The 8th of March, the day we celebrate today, is women’s day. The reason why? The same exact day, 110 years ago, in 1908, 15,000 women dared to march through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights. Their march, became a keystone moment for what would later become an important movement led by millions of women standing out for equality. Two years later, In August 1910, an International Women’s Conference proposed the establishment of an annual ‘International Woman’s Day’ . The delegates attending the event, 100 women from 17 countries, agreed with the idea as a strategy to promote equal rights, including suffrage for women. One year later, the 19th of March of 1911, 1 million of women marched in various countries in Europe, celebrating the first International Women’s Day.
One century afterwards, a lot was done, and generations of women have accessed things and opportunities that wouldn’t be possible without the connected effort of our great grandmothers and grandmothers, scattered throughout the world in a jointed effort. Since then, amazing developments happened in society in general, such as technology, that connect us in unimaginable ways. Women have more access to education then ever, and are part of the workforce. Even if there is reason to celebrate, there is still much to be done, particularly in business and in sectors still dominated by men, such as the one of investing.
Women´s Day, reminds us of our history and what are the steps forward.
More women than ever are investing through crowdfunding.
So how are women doing in sectors such as investing ? FundedByMe, a crowdfunding platform, highlighted in a recent report that woman are more then ever self-evident in the financial world. In 2017, women accounted for 27% of the accumulated capital invested for entrepreneurs through FundedByMe. The corresponding number for January and February in 2018 shows an increase of 32% being invested by women.
FundedByMe also sees that over 45% of all transactions for the entire period mentioned were made by women, which means that they invest almost as often in unlisted companies as men, but with smaller amounts each time.
The traditional financial industry is continuously wrestling with gloomy figures, where women are underrepresented, both as investors and entrepreneurs. DI Digital recently published an article that once again confirmed the trend that 1% of traditional investment capital went to female entrepreneurs. Earlier surveys also show that the success rate among female entrepreneurs crowdfunding through FundedByMe is higher than for the male counterpart.
“We originally built FundedByMe to ensure that good entrepreneurs, who are not necessarily stereotypes such as women, would also have access to a stable and healthy source of funding. What drives me forward is mainly when I see that my daughter, despite being born in one of the world’s most modernised countries, will not have the same access to capital if she chooses to become an entrepreneur. ” Daniel Daboczy, co-founder and CEO FundedByMe said.
Female entrepreneurs attract female investors.
FundedByMe sees a direct reflection in the proportion of female investors who register as members on FundedByMe’s platform when female entrepreneurs publish their campaigns.
69% female investors in Paradiset
For some of FundedByMe’s successful crowdfunding campaigns women have invested and become the majority. Johannes Cullberg, founder of the Paradiset Food Market, commented on the results of his crowdfunding campaign “I can announce that in Paradiset we have 69% female owners. / proud minority. “
“We see that women invest more heavily than previously in unlisted companies. By 2016, 22% of investors were women and by 2017, it has grown to be 27% of investors. Our goal is to irrespective of gender, engage all Swedes to look at unlisted companies as the gold mine that could potentially be. For both entrepreneurs and investors, nationally and internationally. “ says Michaela Berglund, newly appointed CMO at FundedByMe.
FundedByMe is the fastest growing crowdfunding platform in Scandinavia and one of the only full-service platforms offering capital through equity crowdfunding. In the past years, some 470 companies from 25 different countries have been successfully funded with more than €49 million. The member base is a rapidly expanding network of more than 107,000 investors from nearly 200 countries around the world. FundedByMe is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with a local presence in Dubai, Finland, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland and Singapore.
Even if this is really good new, again, still a lot needs to be done. Women and girls still need to have more education and opportunities in the sector of finance and business. The world in general will benefit with more gender equality in these crucial areas of society.
Founder Dinis Guarda
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