{"id":32633,"date":"2023-10-20T14:28:35","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/new-female-focused-angel-investor-network-launched-and-looking-for-companies-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:28:35","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:28:35","slug":"new-female-focused-angel-investor-network-launched-and-looking-for-companies-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/new-female-focused-angel-investor-network-launched-and-looking-for-companies-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"New female-focused angel investor network launched and looking for companies – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Four high-powered businesswomen have come together to invest in women rising to the top of Australia\u2019s start-up sector. <\/p>\n

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The SCALe fund was founded by entrepreneur and investor Carol Schwartz, Ernst & Young partner Annette Kimmitt, entrepreneur Susan Oliver, and investor Laura McKenzie and launched by the Victorian Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business, Louise Asher.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re investing in gender diversity, so we\u2019re only interested in businesses where a female has a senior executive role and she needs to have a significant equity stake,\u201d McKenzie told StartupSmart. <\/i><\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s designed to empower female entrepreneurs, encourage companies to seek out excellent entrepreneurial women and make serious returns for the investors involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

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McKenzie says it\u2019s more than just a good step for women entrepreneurs, she says it will open up new opportunities for people on both sides of the funding equation.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOne of our really strong benefits in being able to bring SCALe angel networks to this space is the benefit we\u2019ll all see from having more women on start-up boards,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a really untapped economic opportunity for investors, and women angel investors are an untapped source of capital for entrepreneurs. So it\u2019s a win-win for both parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Successful companies can expect $200,000 to $500,000 in funding. The group is modelled on the female-focused US investor network the Golden Seed group.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re an angel investor network and that means we\u2019re looking to facilitate the scale and introduction of scale members to entrepreneurs. These individuals will make an individual decision and they may make up a network of funders for ideas they want to invest in,\u201d McKenzie says.<\/p>\n

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She says that, just like in the corporate world, in her experience the majority of start-up boards are \u201cvery male-dominated\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBy and large, our networks tend to correlate strongly with gender. They\u2019ll include both, but the majority are usually of the same gender,\u201d McKenzie says. \u201cI think there is a great opportunity to bring new networks of funders to the venture capital world, and for start-ups looking for talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

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McKenzie says the conditioned approaches to confidence, unconscious bias and natural networks are holding women back from seeking funding.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOne feature holding women back is our attitude to risk. Women need to feel they have achieved something before they shout about it as opposed to men, who I think are more likely to put their hand up early. So we\u2019re very slow to take on equity or bank finance until we\u2019ve proved ourselves, rather than getting help to get there,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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McKenzie adds that the way people form friendships and how they choose who to trust and invest in usually falls along gendered lines.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere is an unconscious bias in the investment community broadly in that we tend to invest in people like us and we tend to place highest regard on those proposals that are referred to us by our networks,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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What SCALe is looking for in the companies they will support is fairly standard for investors. McKenzie says companies need to have an addressable market of $200 million, a scalable product and a clear business model to back up plans for growth.<\/p>\n

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McKenzie said successful candidates would also be clearly differentiated and have features that provide barriers to entry for competitors, as well as have a product at least in beta and a clear exit strategy.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re not interested in investing in lifestyle businesses. This is about growth to the point of exit,\u201d McKenzie says. \u201cWe need to believe the business has the capacity to generate 10 times the investment.\u201d<\/p>\n

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According to McKenzie, SCALe is planning a structured approach to how they select companies to hire, and looking for people skills as well as good ideas.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEvery investor wants to know you\u2019re coachable. That\u2019s where investors can add value, and the entrepreneur who is open to ideas is really important,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four high-powered businesswomen have come together to invest in women rising to the top of Australia\u2019s start-up sector. \u00a0 The<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32633"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}