Supporting Diverse Entrepreneurs

Women know it all, they just aren’t given enough chances! We love talking about “empowering women entrepreneurs,” but if we're being honest, most of it is just a saying. Behind every woman trying to build something are invisible barriers that men rarely ever have to climb. Only 2% of venture capital went to female founders in 2017 and that number hasn't changed much in years. That’s not just a funding issue but a mindset issue. If we genuinely want more women-led businesses, here’s what we need to do: → We need more funds that prioritize women-led businesses, not as a CSR model but as smart investments. Better loan terms, inclusive crowdfunding platforms and gender-aware grant systems can make a real difference. → So much of business happens in rooms women aren't invited into. We need to build ecosystems where women can connect with mentors, advisors and investors who see potential, not gender. → It's about putting women in positions where they lead like on boards, in CXO roles and as decision-makers. Representation matters, but power matters even more. This isn’t just about equality but economic growth. Women-led startups have proven to be more capital-efficient, more socially conscious and often more profitable. So why wouldn’t we want more of them? What do you think it will take to back women entrepreneurs not just in words, but in action? #womenentrepreneur #creatoreconomy

Every investor wants alpha returns.    But somewhere along the line, VCs got stuck thinking alpha founders had a certain look, voice, or background. 'Pattern matching' was born: identifying and backing founders who resemble previous success stories. So ingrained, so automatic, it’s easily mistaken for a gut instinct. *This person just feels right. They are 'backable'. I believe in them.* And so investors double down. And funding gaps widen 📈 The landmark research we released earlier this month debunks this approach. In partnership with Synaptiq, we found that the psychological traits behind unicorn-level success aren’t exclusive to any gender, ethnicity, or socio-economic background. And now we’re using these findings to help the industry spot potential, not patterns. In my latest piece for Forbes, I set out four steps investors can take to uncover billion-dollar talent: 1️⃣ Don’t mistake familiarity for potential – remember gut instinct is often just familiarity bias 2️⃣ Understand the traits driving success – look for the psychological profile that signals potential  3️⃣ Recalibrate for subtle differences – understand how adaptive strengths show up in diverse founders 4️⃣ Tailor post-investment support – take what you know about a founder’s psychology to back them better Enormous thanks to Suranga Chandratillake from Balderton Capital, Adam Shuaib, PhD from Episode 1 Ventures, Yvonne Bajela from LocalGlobe, Meghan S. from Diversity VC, and Carmen Alfonso Rico 🍫 Rico from Cocoa 🍫 for providing their invaluable input! You can check out the piece here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eCBJegPa Or dive into the full findings of the research via the link the comments ⬇️

After 100+ pitches to VCs, I can confidently say that Harlem Capital was the most equity-focused in its diligence process. Here are three things Harlem Capital Partners (HCP) did that I think all VC funds should work into their processes 👇 In 2022, I pitched Chezie to HCP. While they ultimately declined to invest, their approach left a lasting impression on me. 1. They gave detailed feedback. I’d gotten used to single-line emails saying we weren’t chosen to receive funding without any reasoning as to why. Harlem Capital went above and beyond and provided a 52-page PDF detailing their due diligence process, feedback on our pitch, and the reasoning behind their final decision. This document was invaluable because it helped us refine our pitch for future investors. As Black founders often lack the social capital needed to navigate the fundraising landscape, such transparency helps bridge the gap. 2. They were open throughout the process. How many fund managers have you contacted through text to see where you stand in the process? Due diligence takes some time - as it should - and we founders will experience some anxiety. However, throughout the process, I could text someone from the HCP team to understand better how things were progressing. This open line of communication relieved quite a bit of the stress I felt during diligence. 3. They made introductions to other investors. As if the 52 pages of actionable feedback weren’t enough, the team at Harlem Capital even went as far as introducing us to other potential investors. It was clear that they wanted to see us win, even if they weren’t the ones to make it happen. This showed that their commitment to supporting Black founders goes beyond just funding; it's about empowering us with the tools and insights needed to succeed. Harlem Capital exemplifies genuine support for Black founders: feedback, transparency, and networking. Their approach has been incredibly impactful, and I hope more VCs follow their lead. For any founders out there - have you seen other funds with similar practices? Tag them!

Other investors often tell me, "I'd love to invest in diverse founders, but we just don't see many!" Here's what I tell them: "Work harder!" Develop relationships with groups outside your network. Drop the requirement for a warm intro. Welcome cold pitches. Don't only take meetings with companies that tick certain boxes. Check your biases about whether a founder needs to come from a certain school or brand name tech company. Examine who is in your scout program or operator network. Change the language you are using publicly about the types of founders you want to meet and how you position your fund. Of the 58 companies in the January Ventures portfolio: - 90% have a female founder - 59% have a founder of color - 31% have a Black or Latinx founder - 38% have an immigrant founder

