ReThink HK | Rethinking Women in Start-Ups

Overview

Women on average start more businesses with a larger purpose in mind. They are statistically proven to be more empathic, excel at multitasking and are usually more conscious of their social responsibility. Unfortunately, women founders are often underfunded compared to their male counterparts even though they are more likely to produce better results. In an effort to shake up the status quo, we need to dive deeper into the technicalities so that we can find out how to leverage the power of women founders to nurture a more equitable and sustainable economy.

Learnings

In 2019, 2.8% of funding went to women-led start-ups; in 2020, that fell to 2.3%. Some speculate that the pandemic made investors more wary of risks and more likely to stick to their existing networks. This statistic stands in stark contrast to research that showed female-founded and co-founded start-ups tend to perform better than all-male ones. What are the economic opportunities that come with investing in women?
Why does the start-up and investment community not embrace more women owned start-ups?
Empowering women founders is something that many in the Hong Kong business community have already caught onto but how are we falling short?
Is “social capital” affecting access to funding? If so, how can women broaden their networks to gain access to a larger variety of funding sources?

Post Event Actions

Address structural biases built into funding decisions
Bringing more women into VC firms and institutional investors could mean more creative and unconventional problem solving and could help broaden the lens of potential investments.
Start-up accelerator and mentors focused on empowering young entrepreneurs
Additional networking opportunities for women in leadership roles to help support and encourage one another