Seed Capital Denmark’s Post

Thank you, Evgenia Plotnikova, for your empowering and crucial message 👏 The narrative that we're short on female partners in the European venture capital landscape is certainly not due to a shortage of capable and ready talent. On the contrary, the pool of exceptionally talented women ready to step up / already killing it is abundant and robust (just to quote a few: Melina Sánchez Montañés, Pauline Roux, Sophie Winwood, Namratha Kothapalli, Sabine VanderLinden, Roxanne VARZA and the list goes on...) Evidence from numerous studies consistently supports the idea that diversity within management teams doesn't just boost creativity and innovation but also leads to better financial outcomes. These benefits stem not only from gender diversity but also from the richness of varied work experiences and perspectives that women bring to the table 💥 It's particularly disheartening, on the cusp of International Women's Day, to hear opinions that reduce a female hire to a cost. Women are not a 'tax' on resources; they are invaluable assets to any organization. But it also shows how important it is to acknowledge and celebrate the critical roles that women play in the European tech scene, as investors, founders, operators, and advisors 🌟 As an junior female investor in the European VC industry, I am incredibly inspired by the multitude of female role models available to me. Additionally, I am thankful to be part of a nurturing team that dedicates time to mentor me and fosters my growth, kopa ventures (formerly Wi Venture) 🌍 #allies #femaleinvestors #equalityforall #womenday #empoweringwomen

Discussing scaling strategy for startups with an exceptional group of women this week has given me a bit to ponder this weekend. It seems obvious but execution is key and without effective planning will likely fall flat. It’s easy to keep working away in the weeds when you are growing a business but so important to take regular time for strategic focus - easier said than done a lot of the time. Thanks to Dr Lili Sussman, Nicole Cook and SBE Advisory for an effective workshop. How much time / how many times a year do you allocate to strategic planning?

Major takeaways: Despite female-led companies outperforming make-led companies, they still receive only a fraction of the funding, and it’s especially bad in women’s healthcare. More women are entering the VC world, and that should help. I’m excited about the new “Women in Investing” Alamo Angels initiative. We can make a difference!

Concrete boots for female founders. Thank you 🍇 Kirstin Hunter and Rachael Neumann for shining the light on the numbers and tracking the results. I’ve been well aware that the odds are stacked against me as a sole female founder - data showing only 5% of VC investor funding flows that way. Not only that, it usually means smaller cheque sizes too. I’ve witnessed it in action with my peers from the time it takes to close and the amount of funding on the table. In the words of Alexander Hamilton - “rise up”! Hunter challenges the Australian VC community to rise to the 27% task, a benchmark Techstars far exceeds. “Unless you believe that men are better entrepreneurs than women (despite the data saying otherwise) if a fund has less than 27% of women founders (i.e. not just businesses with at least one woman founder) in their portfolio, they are suffering from bias in their investment decisions. That bias will likely come at a cost to their Limited Partners in future returns.” I’m very proud to have this formidable leader Kirstin on my Advisory Board along with a fantastic group of investors backing me… more to come on that soon. Let’s do this!

This article by Ali Donaldson reminded me of a session I attended at 1871 for International Women's Day. Session 1 for Founders focused on "The truth about funding for women" - where FARE founder Kasia Bednarz Bednarz who spoke about creative funding techniques and surviving through covid. Tricia Martínez-Saab and Lindsay Knight opened up about venture funding, and how relationships matter most. Though the session I attended was uplifting, actually finding creative funding sources can be time consuming, experimental and not always hit the mark. Female founders have more work to do rhan they already did. 👭🏽 Perhaps, finding community and resources like these shared, can drive positive impact? 🤝 Perhaps helping women founders build key relationships with funding sources willing to hear their stories? 💸 Perhaps driving understanding of customer behavior and trends for early stage founders, can help them achieve product market fit at an early stage? (shoutout Marketing and CS folks!) 🗣️Perhaps sharing these stories can as well- so here we are... https://lnkd.in/gkwTEPB8 What ideas do you have?

I hope nowadays, everyone, especially powerful men in tech, should be aware that it is not acceptable anymore to think of women as any less than them. It is highly disgraceful, and not speaking up means tolerating gender inequality in tech. The first step to tackle allocating only 1% of VC funding to women is to say something when something isn’t right. This is the 21st century and not a time when women cannot have a Harrods card for 30 years. A family friend who’s 70 was so surprised that I’m running my startup as, at her time, she wasn’t even allowed to have a Harrods card without her husband’s name. We have changed and done so much better since. But we can do better as a society and as an industry. Anyone who says this type of comment/ behaviour is acceptable is against making women equal. I urge you all to reflect and start making changes for a better tomorrow for all the women, your daughters, your cousins, and your friends.

