FintekNews has recently launched our new #WomenInFintech series, highlighting leading female entrepreneurs and thought leaders in the space. We know women entrepreneurs HUSTLE, because we do the same, so we weren't surprised to learn that crowdfunding campaigns led by female entrepreneurs more consistently hit their funding goals than male entrepreneurs. Since crowdfunding is a very "feel good" way to raise money, it may be that women have some advantage in portraying their businesses in a more relatable way. Anyway, interesting statistic.
(Cindy Taylor/Publisher)
"Last month PwC and the Crowdfunding Center partnered on a report regarding women and crowdfunding. Referencing data collected by the Crowdfunding Center that analyzed 450,000 rewards based crowdfunding campaigns, the document entitled “Women Unbound: Crowdfunding – Unleashing Female Entrepreneurial Potential,” showed that women-led campaigns reached their funding target more often than male-led campaigns. In the world of female founded companies this is encouraging news. Access to capital is vital for any startup and the thesis that crowdfunding may be a key catalyst in empowering female entrepreneurs is quite promising. Yet data persists indicating that venture funded firms are far more likely to be founded by male entrepreneurs. Crowdfund Insider recently reached out to Manoj Kashyap, PwC Global Fintech Leader and Barry James, CEO of the Crowdfunding Center for additional insight and commentary on women and crowdfunding. Our discussion is below.The data from the PwC / Crowdfunding Center report was encouraging regarding women and rewards based (seed) crowdfunding. Why are women faring better than men in some respects?
Manoj Kashyap:
This analysis, of two years of seed crowdfunding data (2015-16) from nine of the biggest crowdfunding platforms globally clearly shows that female seed crowdfunders are outperforming male crowdfunders when it comes to achieving their finance targets globally and when broken down by all regions, markets and sectors.We feel there are two main reasons why female-led campaigns outperform male-led campaigns and these are firstly, the gender balanced nature of the crowd, and secondly, the more appealing nature and style of female pitches to the crowd.
If we consider traditional financing channels, one of the most pertinent reasons that women-owned-or-led businesses receive much less funding their male counterparts is the result of the complete dearth of women in the traditional financing world. Let’s take a deeper look at the world of Venture Capital as an example. Recent research found that most decision-makers in the venture capital industry are male; in fact, just seven percent of partners of the top 100 venture firms globally are women; and of 2,300 venture and micro-venture firms, only eight percent of partners are female..."
Full Interview at CrowdfundInsider