🗒️ Female VCs face major disadvantage: the reality of gender washing in venture capital
Cybernews: Exploring the harsh reality of 'gender washing' in the venture capital industry. We unveil how systemic biases and superficial diversity claims continue to perpetuate a significant funding and power disparity for female VCs and entrepreneurs, underscoring the urgent need for genuine inclusivity and equitable practices.
Traditionally a cornerstone of innovation and business growth, venture capital is increasingly being scrutinized for its skewed gender dynamics. According to a new report, a striking financial divide has emerged in the UK: from 2017 to 2023, all-male-owned venture capital (VC) funds raised 10.3 times more capital than their all-female counterparts and nearly five times more than mixed-gender-owned funds.
Digging deeper into the statistics reveals a more nuanced picture. Despite women VCs being twice as likely to invest in female founders, these startups receive only a fraction of total funding. In the UK, a mere 23 women hold a significant ownership stake in VC firms, a stark contrast to their male colleagues.
Looking beyond the UK, the trend continues. A study by RateMyInvestor and DiversityVC once again reveals that only 9% of founders of VC-backed startups in the US are women. This vast disparity highlights a systemic issue deeply ingrained in the venture capital industry.
🗒️ Deep tech startups must use these 4 techniques when fundraising
Techcrunch: In 2023, global investments are grappling with a substantial 15% downturn, as reported by Crunchbase, creating a challenging backdrop for early-stage startups. The uphill battle is naturally even more severe for deep tech startups developing novel, innovative solutions for upcoming markets.
Logically, their endeavors demand significant investment, and the accompanying risk further complicates the funding equation. According to Dealroom, funding of such companies from Europe saw a notable increase in 2021, likely spurred by a sudden surge in interest in AI. However, they subsequently experienced a significant decline in 2022, and this downward trend continues into 2023.
🗒️ Preqin, a Data and Insights Firm Focused on Alternatives, Releases Fundraising for First-Time Managers Report
Crowdfund Insider: Preqin, the global firm empowering the alternatives community with essential data and insight, published its Fundraising for first-time managers: A guide to raising capital report.
There are 3,421 private capital first-time funds in the market globally “as of the end of Q3 2023, representing almost a quarter (24%) of the total 14,461 funds.”
However, the lower average target size of first-time managers “means the $450bn they are seeking to raise makes up only 13% of the $3.36tn total” according to Preqin data.
By the end of Q3 2023, 269 first-time funds “closed, or 17% of the overall total of closed funds. But the $38.8bn raised by these first-time funds was only 5% of the total capital raised during the same period.”
🗒️ 4 Ways to Bring Your Team Back From the Brink of Innovation Extinction
Entrepreneur: Entrepreneurs often assume that the biggest barrier to developing great ideas is a shortage of time or resources — but that's not true. It's the lack of playfulness in their innovation processes.
According to recent reporting by Fundera, more than 70% of business owners work more than 40 hours per week, and almost 20% work more than 60 hours per week. Yet, they still lack creative solutions to their problems. As someone who spent years as the head of innovation and creativity at Disney, I can tell you exactly why: They're not leveraging the natural way the brain comes up with "Eureka!" moments.
Let me put this a different way. When do you get your best, brightest, most out-of-the-box ideas? While you're in the shower, walking your dog, working out, commuting, falling asleep or waking up? Then you're like most humans on the planet. But I can guarantee you didn't say, "While I'm at work, of course."
Top 3 book summaries this week 📚
Sales Growth by McKinsey
A team of global leaders from McKinsey’s Sales & Marketing practice led comprehensive research and interviews with more than 120 of today’s most successful sales leaders across a wide range of industries. The results led to Sales Growth, one of the first comprehensive books on the discipline of sales management.
Permission Marketing by Seth Godin
In 1999, Seth Godin estimated that the average consumer sees about one million marketing messages a year. Today that number is likely to have doubled. How do you get your customers to pay attention to yours? By making information about your favourite product – in effect the advertisements – anticipated, personal and relevant, the vendor has captured your attention and you are willing to devote your scarce resources to it.
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Rui
Thousands of years ago, the Toltec were known throughout southern Mexico as people of knowledge and Ruiz believes if we follow their advice we can attain "personal freedom". Here's how...
