Alt funding options & other female founder news (Mar 2022)
This series showcases some of the best news for female founders.
Skim the news below to learn about the latest news, funding, opportunities and thought leadership for female founders.
How Birchal became the dominant retail equity funding platform. “Equity crowdfunding platform Birchal has cemented its position as the dominant platform for retail investors in Australia, surpassing $100 million in capital raised for Aussie businesses in only four years…..The 59 businesses [including Bubble Tea Club (Atto 2020)] that raised via Birchal had a combined pre-money valuation of more than $800 million.” Read more from Yolanda Redrup in the AFR.
Serena Williams raises $111 million for new venture fund. “Ms. Williams, who holds 23 Grand Slam tennis titles, was inspired by a talk between Caryn Seidman Becker, the chief executive of the security company Clear, and Jamie Dimon, the head of JPMorgan Chase. Onstage at an event, Ms. Seidman-Becker said less than 2 percent of venture money went to women. “I go up to her afterward and asked, ‘Tell me about this 2 percent — I know maybe you misspoke,’” Ms. Williams recounted. “And she says, ‘No, it’s true.’ And I literally couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that 98 percent of all of this money we’re talking about — billions of dollars — goes to one type of individual.” Read more in the New York Times.
MobiBodi partners with Puma to create range of leak-proof period underwear and activewear, to help women stay in sport. The new range launches in May 2022. “The idea was born when studies revealed that girls’ participation in sport drops from 69 percent to 45 percent between the ages of 11 and 15. Some of this dropoff is due to fear of leaking when menstruating.” Read more from Liv Croagh in Marketing Mag. Read more from ModiBodi.
At the Atto Accelerator 2021 Demo Day, founder and CEO Kristy Chong shared how she grew ModiBodi into a global brand. Watch Kristy Chong here.
Your Juno raises £1.6M to close financial gender gap. “The London-based startup, which aims to empower women and non-binary people through financial education, was founded by sisters Alexia and Margot de Broglie in 2020…..“We’ve moved quickly since the inception of Your Juno amid the pandemic, testament to the appetite for a financial education platform built by and for women and non-binary people,” said Alexia de Broglie.” Read more in EU Startups. Read more in Mirage News.
The startup funding gap for women is getting wider. Why? And what can we do? “Equity crowdfunding, for example, has seen women-led startups attract backing from others who believe in their ideas. Community groups like SheEO and revenue share-based angel group Shebacks.me offer alternative ways for women to back women, without having to commit the high sums usually required for angel investment. Others, like the One Roof community and the Atto Accelerator, are focused on ‘indie’ growth, shirking outside funding altogether.” Read more from Stephanie Palmer-Derrien in Smart Company.
Why VC funding for women has been dismal and what we can do about it. “Our hypothesis about the root cause was that access to VCs is the issue, not supply of talented women founders – it surely couldn’t be the case that across all founders in Australia, less than 15% were women. We suspected there were more women founders out there but they simply lacked connections into VC.” Read more from Square Peg.
A new platform & fund for gutsy, innovative female entrepreneurs. “As IWD fades away for another year, it is my hope the gutsy, risk-taking and clever women that make a significant part of Australia’s rapidly growing tech and innovation sector are celebrated more frequently and with more fanfare. It’s time they too receive the accolades they so readily deserve.” Read more from Susan Oliver AM in Women’s Agenda.