Behind every successful woman is a tribe of other successful women who have her back.
The past few decades have presented exciting times for the progress of women. From entertainment, politics to executive leadership positions, the contribution of a woman’s ability and presence have been increasingly noticed and accepted by society at large. However, this ascent has not been achieved equally across the board. There is still a painfully large participation gap between men and women when it comes to entrepreneurship and investing.
Money is a universal language, and there is no denying the male dominance over the control of it. Even with more and more women securing their financial freedom through thriving in entrepreneurship and investing, there is still a large under-representation of women in such activities – and the economy is at tremendous loss. According to a study by BNY Mellon and the United Nations Foundation, giving women better access to financial products and services could open up to USD300 billion in global revenues! So, why is it that the funding and investing gap for women still exists? Apart from the lack of knowledge and opportunities, Forbes also lists intimidation and societal bias against women who invest as reasons deterring the rise of women investors. With 36 percent of women having felt patronised in their experiences with wealth, Carla Stent, chair at Savernake Capital Limited says, “It’s about encouraging experienced investors to take women with them and introduce them to people trying to raise funding. It’s also important to understand that you don’t need to invest a lot of money to make a start.” This view is shared with fellow female investor Jessica Wilson of Envestors, who notes “In order for female entrepreneurs to stand out and be noticed, the investment sources need to be inclusive of [other] women who will support them.”
Amazingly, a promising trend seems to occur within the community of women who do dare to break past the stigma of investing and entrepreneurship. Understanding each other’s struggles of competing in the male-led economy, data shows clearly that there is a strong propensity for women investors to back and support other women-led businesses! With many female entrepreneurs intimidated by a room of all-male investors, fellow female investors bring empathy and ease when it comes to seeking funds.
The notion of women-support-women is consistent with the experience of Ata Plus’ own equity crowdfunding platform, where we have had a series of successful female-driven campaigns that achieved their successes through the overwhelming support of none other than other fellow women. Amongst them stands Mecapan, an Indonesian-based beauty and tech startup co-founded by three young graduates, two of whom are the driven women, Naula Kamila and Syifa Alsakina. Mecapan offers not only a one-stop shop for booking beauty services, but also a business solution that empowers thousands of beautypreneurs across the country. Their business model alone positively embodies women empowerment, from the provision of ease in finding female-centric services to the creation of women-filled jobs. Thus, is it no wonder their campaign attracted many women investors and succeeded with flying colours, bringing in RM300,000 worth of investment from both the ECF campaign and two strategic investors.
Studies have shown that the main drivers for women to become business investors includes their desire to give back and support their local economy. These are more feminine values which generally differ from male investor counterparts who are said to be led by more self-oriented goals related to maximization of personal profits. Due to these communion goals that have positive spillover effects on the rest of the economy, many initiatives have emerged to further foster more women to engage in investment opportunities. These include: (i) startup accelerators for women, (ii) businesses women venture funds, (iii) women angel investor groups, (iv) female entrepreneur-friendly government policies and lastly, (v) corporate programmes supporting female entrepreneurs.
At the end of the day, though we are warmed by the solidarity shown amongst bold and intelligent women, the direction we aspire for the future of female entrepreneurs and investors goes much beyond that. With the provocative progress and continuous initiatives we are seeing in recent years pushing for the participation of women in finance and the emerging of admirable women figures leading as role models, there is no doubt that a time will come where these women will become a norm, and not an exception. Inclusive economic growth is underway. We aspire for the day where there will no longer be female investors, just investors, and no longer female entrepreneurs, just entrepreneurs.
Until then, let us celebrate the women who emerge triumphant in their fields, and who are confidently eager to raise and support the women around them. Thank you, today is for you!