Flo Health is the world's first femtech unicorn (yay) but it's also founded and funded by men (hmm) It's great that women's health is gaining more recognition, given the vast inequality in funding, research, and focus... BUT It also exposes a huge problem with the startup ecosystem. → Just 2% of global VC funding goes to women (WEF) → Women's presence on pitches is *neutral at best* and becomes negative when women don't embody typically female traits (Harvard) → Investors prefer pitches presented by men - when presented with two identical pitches, 68% funded the startup pitched by a man and 31% funded the exact same startup pitched by a woman (Harvard) → 83% of investment committees have no female members (British Business Bank) Women are discriminated against at all stages of the investment process. → Women are asked more negative questions around risk and worst-case scenarios, whereas men are asked about opportunity and opportunity (Harvard) → Women have to fight against preconceptions, we are judged more frequently, and held to higher standards (Yale) Ultimately, people with the most privilege raise the most money, and I count myself in that bucket as I am a white, privately educated female. → Just 0.5% of funding goes to black founders (WEF) → 79% of VC Seed funding for diverse founders (which is a tiny amount) goes to white women (BBG Ventures) There is SO much inequality in the startup world, and it's talked about but never taken seriously. Instead, female founders are assumed to be running businesses that aren't VC-backable, or that there just aren't enough of us. This is an uncomfortable topic, but the only way we can improve this system is to educate people about the huge inequality that exists in a sector awash with bonkers amounts of capital. Flexa #Startups #Fundraising #Inequality

This 65 year old billionaire was raised by a single mom in public housing, before becoming the first ever Black female Fortune 500 CEO. And you might have never heard of her. Meet Ursula Burns, former CEO of Xerox. Born in New York City to a single immigrant mother from Panama, Ursula spent her earliest years in public housing. Ursula recalled her mother's words: “This is where you’re going to grow up, but this is not what defines you.”  Quickly, Ursula excelled in engineering from a young age and went on to attend the New York University - Polytechnic School of Engineering. In 1980, Ursula went on to take an internship at Xerox. Ursula's internship would not only give her experience, but also fund her Master's Degree at Columbia University. At the time, Xerox was one of the only companies in the world to provide an internship program for underrepresented groups in STEM. Ursula went on to spend the decade working in various roles at the company, until another big opportunity presented itself: she was offered a role of executive assistant to corporate leadership. By 1991, Ursula became executive assistant to the CEO. But she had her sights set high... and she used her time under executive leadership to make her mark. While assistants at Xerox had traditionally been expected to be quiet in meetings, Ursula defied the norm. She shared her opinions. Loudly. And the opinions got her noticed. By 1999, Ursula made Vice President, before becoming SVP under then-CEO, Anne Mulcahy. At the time, Anne was one of very few women to ever become CEO of a Fortune 500 company. And Anne knew that Ursula could become her successor one day. So, Anne brought Ursula's name to the Board as their future CEO. Meanwhile, Ursula took her role and ran with it, reinventing Xerox's industry position from a dinosaur to an innovator of 30-40 new products per year. By 2007, Ursula became President. By 2009, Ursula succeeded Anne as CEO. Ursula would go on to lead Xerox until 2017 -- first, as CEO, then as Chairwoman. She also became a self-made billionaire in the meantime! Today, Ursula holds a variety of board roles, including American Express, ExxonMobil, & Nestlé. There are so many lessons to learn from Ursula's story. First, she is a living testament to the value of #DEI, long before most companies were even thinking about it. Second, Ursula's journey shows the crucial role of sisterhood in executive leadership and the power of women championing other women. Lastly, Ursula refused to sit quiet, like she was expected to do. She shows why it is important for women to make their voices heard. Unsurprisingly, Ursula is ranked as one of the Most Powerful Women in the World by Fortune. Yet, this post may be the first time you've ever heard of her. That's why I'm going to be sharing the stories of more women execs and founders like Ursula every Wednesday for #WomenFounderWednesday. Subscribe for more. 🔔 #womeninbusiness #womenempoweringwomen

I'm happy to share the release of the #WiSER White Paper, "Igniting a Global Sustainable Economy," following the impactful discussions at the WiSER Annual Forum during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week - ADSW 2025. This report highlights the critical role of female entrepreneurs in driving climate solutions and provides actionable strategies to bridge gender gaps in finance, scalability, AI, mentorship, and accessibility—especially for women in the Global South. Why This Matters: Women-led ventures are key to unlocking innovation in sustainability, yet systemic barriers persist. This paper outlines 5 recommendations: 🔹 Increase Gender-Focused Investment : Boost funding, financial literacy, and microloans for female-led climate projects. 🔹 Scale Women-Led Ventures : Streamline policies and partnerships to accelerate growth. 🔹 Harness AI & Digital Tools: Bridge the AI literacy and access gap to empower business expansion. 🔹 Strengthen Mentorship and Networking: Build cross-sector collaborations to provide women with the resources to succeed. 🔹 Empower Women in the Global South : Address legal and financial barriers, invest in STEM education, and improve access to markets and resources. Dive into the full report below or on Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company)’s website for insights on turning these strategies into action: https://lnkd.in/dyAFPEP2 Thanks again to my fellow roundtable participants: Lawratou Bah, CFA, Mirella Amalia Vitale, Natasha Shenoy, Hajar Alketbi, Manal B., Mariam Alnaqbi, Shaima Al Mulla

