IWD2022 #BreakTheBias

AwakenHub’s call to action on International Women’s Day (IWD): Equality in funding for women owned businesses

IWD first emerged from the activities of labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and across Europe. Since those early years, IWD has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike.

AwakenHub, as a women owned company, celebrates those that have paved the way, women who supported the future, changing the landscape for all and created more space for women to grow and thrive.

Some of our heroes include!

• Marie Curie (1867–1934) was a physicist and scientist who discovered radium and was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize. 

• Ada Lovelace (1815–1852) was a mathematician who was also the first computer programmer. 

• Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906) fought for women’s rights and was a key player in the suffragette movement to get the vote for women.

It is often asked why we still celebrate International Women’s Day? 

Sadly, because there is still an urgent need for the day. The original aim – to achieve full gender equality for women across the world – has not been realised. 

There is still a gender pay gap, we don’t have or see enough female leaders and there is a great imbalance in the funding available to women owned businesses. Some speculate that the pandemic made investors more wary of risks and more likely to stick to their existing networks — which is very much a “boys’ club” and tougher for women to break into, whether as investors or women seeking investment.

The hard facts:

• Only 25% of pitch decks received by VCs include one or more women founders

• Only 17% of investments went to start-ups with one or more women founders

• In 2019, 2.8% of funding went to women-owned start-ups across the world; in 2020, that fell to 2.3%

• Only 12% of decision makers at VC firms are women, and most firms still don’t have a single female partner

When women-owned start-ups get funded, they’re more likely to be successful. They ultimately deliver higher revenue, more than twice as much per euro/pound invested. One possible reason is that the heavier pushback by investors may mean that these businesses must have especially strong business plans. Also, that process can help build resilience and adaptability, two crucial business skills for entrepreneurs.

But it isn’t just ROI that makes women-owned businesses an important benefit for the economy. These businesses hire more women as well. Companies with a female founder and a female executive hire six times more women. This is needed more than ever. Women have been dropping out of the workplace in droves since the pandemic began. It is also widely reported that women-owned businesses are often impact led, more likely to be focused on making a social contribution and more intent on building good relationships with employees.

The solution is not for investors to suddenly start supporting start-ups simply because they’re founded by women. It’s to weed out the bias, institutional patterns and thinking that prevents investors from recognising the great potential of ideas presented to them.

Bias against women are apparent in questions that investors ask entrepreneurs, with females far more likely to be quizzed about personal circumstances and their credibility as business people. Women are often asked questions that men would simply never ask another man. Potential investors also focus more on the potential risks in a woman owned business than they do with male entrepreneurs.

AwakenHub believes real progress will happen when investors re-evaluate and update the pitching and investing process. We must work towards neutralising and eventually eradicating invisible biases across the investment community. Once this happens, women owned businesses will get more opportunities, the community as a whole will be more balanced resulting in bigger opportunities and greater opportunity for success.

Our mission at AwakenHub is to level up opportunity, access, and connectivity for women owned businesses throughout the Island of Ireland by removing barriers to investment, scale and success is very much aligned to this year’s theme for International Women’s Day #BreakTheBias. We all need to play our part. 

How are we going to do this? 

By establishing a women led investor community supporting women founded startups across Ireland, AwakenAngels, www.awakenangelsfund.com. Sign up today!

It will level-up, lift-up and celebrate women from all sectors, backgrounds and communities.  Our hope is it will help bridge some of the existing support gaps and widen the funnel for women founders to access additional investment & opportunities to build sustainable and scalable businesses.

We imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women's equality. 

Collectively we can all #BreakTheBias ….and we need to play our part.

Any queries please email hello@awakenhub.com

Team AwakenHub (thanks to Denise McQuaid, AwakenHub friend and Advisor for putting this article together)

Co-founders, Mary McKenna, Sinead Crowley, Mary Carty, Clare McGee