Zarir (Zed) Vakil’s Post

In these off-the-record interviews from around the world, 25 women founders give their best tips to other women entrepreneurs, particularly when it comes to challenges like fundraising PwC https://pwc.to/3NAfx7Y #womenintech #womeninleadership #womeninSTEM

🚀 Progress Made: European female founders have made strides, raising over 10x the funds compared to a decade ago. 📉 Funding Gap: Despite this, they received less than 25% of total European VC deal value in 2023. 👩💼 VC Decision-Makers: Only 15.2% of decision-makers at larger VC firms are women, impacting investment in female-led startups. 💡 Solution: Increasing female VC representation could boost support and funding for female entrepreneurs. 🌍 Economic Impact: Addressing this gender gap could add an estimated £250 billion to the UK economy. Let’s champion for more #DiversityInVC and #FemaleFounders! 💪🌟

Today, I had the opportunity to watch the ChangeNOW panel on "Mobilizing Kickass Investors for Women Entrepreneurs," led by ⚡Anne Ravanona of Global Invest Her. It was empowering to hear about the trillions of investment the panel aspires to mobilize for female-led companies and funds and, of course, their commitment to measure it. "When you start counting, you know what you want to change." ~ Marijn Wiersma, 2X Global According to pitchbook, in 2023, "Women Founders Raised [$34.4B,] 23% of All US VC Money in 2023," a record-high despite an overall slowdown in VC funding activity. This kind of growth comes, at least in part, from the kind of leadership demonstrated at ChangeNow, including Anne, Marijn Wiersma, Stephane Bourbier Founder & Managing partner Asterion Ventures, and Helena Wasserman, CEO & Founder Unstoppable.    Fundraising is never easy, but I look forward to the day when we all feel a comparable degree of difficulty. Thank you for creating space for the conversation and handing the mic to a few of the leaders ChangeNOW. Watch the full session here: https://lnkd.in/e_Tc8iZV Pitchbook report: https://lnkd.in/equEPh8R . . #womenentrepreneurs #investing #leadership #genderequality

Women-led startups raised just 2.8% of all venture capital funding, despite evidence that they outperform male-led startups (source: World Economic Forum). On 10 September, PwC UK will be talking about this critical issue during a LinkedIn Live session featuring a panel of experienced women investors. They’ll be discussing the unique challenges women founders face and you'll gain strategies to overcome them.  #WomenFounders #Investing

💃 Happy International Women's Day. Let's celebrate female entrepreneurs and advocates, who help to make the societal changes necessary to unleash the power of female entrepreneurship! 🚀 Let's inspire inclusion by celebrating the achievements and impact of women on today's International Women's Day (IWD). 💪 Let's close the GAP, as women remain largely underrepresented in entrepreneurship ecosystem with only 15.5% of startups having female co-/founders. --> Systemic change is therefore necessary to empower female entrepreneurs! 💰 In 2023, startups founded (or co-founded) by women in Europe raised €5.9B in venture capital. This represents 9.6% of all venture capital raised. The share has doubled in the last decade. But it's also stalled at around 10% since 2017 (data: Dealroom.co) 🇨🇭 In Switzland, 37 women-led businesses managed to raise a total of CHF 175 million in 2023, the highest amount ever raised by women-led startups since 2012. Despite the increase, the percentage of women receiving capital has remained below 10%. (data: Startupticker.ch) 🤩 So let's celebrate together, inspire each other, create awareness & visibility and empowher our local female entrepreuneurs! #IWD2024 #InspireInclusion #femalefounders #FemaleEntrepreneurs #Basel #EmpowHERment #letsclosethegaps

As we celebrate another International Women's Day, here's my reflection on the last 10 years that I have spent investing in female founders in the MENA region, and globally. Here are my lessons from the last decade of backing women entrepreneurs around the world. I tried to narrow it down to 10, but couldn't—so here are 12 thoughts! https://lnkd.in/e_xQu6dc

📊 Did you know?...In 2023, women-led startups raised just 2.8% of all venture capital funding, despite evidence that they outperform male-led startups (source: World Economic Forum). PwC UK discussed this critical issue during a LinkedIn Live session earlier, featuring a panel of experienced women investors. They covered the unique challenges women founders face, and shared strategies to overcome them. Click below to find out more. #WomenFounders #Investing

As we celebrate International Women's Day, I'm honoured to see OneTech's mission to empower female founders highlighted in City AM. The statistics are staggering – in 2023, only 3.5% of equity funding went to women-led businesses. This is unacceptable and represents a massive missed opportunity. The traditional venture capital pathway is riddled with systemic biases that make it extremely difficult for women to secure funding and scale their startups. We cannot accept this as the status quo. To unleash women entrepreneurs' full innovative and economic potential, we need a shift towards alternative fundraising models beyond the VC path. “Governments, investors and corporate leaders must get behind initiatives that empower female founders to gain access to a wide array of funding opportunities that help them achieve their goals, whether that’s bootstrapping, crowdfunding, angel investment and grants. It’s more important than ever to level out the playing field for female founders.” Read what feminism means to other women this International Women’s Day via the link in the comments below.

It's Women's History Month! Advantary Capital Partners would like to extend our gratitude to all of the remarkable women in the dynamic world of Advantary and Venture Capital. Here are a few of our favorite articles highlighting some of the ways women are making an impact. The Illusion of Venture Capital For Female Founders  https://lnkd.in/dQ3BXENT Entrepreneurship-Unpacking the Landscape of Women-Led Startups  https://lnkd.in/gKw2-Msc Breaking Barriers: A History of Women in Finance   https://lnkd.in/de6KU--i How Female Founders and Investors are Shaking Up Venture Capital https://lnkd.in/e8A_xm4

Meet Staci LaToison: Empowering Women in Business and Investing! Discover how Staci is breaking barriers and making strides in the world of finance and entrepreneurship. As the founder of Dream Big Ventures LLC, she is dedicated to supporting career-driven women through professional development, community engagement, and investment opportunities. Learn more about her inspiring journey and her mission to uplift women in business. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gCmkUC_x #angelesmembers #WomenInBusiness