The Time Is Now To Invest In Female Founders

We know that women want to own and run their own businesses, but we also know that attracting funding remains an uphill battle for many aspiring female entrepreneurs. Almost 50% of female tech founders have reported being told that they would raise more money if they were a man, and 44% have experienced harassment.

Research shows that there is already a stark gender pay gap when it comes to attracting investors, with minority women in particular missing out – and Covid seems set to make matters worse. Worrying new data suggests that venture capital funding for female-led startups hit its lowest amount since 2017 last quarter, and the 2020 Women in the Workplace report suggests that 1 in 4 women are now considering downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce due to pressures caused by the pandemic.

Yet in the face of adversity, women are also showing tremendous resilience. Our own Making it Work research at AllBright suggests that 79% of women in the US have a renewed sense of perspective since the pandemic began, the highest of any country surveyed, and that many have been inspired to start their own business. Those that we surveyed reported being motivated by a sense of pride in creating and owning something, as well as being their own boss and having more autonomy.

With women now attracting the lowest percentage of funding for the last three years, it’s never been more important to give them the platform they need to secure investment and connections to grow their businesses. Last week, we hosted our first ever Female Founder Pitch Day in Silicon Valley, building on the global series we have been running from LA and London over the last few years. We were blown away by the amazing pitches delivered by inspiring female entrepreneurs including Elanza Wellness, Acton, Citygro and TAGit, each showcasing their potential to our audience of investors.

In partnership with HSBC we are incredibly excited to bring our Pitch Day to New York on 23 October, offering more ambitious female founders the chance to pitch to our audience of investors. With the funding landscape for female founders at a pivotal point, it is our responsibility to ensure that founders with great business ideas can access the funding they need to scale. If we don’t act, the funding landscape will only become more inaccessible - we all have a part to play to ensure that female founders everywhere are supported and empowered to continue building businesses.

Join us at FoundHer New York starting Monday 19 Oct by signing up for free here: https://www.allbrightcollective.com/foundher-nyc/