It鈥檚 no secret that female entrepreneurs face听many barriers when seeking to start and grow a business.
The effect is exacerbated in the听male-dominated tech听补谤别苍补.听Indeed听one successful entrepreneur told me last week how she was the only female member of her university鈥檚 computer society听(and she was its president!)听
It鈥檚 crazy to think that UK tech is allowing such talent to slip through its fingers.听Speaking in general terms听for a moment,听studies have proven women鈥檚 greater听talent for problem-solving and听decision-making听– two听qualities听absolutely central to entrepreneurship.听
Henrik Wetter Sanchez, associate at听Playfair Capital, told me there is a lack of access to investors, especially outside London, and听also听wider support for female founders in tech.听
In response, in October 2019 the early-stage fund began its Female Founder Office Hours initiative听to bring together听45 female founders and 11 investors听at its听Warner Yard听base for pitching and advice. A second edition followed in February. The events were so听popular that Playfair joined forces with Tech Nation to take the initiative nationwide and part-remote听in June.听
The aim, says Wetter Sanchez, was听to render geography a听鈥�non-issue鈥�.听And he was glad they did, as the arrival of COVID-19 pushed听them听to go fully remote听鈥� and a second听virtual event was added to cope with demand (you can read his Medium post on the initiative and what听they learned from it听).
The two events, held on听June 4th and June 24th, connected 200 female founders with 60 VCs across听800 one-on-one office hour meetings.听I joined Playfair and Tech Nation听for the听second of these.听
I听was admitted to听a Zoom Breakout Room to hear a fledgling entrepreneur pitch her touch-free instant payments app to an investor and potential mentor.听The session, lasting a few minutes, was useful for both parties: the founder was given feedback on her pitch and asked听probing听questions, as you would expect in meeting a potential investor.听
From there it was back to the event hub; a few words from the hosts; and on to the next pitch听(each founder had four in total). All as slick as it would be in person.听
There is nothing proprietary about the event, either. Playfair have not only brought in other leading VCs, such as Hambro Perks, but听all 200+ applications were shared with every participating investor.听It is also听offering its 鈥榩laybook鈥� to anybody in the ecosystem who wants to put on similar events for underrepresented founders: it has听already supported events in the US (through听Anthemis) and SE Asia (Cocoon) to take the movement global.听
Lauren Nicholson, founders鈥� network lead at Tech Nation, said:听鈥淔emale-led companies still only achieve 1p in every 拢1 invested in the UK and so Office Hour events like these are crucial to breaking down those barriers and creating opportunities for those teams to be supported by the investment ecosystem.听听
鈥淲e hope that this initiative will be a major step towards changing those statistics.鈥�听
Playfair said more than 50% of the participating听founders were following up with听either听three or all four听of the VCs they spoke with, while听80% are following up with two or more.听听
What is even more impressive is that听37% of听the听founders identify as BAME.听
Over the years we at听老九品茶Cloud听have sought to champion the role models blazing a trail for others to follow through lists and profiles听which attracted tens of thousands of views and millions of social media impressions.听
There is clearly an appetite for would-be female entrepreneurs to break through long-established barriers 鈥� and, with Playfair committing to running its event three times a year, this could be a crucial step in making it happen.听