At a time when women are supposed to hit the bull’s eye and enter clubs that are meant for billionaires, they are subject to discrimination because of their gender.
According to a report by Telegraph, men entrepreneurs get 157 times more funding than women entrepreneurs. This means that only 3% of the investors and venture capitalists invest in women-owned businesses.
The figures got further manipulated since the onset of the pandemic, which had a disproportionate impact on women’s careers, making their jobs 1.8 times more vulnerable than a man’s.
Women to fund women entrepreneurs now look like the only viable option to accelerate recognizing women's abilities in this male-dominated world. We can now see many females navigating their way up the corporate ladder to become successful women entrepreneurs.
What would the world look like if women did not support women?
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Women to Fund Women Entrepreneurs: Dynamics are Changing
Some people believe that the pandemic has made investors cautious about the risks, and they are more likely to consider sticking to the networks that are already existing. This indeed is very much a “boys club” mentality making it even more challenging to acquire women’s business funds.
Women to Fund Women EntrepreneursThere is no doubt that the persisting problem of gender inequality is one of the main reasons women entrepreneurs do not get funded, which got further proven after the events of the past year put a spotlight on them. This is leading to further problems ruining the job opportunities for women exponentially.
Women are represented as “desolate” in entrepreneurship because of the slew of social beliefs ranging from early marriage to lack of access to good education, making it hard for women entrepreneurs to crack open the glass ceiling built by the males.
The good news is that women investors are now proactively considering this inequality as an important factor in their thesis that has to do with investing in businesses led by women. The chances of a woman investor investing in a business owned by women entrepreneurs are two times more than a business that men run. As true as it holds, a startup that a woman entrepreneur leads is more likely to be successful if they get funded.
Women investors are now unlocking significant social and financial values by funding women entrepreneurs.
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Women investors are not inclined toward supporting startups just because they happen to be founded by “women”. They do so because their main intention is to weed out the typical institutionalized patterns and recognize women for their abilities and not because of their gender.
More women are now coming forward to fund women entrepreneurs because they see women’s operational efficiency, thus providing larger market opportunities to them. Women investors and venture capitalists are now able to make decisions and invest in diverse startups that women run. This number is steadily rising, and it is in the right direction.
This support is coming through globally. Women are putting their money where their mouths are, and women investors have a dedicated amount of capital meant particularly for women entrepreneurs only. Once people stop designing special allocations for women, the downstream and upstream of the society will naturally get solved.
Why are Women Investors Investing in Women-Led Startups More?
Business should never be gendered, but since the world is still turning a blind eye toward- women, we are still having this discussion in 2022.
1. Women are capable of creating businesses that solve problems
Women have a better understanding of the problems that exist in our society today. Their main intention is to address real issues that they have themselves experienced or fallen prey to rather than coming up with an idea just because it is feasible or the technology is allowing them to do so.
Women entrepreneurs do not limit themselves to solving problems only. Rather, they put in an effort to ensure that the solution they are coming up with is streamlined and cost-effective, making them both time and resource-efficient.
2. Women entrepreneurs bring ample and diverse experiences
The pre-existing societal norms already make it definite for the women to prepare themselves for the challenges they will get slammed with. Women know for a fact that getting their startups funded is no piece of cake. Despite the roadblocks, they show signs of determination to scale their companies. This allows them to get the hang of being capital efficient right from the beginning, thus making investing in them a safer bet.
Also read: Encouragement of Women Entrepreneurship
3. Women entrepreneurs encourage creating diverse and collaborative company cultures
Women founders and entrepreneurs can foster diverse work cultures in their respective office spaces, thus making their companies collaborative, consultative, and inclusive.
Women empowerment is now going big with women helping women. Women entrepreneurs are now beginning to convince society that nothing could deter them from their fiery steak.
Yes, women indeed need to put in double efforts to get society to recognize their abilities and superiority. Women investors only act like angels to help these entrepreneurs realize their dreams. A woman investor’s job does not just end with funding; and they are also working towards building their relationships with their female colleagues to ensure greater success for their startups. They are not just investing their money, and they are also investing their faith in them.
Women investors are the only solution to the dramatic change the world needs to witness. Only then can women entrepreneurs successfully dispel people’s doubts about them. With women investors expanding their network and adopting measures to reduce gender bias, a lot still needs to be done.
Strengthening diversity and tailoring instruments according to the needs of women-led businesses are being worked upon. The tides are slowly turning in favor of women.
It is a long process, but with women supporting each other, they can overcome the shackles of inequality together and make the world a better place for them to live in where they are not looked down upon as undeserving or incompetent.
Women build women. Is funding women entrepreneurs the only option?
What is your take on this?
Also read: Female Entrepreneurs' Success Secrets