The venture-capital world has a serial-entrepreneur problem, and it is gendered. New National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) research comparing male and female co-founders of the same startups reveals disparities that cannot be explained by founder quality or ambition: → Women make up only 4% of founders with 3+ startups (vs 13.3% of all VC-backed founders) → After a startup failure women are 22.5% less likely to secure venture-capital backing for their next venture → Female serial entrepreneurs raise 53.3% less capital after failures and 24.6% less after successes → Men receive larger deals for founding experience regardless of outcomes. Women are penalized for failures and barely rewarded for successes → When an unrelated women-founded startup fails, it hurts funding prospects for all female founders. However, successes do not create positive spillovers.

She quit Silicon Valley after Mike Brown was killed to give Black millennials a platform. VCs told her to "call back later", despite having 1M monthly visitors. She built it anyway and now 40,000 people show up annually and Fortune 500 companies pay to attend AFROTECH. Welcome back to the Audacity Files, where I'm breaking down the stories of successful and game-changing entrepreneurs. This is Morgan DeBaun, founder and CEO of Blavity Inc. In 2014, she was 24, working as a product manager at Intuit in Silicon Valley, which many would consider a "dream job". Then Mike Brown was killed in Ferguson, Missouri. Her hometown of St. Louis was in turmoil. The people doing the actual work on the ground had no voice. Morgan realized: there was no digital platform where Black millennials could tell their own stories. Two months later, she quit her job and co-founded Blavity Inc., a media company by and for young Black Americans. She ate boiled eggs and oatmeal to save every penny for the business. Within a year, Blavity hit 1 million monthly visitors. Morgan went out to raise funding. She had proof. A million people showing up every month. VCs kept saying: "This is great, but call us in six months." Over and over. "We'll give you advice." Morgan's response: I don't need advice. I need a check. She regrouped, then targeted social impact investors who cared about impact, not just returns. By 25, Morgan became one of the few Black women founders to raise over $1 million. By 2016, Morgan and co-founder Jeff Nelson launched AfroTech. They planned for 400 attendees. 650 people showed up. For three years, they did everything themselves: cold outreach, negotiating with venues 10x their budget, convincing Fortune 500 companies this wasn't diversity theater. By 2019: 10,000 attendees. By 2023: 25,000 attendees. This year: 40,000+ attendees. Microsoft. Amazon. Meta. Google. Nvidia. Morgan didn't just create a conference. She created the ecosystem institutional tech refused to build. She's raised over $12 million, sits on Fortune 500 boards, and released her book Rewrite Your Rules in 2024. She had prestige. Washington University. Intuit. She chose purpose anyway. Here's what this teaches us: 1️⃣ Proof doesn't guarantee funding, belief does. Morgan had 1 million monthly visitors and VCs still said "not yet." When she found investors who cared about impact, the money followed. 2️⃣ When they say "the market's too small," they mean "we don't care about that market." Silicon Valley didn't see Black millennials as viable. Now Blavity reaches 100M+ monthly and Fortune 500 companies pay six figures to access it. 3️⃣ The "good job" might be keeping you from your greatest work. Morgan walked away at 24 to build something that didn't exist, now she's a CEO, board advisor, and bestselling author. If you're in a "good job" but questioning whether this is it, you're not broken. You're Morgan in 2014. Follow for more proof that audacity beats permission.

Dear women founders, If you’ve ever dared to build something from scratch, you’ve probably heard these: “Why not stick to a safe job?” “Who’ll run the home if you start a company?” “Are you sure women can handle this kind of pressure?” India has the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem. Yet only 15% of Indian startups have a female founder. Shocking, isn’t it? Now before someone rolls their eyes and says – “There she goes, the feminist angle again...” If stating facts makes me a feminist, maybe check your funding portfolio – not my tone :) Because this isn’t an ambition problem. It’s an infrastructure problem. - Less than 10% of VC funding goes to women - 43% of women lacked support from family or spouse - Only 7% of unicorn leadership roles are held by women And investors still ask women about risks, while men get asked about scaling opportunities. And yet, she doesn’t just prove herself to the pitch room, She proves herself to the entire ecosystem. So, here’s what needs to change: VCs: Stop “diversity-washing” your portfolio and actually back outsiders Incubators: Build systems that serve people, not just outcomes Media: Stop spotlighting women only when it’s March 8th Families: Support your daughters even when the pitch flops Thankfully, some are flipping the script: WE Hub – India’s first women-focused incubator CXXO by Kalaari – Backed 100+ women CEOs Saha Fund – Investing only in women-led startups The Bottom line is – This isn’t a gender issue. It’s an innovation issue. It’s about unleashing the full potential of a nation. If we wish to position India as the #1 startup hub globally, we need to fund locally – without bias. Let’s raise the bar, together! What do you think?