Combating the stats: The 200 Billion Club launches to support female entrepreneurs

In the UK alone thestatisticsare dismal: 25% of pitch decks received by VCs include one or more women founders, 17% of investments went to startups with one or more women founders, and only 11% of investment value went to teams with one or more women founders.

Perhaps put more bluntly, commenting on the release of NGP Capital’s “The outsized role of gender in European venture funding”reportTech.eu founding editor Robin Wauterssummarised:“如果你的re a female startup founder, fat chance raising venture funding in Europe”.

And despite generating more than twice as much revenue per-dollar invested when compared to male-founded companies, female-founded companies continue to receive the lowest share of investment in the EU.

“Even if the UK were to achieve the same average share of women entrepreneurs as best-in-class peer countries, this would add £200 billion of new value to the UK economy.”

Based on the premiseput forthby Group Chief Executive Officer of NatWest Group Alison Rose,Amber Ghaddar博士andBridget Greenwoodare launchingThe 200 Billion Club帮助女性企业家浏览投球和筹款的过程。Focusing on Stage 1 (deal flow) and Stage 2 (pitch) aspects of the investment process, the initiative seeks to help female entrepreneurs achieve pitch perfection at the conclusion of its 12-week programme, where they’ll present to some 40+ VCs all ready, willing, and able to invest.

“Having gone through the process, I’ve discovered that most accelerators focus on networking and take equity, without any guarantee of investment. There’s no doubt networking is important, but without the money to get started or scale, it is meaningless,” commented Ghaddar. “This is why, with the help of our VCs and corporate partners, we are backing women to adapt, conquer and change existing paradigms within private equity financing."

For five hours a week, female entrepreneurs will receive coaching and feedback from 43 VCs, who represent a staggering £900 billion in assets under management, with legal, IP, and regulations courses and training provided by CMS Law, Mischon and others.

A unique feature of the programme, a weekly mock pitch process will garner commentary from mentors as to why they would not invest in a startup. This allows participants to quickly iterate on their pitches and business model, but also gives these 43 VCs a direct line to emerging talent.

Edel Coen, head of dealflow at熔融冒险总结说：“作为风险投资人，我们处于对我们所生活的世界产生真正影响的投资的特权立场。但是我相信我们可以做更多的事情来寻找和投资反映我们多元化社会的创始人。解决女性不足的事情。代表不仅具有商业意义，而且还将使下一代创始人能够在当今的技术领导者中看到自己。与2000亿个俱乐部合作可以帮助我们塑造新一代的女性领导者。”

Lead Photo:Dan Taylor