Why do we all benefit from female investors?
Men prefer to invest in men - even though women are demonstrably more successful at founding companies. There are far too few female business angels. With the "Female Startup Perspectives" project, Gründerinnen-Consult wants to finally bring more diversity into the startup ecosystem and kicked things off with a networking event for those interested in investing.
Hanover, November 17, 2022: Data shows that it pays to invest in female founding teams. They achieve better sales and are on average more successful than all-male teams: for every VC dollar invested in them, female founders generate 78 cents in sales, compared to just 31 cents for men - according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group. In addition, it is often not just economic success that plays a role for women, but also their commitment to a better future.
And yet female founders often miss out on investments because men prefer to back men. According to a study published this week by KfW Bankengruppe, only around 5% of venture capital deals in Germany in 2021 went to all-female founding teams, but a full 83% to all-male founding teams and a further 11% to mixed teams. Last year, 91 euro cents of every euro of venture capital went to all-male founding teams, 7 cents to mixed teams and just 2 cents to all-women-led start-ups.
So far, start-up teams have had a long search for female investors. The proportion of female partners in German venture capital (VC) firms is also only four percent, according to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Gründerinnen-Consult wants to change this with its "Female Startup Perspectives" project and finally bring more diversity to the startup ecosystem in Lower Saxony. Doris Petersen, Managing Director of hannoverimpuls , was clear in her welcome address at yesterday's kick-off networking event for those interested in investment: "If you want to make the startup ecosystem more diverse and fairer, you have to promote female investors. Because they are the key to helping female founders access more capital and increasing their numbers."
Claudia Simon , SME Commissioner and Head of Department at the Lower Saxony Ministry of Economic Affairs, Transport, Building and Digitalization , also emphasized at the reception that the state of Lower Saxony has start-ups, especially female entrepreneurship, at the top of its agenda: "Diversity is a key factor for innovation and essential for a sustainable future."
Under the motto "Why we all benefit from female investors", the event at the Me & all Hotel Hannover focused primarily on the role of female venture capitalists. Interested parties were able to gain an insight into the opportunities and effects - in addition to the potential return - that their potential investment as a business angel in female start-ups holds for the economy as a whole.
The keynote speakers Svenja Lassen (Gateway Ventures) and Fatime Cetinkaya (Cekaso GmbH) reported on their experiences with private investments in female start-ups and explained how a deal can work in practice. In the subsequent World Café, there was time for face-to-face networking with experienced female investors, networks and organizations from the investment sector.
The event as part of the "Female Startups Perspectives" project by Gründerinnen-Consult aims to do one thing above all: open up the investment scene for female founders and female startups in Lower Saxony. BANSON e. V., Invest-Impuls and the Association of German Women Entrepreneurs (VdU) were the cooperation partners for the successful kick-off.
Gründerinnen-Consult
Based at the business development agency hannoverimpuls, this EU-funded project supports and advises women in the start-up process. One focus is on female startup founders. In order to create a better start-up climate in Lower Saxony's start-up ecosystem, Gründerinnen-Consult has conducted the #femalestartupsnds study and developed recommendations for action to support female innovation start-ups.