Gratitude for the Spotlight on Our Mission to Empower Women Entrepreneurs! 🚀🌟 I'm thrilled to express my deep appreciation to TechCrunch and Rebecca Bellan for featuring our efforts to support women-founded ventures and our comprehensive 5-pillar strategy. 🙏 At F5 Collective, our mission is to drive generational change and create opportunities for women in the entrepreneurial world. Our strategy encompasses: 1. Direct Investments: We're committed to backing women-founded ventures, providing them with the capital they need to thrive. 2. Policy Advocacy: Through our policy work, we aim to break down systemic barriers that hinder female entrepreneurs' progress. 3. Mobilising Industry and Corporate Partners: Collaboration is key. We're working with industry and corporate partners to amplify our impact and drive gender diversity in the business landscape to provide much needed pilots, use cases and customers for women founders. 4. Enabling Future Investors: Empowering women to become angel investors is a critical step. We're dedicated to teaching and enabling women to enter the world of investing. 5. Philanthropic Endeavours: Our foundation supports philanthropic initiatives that create lasting change in communities and provide opportunities for women. We believe that diversity fuels innovation, and together, we're making strides toward a more equitable future. Thank you, TechCrunch, for helping us share our vision and mission with the world. Let's keep pushing boundaries and creating meaningful change! 🌍💪 #WomenFounders #Empowerment #InvestingInChange #DiversityAndInclusion #ThankYouTechCrunch Kelly Kimball, Divya Reddy, Levent Shevki, Marquesa Finch

🚀 Are you a visionary woman founder ready to scale your 7-figure business beyond 8-figures? Tune into the #WomenGetFunded Show to learn from the incredible Laura (Bordewieck) Rippy, a powerhouse in venture capital and advocate for women founders! Laura Rippy, managing partner at Alumni Ventures, brings a wealth of experience as a serial CEO, Chairman, Board Member, Advisor, and Executive in high-tech sectors. With an MBA from Harvard and an AB from Dartmouth, she’s dedicated to supporting female-led companies. Here’s what visionary women founders can glean from her wisdom and achievements: 🔹 **Unlocking Venture Capital Secrets**: Learn how Laura democratizes venture capital, making it accessible for accredited investors. Under her leadership, Alumni Ventures has raised over $1.25 billion and invested in 1,300+ companies since 2014. 🔹 **Shattering Glass Ceilings**: Discover how Laura’s career showcases her success in male-dominated sectors and her commitment to gender diversity. Her transition from a high-tech executive to venture capitalist underscores her versatility. 🔹 **Revolutionizing Female Entrepreneurship**: Explore how Laura’s leadership in the Women’s Fund supports female-led enterprises like Kindbody, Carry1st, Madison Reed, Synteny, and Nanopath, driving growth and innovation. 🔹 **Navigating High Stakes with Venture Capital**: Gain insights into securing venture funding during economic downturns. Laura provides crucial lessons for ambitious founders navigating the complex funding landscape. 🔹 **Creating a Culture of Trust and Growth**: Understand how building a trust-rich culture drives sustainable growth and high performance. Laura’s strategic market targeting helps companies hit the right segments and achieve their growth objectives. Laura’s leadership has led to Alumni Ventures being ranked among the Top 20 Venture Firms (CB Insights '24) and the #1 Most Active US Venture Firm (PitchBook '22 & '23). Her strategic investments have propelled companies like Kindbody to billion-dollar valuations. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from a true leader and #ForceForGood! 🎧 Listen now: https://loom.ly/t9753vM #WomenInBusiness #WomenEntrepreneurs #VentureCapital #Leadership #Innovation #HighGrowth #WomenFounders #ExponentialGrowth #StrategicInvesting #Empowerment

In the right direction.

Starting the week with big news! We are launching Feminvest Ventures - a first fund focused on female ownership! We see an opportunity to get great ROI by investing in women owned businesses. Sifted has featured our groundbreaking news on their platform. “Without equal rights to taking risk, women don’t have the same conditions as men.” One reason that makes it difficult to push for more investments in mixed or female-founded teams is the lack of data available to demonstrate that they return the same level of dividends to investors. The latest report by BCG, which Berglund says shows that women-led companies have double the returns than male-run companies, is from 2018. “We need more data on the ROI of women owned companies,” she says. Read the full article by Mimi Billing about what we aim to achieve: https://lnkd.in/dmu7h5xw 💡 Venture capital for women-owned businesses is nearly non-existent, and Sweden ranks low on the global charts. Feminvest CEO, Michaela Berglund, shares her perspective: "Without capital, women have limited opportunities to grow their companies to a larger scale. We aim to show the great business opportunity in investing in women to contribute to creating a more equal distribution of wealth and capital between women and men." Feminvest Ventures focuses on investing in companies owned by women. To invest in the fund, a minimum of 100,000 EUR is required. We want to take this moment and express our sincere gratitude to everyone involved for their invaluable contributions to make this possible: Michaela Berglund, Maria Hedengren, Eva Trouin, Oskar Arndt, Eva Engelbert, Raja Skogland, Klara Leander, David Wendel, Hannes Wideteg, Marianne Österlund, Pernilla Nissler, Elin Myrström, Rebecca Mboge Gustafsson, Saba Saad and Pia Ganeva. #feminvestventures #feminvest #investinginthefuture #financialequality #womeninbusiness #womenempowerment