If women and men participated equally as entrepreneurs, global GDP could see a boost of up to US$5 TRILLION (Source: BCG).
While the gap is starting to narrow, the truths are this:
1.There are relatively less women starting entrepreneurial ventures
2.Women-led start-ups receive on average LESS THAN HALF the funding received by male peers
3.Which leads to women-led start-ups being less likely to survive
4.HOWEVER, those that do survive are highly successful generating on average 10% more revenue over time
givvable was founded by two sisters. We participated in UNSW’s Flagship 10X Accelerator, and we’re currently participating in The Impact Accelerator sponsored by Mirvac and INCO - both of which comprise strong cohorts of female founders with a broad and interesting mix of experience and backgrounds.
Women-led founders are a determined and quietly fierce group, intent on helping each other build connections, share learnings and lift one another up through the lows and higher through the highs. Even so, at the end of the day gender isn't at front of mind in the daily hustle - we see ourselves simply as start-up founders.
But we still can’t avoid the fact that more needs to be done to help women-led start-ups survive and thrive - because a US$5 TRILLION boost to GDP benefits everyone. So what can governments and the private sector do?
1.The imbalance in financial support must be addressed. LESS THAN HALF the funding is a long way off the mark. Investors need to track the ownership characteristics of their investment portfolios by number and value and actively address the shortcomings. Research is showing this will generate greater returns over time.
2.Open up access to your networks. If a female-founder comes knocking at your door, let her in, hear her out, see how you can help. Your insights, experience and connections might just be what she needs to test her product, refine her marketing strategy, raise some funding or close her next sale.
givvable has a strong mission: to help businesses find and track the impact of their sustainable and social spending. And women-led businesses are one of the Diversity & Inclusion categories on our platform. Our goal is to the build the capacity of these typically small-to-medium size enterprises so they can scale and grow and become viable, long term partners to your organisation - this way, you can have IMPACT every time you spend.
Are you or do you know a women-led business? Tell us more here!
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