New initiative pledges support to closing the female founder funding gap
Angels@Essex Female Founders and Investors community is a female-led network which will deliver regular community events focused on bringing Female Founders and Investors together.
The Angels@Essex investment platform was launched in 2020 to support entrepreneurs with innovative and market-disrupting business by giving them access to a network of investors, the network as a whole aims to develop and grow the regional economy by giving startups access to angel investment opportunities, with the planned community events and collaboration having a specific focus on female founders and female investors.
The Angels@Essex community events which kicked off in May 2021 provide a welcoming and collaborative platform within which female founders and investors can meet, share ideas and offer support and experience. Every event provides the opportunity to hear from both founders and investors with lightning talks and shared business journeys and for networking designed to create useful and mutually beneficial relationships which continue way beyond the event.
The community forms part of the work delivered by The University Enterprise Zone (UEZ) with Angels@Essex, one of the key initiatives developed to drive forward business in the region.
Business Support Manager John Stenhouse who is leading the Angels@Essex project said
“With over £6m from investors and over 180 founders receiving one on one support, in just twelve months, we are confident that both our equity investment platform and investment readiness programme are having an impact”
“ We’re really delighted with the work that has taken place as part of the Angels@Essex project thus far in what can only be described as incredibly challenging times for businesses in the region, but we’re keen to do so much more. We know that for every £1 of venture capital investment in the UK female founders get less than 1p and that VC investment in female led startups is incredibly slow. We’re here to change that”
The next Angels@Essex event takes place on Wednesday 7th July 2021. More details can be found here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/angelsessex-female-founders-and-investors-registration-153978266139?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch
