What's your next move?
Welcome to the Seventy-Eighth edition of Unstoppable Founders!
Fundraising can feel daunting even to the most seasoned founders. This is why we’re hosting a masterclass on investment pitching - Getting Funded: Nailing the perfect investor pitch with none other than 4x founder & angel investor Emma Rees.
Grab your tickets today, as spaces are limited and tickets are going quickly!
👑 #Unstoppable Female Founder
Every now and then, you meet someone whose energy lingers long after the conversation ends. Umaima Ahmad is one of those people. I recently had the pleasure of speaking alongside her on a panel at LSX World Congress, where we discussed the barriers women face as founders & executive leaders, the role Investors play in mandating diversity across their portfolios and most importantly, what can be done to add more seats for women to the table.
Umaima is the CEO and co-founder of 52 North Health, a medtech company on a mission to make urgent care safer, starting with acute oncology. Their flagship product, NeutroCheck®, is a portable blood test and app that helps cancer patients quickly assess their risk of neutropenic sepsis, a life-threatening complication of chemotherapy. In short, instead of rushing to A&E every time a patient feels unwell, they can take a simple at-home test to determine the severity of their symptoms. To date, 52North has raised over $11 million, was accepted into both Cedars-Sinai and Novartis BIOME accelerators and was the first-ever venture investment by MacMillan Cancer Research.
She’s a vocal advocate for getting more women into STEM and shifting how we raise the next generation of leaders, not teaching girls to be “nice and pretty” but teaching them to be strong, brave, bold, and confident, just like we do with boys. She believes deeply that representation matters, that young girls need to see women in positions of power, building companies, leading industries, and shaping policies for future generations.
She’s been named one of Management Today’s 35 Women Under 35, is a Non-Executive Director at Health Tech Enterprise and the Pharmaceutical Licensing Group, and somehow still finds time to give back as a guest lecturer at the University of Cambridge. She is an absolute powerhouse, building an impact driven company that will no doubt change lives for the better.
📣 #TheRant
What’s your next move?
I was scrolling through LinkedIn yesterday when a post stopped me mid scroll. Professor Andreas Kuckertz from the University of Hohenheim shared some data from a research report he had conducted:
1 in 4 venture capitalists think women's participation in founding teams is overrated and 1 in 10 say they don't want to invest in women.
I’m pretty sure if my mother had seen how hard I rolled my eyes, she would have scolded me for it. Seeing those stats evokes a mix of frustration and resignation that comes when data confirms what we've already known all along. However, rather than getting outraged (yet again) I thought, actually this is an opportunity.
Take a strategic game like Monopoly for example. The players who win aren't necessarily the luckiest, they're the ones who best understand how to play the game in terms of knowing the rules, the board layout and the patterns of other players.
So similarly, if we already have this data going into fundraising, then it can also help inform how we build our strategy.
Understand the Board Before Making Your Move
Professor Kuckertz’s study surveyed 361 international VCs using anonymous questioning techniques designed to bypass social desirability bias (that tendency to answer questions in a way that will be viewed favorably). The results-
26.9% of VCs believe women's participation in founding teams is overrated
15.3% perceive women as poor entrepreneurs
11.9% admit they would not invest in women-led ventures
In summary, we’ve surpassed unconscious bias and it's now just open discrimination, as Professor Kuckertz noted.
So how does this information inform your fundraising strategy? Just like in Monopoly, where knowing which properties offer the best return helps guide your investments, understanding which VCs might be predisposed against you helps you avoid wasting precious time and emotional energy.
Finding the Right Players
The research revealed patterns about where bias runs strongest:
Corporate VCs showed significantly higher bias than independent VCs
Seed-stage investors demonstrated more gender bias than early-stage VCs
Women VCs exhibited substantially less bias than their male counterparts
This suggests that seeking out mixed-gender investment teams and perhaps focusing on independent, early-stage VCs might improve your odds.
Alternative Routes Around the Board
As I speak about a lot, Venture Capital isn’t the only route to funding your startup.There are a number of alternative funding options that are likely a better fit for your startups business model and strategy.
Crowdfunding platforms, where studies show amateur investors actually display less bias or even preference for female-led ventures
Angel investors, particularly women angels who innately understand your value proposition
Revenue-based financing models that focus on your business performance rather than founder demographics
The Game-Changing Move
Professor Kuckertz's research points to one particularly powerful solution: increasing the share of women in venture capital itself. Women VCs show significantly less bias, diverse teams make better decisions, and mixed teams perform better. Thankfully there are a number of initiatives at the VC level to support getting more women into VC, such as unlock.vc and European Women in VC to name a few.
Fundraising without a doubt, has its challenges, but armed with this information, you can develop winning strategies that leverage your strengths, bypass unnecessary obstacles, and connect with the right capital partners who recognize your potential as a female founder.
💰#HypeCorner
This is where we cover funding rounds raised by female founders and their teams across Europe. With less than 2% of VC funding going to female led startups, the HypeCorner is simply our way of congratulating and celebrating these founders!
🇬🇧 Basak Baykan Co-founder & CEO of Rundle
🇳🇱 Joyce Knappe Founder & CEO of Pro Parents
🇨🇭 Samantha Anderson Co-founder & CEO of DePoly
🇬🇧 Samantha Perona CEO of Spotlight Pathology
🇩🇪 Jana Krotsch Co-founder & CEO of Ubimaster
🇬🇧 Iris Anson & Raluca Crisan Etiq AI
Huge congratulations to these founders and their teams. Wishing you all continued success!
🎤 Events for founders
💻 {Virtual} 23rd of April - Nailing the perfect investor pitch, an online Masterclass with 4x founder & angel investor, Emma Rees! Spaces are limited, grab your spot today and learn how to frame your pitch, tackle investor Q&A like a pro and successfully secure investment.
{Berlin} Raise with Grace - 19-20th of May at The Delta Campus in Berlin. This event is a 2-day roadmap, all about: giving early-stage founders the knowledge, insights, and network to start their fundraising journey strong. Get 10% Off your tickets with this link!
🇦🇹 {Vienna} FFX {formerly LTST25} hosted by Female Founders is back May 8th & 9th and this years theme is ‘The Real Deal for Founders’ Early bird tickets on sale now! Grab your tickets now!
🇬🇧 {London} SXSW lands in London June 2nd - 7th taking over the city merging creativity, culture and technology. SXSW London are now taking applications for musicians, film makers and speakers!
🇪🇸 {Madrid} South Summit Madrid - June 4th - 6th brings together global innovators, bold entrepreneurs, leading corporations, and visionary investors. Early bird tickets now available.
🇫🇷 {Paris} VivaTech - June 11-14th- is the world's rendezvous for startups and leaders to celebrate innovation. It's a gathering of the world's brightest minds, talents, and products.
🇳🇱 {Amsterdam} European Women in Technology is a must for your calendar, happening June 25th & 26th. 5,000+ women in tech, diversity advocates, allies and change makers for Leading the Digital Revolution!
🇬🇧 {London} Sifted Summit is back 8th & 9th of October, bringing together 3,000 founders, startup and scaleup operators and investors to celebrate the resilience of the ecosystem and how its leading players are preparing for the long-haul.
🇫🇷 {Paris} UnlockVC (formerly WVCE) is hosting its annual Summit from the 13th - 15th of October. This event brings together ambitious investors, trailblazing thought leaders, and industry pioneers for two impactful days of networking, learning, and growth.
👑 UNSTOPPABLE FOUNDING MEMBERSHIPS Now available! Inside the Community Hub you’ll gain access to the resources, networks and capital you need to build and scale your business. From helping you secure capital to building traction, everything you need as a female founder, all in one place!
☀️ Have a wonderful weekend! ☀️
Jen
PS- Are you fundraising? Looking to boost your customer acquisition? Just looking for some guidance and advice? I’m now taking on clients for May & June and have a few open spots - drop me a note and let’s chat!