs who are women of color. On July 9, Dennis officially launched the $100 million New Voices Fund. The fund will invest from seed stage to Series C, and concentrate on consumer, technology, and media/entertainment companies. New Voices, which is structured as a B Corp, has invested in Beauty Bakerie, Beautycon Media, Envested, and McBride Sisters Wines.
13. Portfolia
Menlo Park, Calif.
By using a unique capital structure for her funds--each one has a maximum of 249 investors and $10 million to invest--Portfolia founder Trish Costello is focusing on turning more high-net-worth women into seed investors. So far, Portfolia has funds in categories such as active aging and femtech, with a total of $6 million under management. Investments include Joylux, UnaliWear, and RenovoRx.
14. Rethink Impact
Washington, D.C., New York City, San Francisco
Led by Jenny Abramson and launched in 2017, Rethink Impact is one of the newer funds to invest solely in women. But with $112 million in its coffers, it also may be the largest. (Intel Capital's Diversity Fund also invests in people of color and other underrepresented groups.) The fund's investors include Sheila Johnson, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, and Sachiko Kuno, who has co-founded two drug companies. Abramson and her colleagues are looking for women-led tech companies that also intend to have a significant and positive social impact. Rethink typically makes an investment at the Series A stage. Its portfolio companies include Seedling, Neurotrack, and Werk.”
https://fortune.com/2020/02/07/venture-capital-women-diversity/ : “
Halogen Ventures: Based in Los Angeles, Halogen Ventures invests in female-founded consumer tech at the seed and Series A stage. Owner Jesse Draper gained experience dealing with early stage and later stage technologies after hosting the ‘The Valley Girl Show,’ which was actually about technology.
Urban Innovation Fund: Managed by Clara Brenner, The Urban Innovation Fund focuses on entrepreneurs who want to literally shape cities and solve urban challenges. They specialize in startups involving transportation, energy, resources and sustainability, housing, education and workforce, health and public safety, business and financial services, government and civic tech, arts and recreation, and food systems.
Glasswing Ventures: Focusing on companies using AI for enterprise platforms and cybersecurity markets, Glasswing Ventures provides funding during the pre-seed and seed stages of a startup. Founder and Managing Partner Rudina Seseri built up a credible reputation dealing with technology investments and acquisitions in her 16 years of investing and transacting in this business.
Fika Ventures: Specializing in businesses involving enterprise/B2B/Saas, financial tech, marketplaces, and health IT, Fika Ventures was founded by general partners Eva Ho and TX Zhuo. With Fika, a Swedish word, literally meaning to sit down for coffee with someone, this company likes to hone companies that value people skills. They also often invite previous startups they have supported to invest in new startups.
SoGal Ventures: SoGal Ventures invests in consumer tech, enterprise software, and health tech startups looking for funding in the pre-seed to Series A stages. With bases in New York, Singapore and China, founding partner Elizabeth Galbut and Pocket Sun rely on networking to fund their investments.
112Capital: Founder and Managing Partner Shelley Zhuang says 112Capital likes to focus on “deep-tech” companies, those that like to make strides in AI, AR, robotics, space, and data-driven health technologies. Founders must have a solid grasp of market size and explain what makes their product/service unique.
500 Startups: What makes 500 Startups different from venture capital investors previously mentioned? Venture partner Tanya Soman says 500 Startups is particularly interested in retail, beauty, and fashion innovation solutions. In addition to providing funding for female entrepreneurs, 500 Startups also invests in startups founded by LGBTQ+ and other diverse founders.
Aspect Ventures: Other investors focus on startups in their earlier stages, but Aspect Ventures serves those seeking funding between the seed and late stages. Led by Jennifer Fonstad and Theresia Gouw, this firm emphasizes providing funds for female entrepreneurs with startups involved in security, digital health, financial, AI, autonomous vehicle mobile technology, Saas, and healthcare technology.
Built By Girls Ventures: As opposed to deep or hard tech, BBG Ventures likes to support startups with ideas on how technology can make women’s lives “simpler, better, more delightful.” This investor is run by President and Founding Partner Susan Lyne and partner Nisha Dua.
Boulder Food Group: Another investor that doesn’t cater exclusively to women (although it counts them as majority of their partnerships), the Boulder Food Group led by Founder and Managing Partner Tom Spier and Managing Partner Dayton Miller likes to prioritize companies that focus on food. They are currently involved in the large and growing food categories business.”
https://theriveter.co/voice/female-venture-capitalists/ :
17 Female Venture Capitalists Changing the Future of Work
