Closing the gender funding gap

As we approach International Women’s Day, I keep thinking about the disheartening statistics on the extremely low proportion of funding going to women-founded startups in Australia. These stats aren’t improving - they are actually getting worse, despite all the good intentions out there. According to SBE Australia, only 0.7% of funding went to women-only founding teams in FY22. Despite deal participation of women founders increasing, Cut Through Venture and Folklore Ventures found that the share of total capital that went to women founders fell to the lowest level seen in years.

I am a fan of Lacey Filipich’s suggestion that VCs should be required to report on two numbers as a starting point:

         1. Percentage of deal flow: the number of women-founded startups pitching per year versus
            total number of pitches seen.
         2. Percentage of capital invested: how much money went to women-founded startups per year
             versus total capital invested.

Could we make this happen Ed Husic MP? This would be a big step forward, leading to greater transparency, more accountability and tangible action.

To be clear, this isn't some form of charity - women-led businesses generate 12% higher revenues annually, using an average of a third less capital than their male counterparts, and if women and men participated equally as entrepreneurs, global GDP could rise by up to 6%, boosting the global economy by $5 trillion - so it seems like a no brainer.

We can start by reporting our stats at Giant Leap:

         1. Percentage of deal flow from women-founded startups:
         FY22: 23.07%, FY23 YTD: 26.26%

         2. Percentage of capital invested in women-founded startups:
         FY22: 31.11%, FY23 YTD: 85.78%

We believe that transparency and setting targets can be a catalyst for change so we released our DEI policy last year to be clear about our commitments and to help others along their journey in supporting more diverse founders.

In the coming years, we hope to see more and more capital invested in all the amazing, diverse founders out there starting incredible businesses that are changing the world.‍

Links: 

SBE Deloitte report: https://lnkd.in/eX49fHgV

‍2022 State of Australian Startup Funding: https://lnkd.in/gcQDrTps‍

‍Lacey Filipich's article: https://lnkd.in/eKsWB2Sf

‍Why women-owned startups are a better bet: https://lnkd.in/gjsKj2n2

‍Want to Boost the Global Economy by $5 Trillion? Support Women as Entrepreneurs: https://lnkd.in/giRRdnnc

‍Giant Leap's DEI policy: https://lnkd.in/e4P7wd3k

This piece was originally published by Rachel Yang on LinkedIn.