Daniel Fetner’s Post

Did you know that in 2022, Black and Latina women founders only received a mere 0.1% of venture capital funding? But why is that? Picture this: you're in the early stages of building your dream company. You're pitching passionately to a room full of investors. But who are these investors? Mostly white males. And unfortunately, they tend to invest in people who resemble themselves or who they feel most comfortable with. This inherent bias can significantly hinder women and minorities. Miriam Rivera, the Co-founder and Managing Director of Ulu Ventures, articulated this point perfectly in a recent piece by Pivotal Ventures. She explained that when investors rely on intuition or shared assumptions rather than solid evidence, it's often women and minorities who lose out. But here's the exciting part: at Ulu Ventures, they're changing the game. Instead of taking shortcuts, they prioritize data and evidence in their decision-making process. And the evidence speaks for itself—there are countless women and minority founders with groundbreaking ideas poised to change the world. While we love celebrating progress, we acknowledge there's still work to be done. That's why we're thrilled to launch our deep dive angel investing course. We firmly believe that by increasing the number of women investors, we can create more opportunities for diverse founders to thrive. Are you ready to join us on this journey? Explore our angel investing course starting later this week. Click here to learn more: https://lnkd.in/e4beGGZS #angelinvesting #womeninvesting #womenfinances

"The Road Less Funded" - Discover the untold story of Tonya Turrell, CEO of The Launchpad, and the often overlooked world of female founders. Despite female-led businesses being more profitable, they capture only 2% of venture capital. With 25+ years in B2B and leading her tech marketplace, technologymatch.com, to immense growth, Tonya is a testament to women's strength and success in tech. Yet, the journey is riddled with funding disparities. It’s time to bridge this gap and unlock immense economic potential. Read more about Tonya's journey and why investing in female founders isn't just right, it's smart. #FemaleFounders #Innovation #InvestInWomen

Last Friday, we attended the Lifted Ventures #nomoretalking event in Manchester. Why the hashtag nomoretalking? Because for the last few years, less than 2% of venture capital funding has gone to women founded businesses - and shockingly, just 0.14% went to black women founders. Despite these statistics making headlines FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS, change is slooow 😵🪦 Well, Jordan Dargue and Helen Oldham of Lifted Ventures have had enough of the talk and are taking on the challenge to educate more angel investors on the benefits of investing in women led businesses 👏 If you'd like to know more about the movement, visit https://lnkd.in/eNWs2nyY #investinwomen #angelinvesting #womenownedbusinesses

Earlier this week I saw Show Her The Money movie that highlights the big issue of how women get less than 2% of venture capital funding for their businesses. The movie shows the stories of women VCs and founders on their journeys -and how important it is to have access to capital for women and other underrepresented founders. While it showcased startups with primarily retail "traditionally female" products, this is an issue across all sectors - and especially in historically male-dominated fields like financial technology, AI, software, etc. Men and women who invest capital (LPs, VCs, Investment Firms, Asset Managers, etc.) in diverse founders can transform the future of who and how we are building innovative companies and products - and this benefits all of us. Thanks to Wendy Heilbut and her law firm who sponsored this intimate gathering and event to highlight this important conversation. #accesstocapital #diversefounders #femaleinvestors #VCs #innovation #inclusion #minorityowned #smallbusiness #womenentrepreneurs https://lnkd.in/eGw4r4nb

Thrilled to announce that SV is featured on the Business Insider Seed 40 for the second year running! This list highlights the top 40 female investors in early stage venture capital. Our managing partner Serena Williams explains how we set our companies up for success: "I believe that investing doesn't begin or end with capital. At Serena Ventures, we offer comprehensive support to our founders, like executive coaching, marketing, and branding support to name a few. So founders can simultaneously scale with their company.” Click the link below to learn more & check out the other incredible women also featured this year! https://lnkd.in/ddrM8UQu

To all the women who are pushing for change in the tech ecosystem, thanks for showing us all how to fight against adversity. To all the female founders who have found it difficult to raise capital in the tech ecosystem, don't give up hope. To all the women who are thinking about becoming an investor, become an investor. To all the female founders that have raised capital in the tech ecosystem, tell all your friends how you achieved it and help them fund their venture too. To all the female founders who are yet to launch a startup, don't be deterred by how difficult it can become, believe in your product or service even if the tech ecosystem doesn't understand it. At SimpleInsight we are here to support female founders build robust businesses and scale. We believe it is time for the ecosystem to become a more diverse place and we support all the women who are driving this change. #femalefounders #femaleVCs #femaleinvestors #InternationalWomensDay #underrepresentedfounder #underestimatedfounder

Last year was my first year at Embarc Collective's Glaring Gap Summit so I'm sharing a personal note about the impact this incredible summit had on my approach to angel investing. And quite frankly, I don't speak about angel investing publicly. No specific reason why and I realize that I should so that more women who are newly accredited investors can get comfortable - share notes - and be confident in their journeys to getting on cap tables. -> Intimate 50-seat setting with a top line-up of VCs from NYC to SF, many of whom I know, will break down how they attract, invest, and diligence companies. Their formula has templates. You can walk away and do it solo. I've never seen this done before in such a transparent way and rather than spend thousands of dollars on a course, you have it all laid out in a 3-day immersive workshop. -> The foundations of startup investing can feel complicated. I've learned working with startups and VCs that it's an ongoing education and the more you do the more you learn. This really is an immersive experience because you're diligencing companies in various scenarios. Quite frankly, most angels and accredited investors I know, still don't understand how to diligence the startups they are writing early-stage checks for. The most common thing I hear is "I know XYZ person wrote a check, so I'm writing one too." Wild but true. -> Heavy emphasis on community and network. If you live in the state of Florida, this is the room you need to be in. Period. -> Despite a wildly challenging year for the entire industry, I still felt confident and it was based on this experience. I wrote my third angel check into an amazing female co-founded company and couldn't be more excited to write more. https://lnkd.in/eQAFqUpU

As leaders, we need to interrogate what's really happening when it comes to giving equal access to women in business. According to data from PitchBook, the venture capital gender gap persists. In 2023, companies founded solely by women received just 2.1% of total venture capital invested in US startups. Sure, overall venture funding has surged, but the divide remains stark for female founders. As investors, it's crucial to acknowledge that more work needs to be done to level the playing field and support women entrepreneurs in accessing capital to grow their businesses. Otherwise, we'll just be treading water.

Wondering what it's like being a female startup founder? ABA - INVEST in AUSTRIA visited Proofcheck a couple weeks back to discuss this very topic! Check out the video below for my thoughts on confidence, resilience, and not second-guessing yourself as a woman leader in tech. ♀ 😎 🚀