17

Finding innovative funding

How inspiring women founders and investors are turning the tide

Talking #InclusiveBiz No. 3: Impacting the growth trajectory of women founders through innovative initiatives, such as Global Scale Up X

Talking #InclusiveBiz No. 3: Impacting the growth trajectory of women founders through innovative initiatives, such as Global Scale Up X

Podcast interview by Susann Tischendorf with Jona Repishti and Amanda Epting, Managers at MIT D-Lab

MIT D-Lab works with people around the world to develop collaborative approaches and practical solutions to global poverty challenges. A core initiative is the D-Lab Scale-Ups Fellowship Program.


In this third episode of the iBAN podcast, Jona Repishti and Amanda Epting, Managers at MIT D-Lab, provide in-depth insights into their work on solving crucial global gender financing challenges and incorporating inclusive innovation processes into the work of practitioners. Why is the gender financing gap so persistent? What experiences do women from around the globe share when it comes to seeking funding for their businesses? How can we make the case for inclusive business to investors successfully? Why do shared beliefs matter more than just funding when selecting investors? And why are innovative storytelling approaches like the one of Global Scale Up X Instagram channel recently launched by MIT D-Lab and iBAN important in helping smooth the entrepreneurial journeys of female entrepreneurs?

 

@ Global Scale Up X

 

Listen to the podcast here!

Key insights:

  • The gender financing gap still is one of the most persistent problems in entrepreneurship today. Women entrepreneurs, particularly the ones in emerging markets, are systematically overlooked and underfunded - among others due to unconscious bias by investors, but also due to internal barriers female entrepreneurs face.
  • In talking to about 50 female founders from 14 different countries that have a track record of raising from USD 10,000 to 15 million, two core shared experience emerged across the different geographies: 1) Women access networks in different ways. It is hence incredibly crucial for women entrepreneurs to build their network wisely, to lean into their network, and to invest in their network of customers, peers, mentors, and investors. 2) Financing matters, but finding the right kind of financing is more important. Therefore, it matters for female founders to set their own rules in terms of what kind of investors are a good fit for their business, because ideally the investment is a start of a long-term, meaningful, and growth-focused relationship.
  • Connecting the founders that the work of MIT D-Lab is centered around with founders in emerging markets that are focused on inclusive business working for the base of the pyramid is a win-win situation. This is why MIT D-Lab and iBAN recently founded Global Scale Up X – a new Instagram community for female entrepreneurs to connect, be empowered, and scale up.
  • Innovative storytelling approaches like the one of Global Scale Up X matter because they help bring to the forefront the reality of challenges women founders face and how this can impact their growth trajectory. Read more about this crucial aspect in this recent blog post about the channel. Beyond sharing authentic insights and the inspiring vulnerability of shared experiences, the initiative provides orientation and inspiration to other women entrepreneurs to help them find the right type of financing to scale their businesses in a sustainable way.
  • Ultimately, finding the right kind of funding comes down to intentionally seeking those investors that share the beliefs of the founders – those that believe in the same impact metrics and are committed to supporting women founders in their entrepreneurial journey for the long haul. Those investors will then align expectations every step of the way. Clearly defining those beliefs as an entrepreneur before even approaching investors is therefore very important.
  • We are at an exciting moment when it comes to solving gender financing challenges. There are many initiatives that aim to propel and support female entrepreneurship and diverse and inclusive entrepreneurship. A selection of those opportunities is being shared on the Global Scale Up X channel regularly.

Join Global Scale Up X here.

 

Learn more about the topic in this report by IFC.

Jona Reptishi and Amanda Epting

Jona Repishti manages the D-Lab Scale-Ups Fellowship Program and other social entrepreneurship initiatives at D-Lab which seek to support local entrepreneurs bringing poverty-alleviating products and services to emerging markets at scale. Her recent focus has been to work with entrepreneurs, accelerators and investors bridge the gender financing gap.

Amanda Epting is the Inclusive Business Manager at MIT D-Lab. Amanda manages D-Lab’s practitioner-focused programming, which seeks to equip busy professionals and innovators with tools and trainings to incorporate inclusive innovation processes in their work. She has spent the last decade working across corporate, startup, and international NGO ecosystems on how to build inclusive businesses and technology in emerging markets.

Podcast

Talking #InclusiveBiz No. 3: Impacting the growth trajectory of women founders through innovative initiatives, such as Global Scale Up X

In the third episode of the iBAN podcast Talking #InclusiveBiz, Susann Tischendorf from iBAN speaks with Jona Repishti and Amanda Epting, Managers at MIT D-Lab, about their inspiring work on solving crucial global gender financing challenges and about…
Susann Tischendorf
Table of contents

graphic summary

GRAPHIC SUMMARY

Learn more about inspiring women entrepreneurs and innovative investors by reading this seventeenth edition of the online magazine on Inclusive Business! The illustration was developed by Christopher Malapitan, a visual practitioner and trainer…

Christopher Malapitan

editorial

Optimism and frustration, celebration and caution: the rising tide of women entrepreneurs taking their place in business and finance

In her editorial, Caroline Ashley discusses why advances in funding for women entrepreneurs provide reasons for both optimism and caution, focusing on both the vibrancy of innovation and new solutions and the work that still remains to close the gap.

Caroline Ashley

feature story

Finding innovative funding: Unlocking capital for women founders

Women founders are building inclusive and innovative businesses that serve the traditionally underserved around the globe. However, many women still struggle to receive the capital they need to grow their businesses. This issue of CLUED-iN features several groundbreaking women business founders, from Ajaita Shah who developed an all-woman sales force in rural India, to Brigitha Faustin, whose sunflower oil is produced mainly by women in Tanzania. It includes a range of insights from entrepreneurs, gender smart investment experts, investors, and women capital allocators, who examine what it will take to narrow the gender funding gap and support women founders around the globe.

Alexandra Harris

Talking #InclusiveBiz No. 3: Impacting the growth trajectory of women founders through innovative initiatives, such as Global Scale Up X

In the third episode of the iBAN podcast Talking #InclusiveBiz, Susann Tischendorf from iBAN speaks with Jona Repishti and Amanda Epting, Managers at MIT D-Lab, about their inspiring work on solving crucial global gender financing challenges and about the importance of incorporating inclusive innovation processes into the work of practitioners. In particular, they highlight why innovative storytelling approaches, like the one of the Global Scale Up X Instagram channel recently launched by MIT D-Lab and iBAN, are important in helping smooth the entrepreneurial journeys of female entrepreneurs.

Why we need multiple flavours of capital for inclusive gender-smart business

Suzanne Biegel, a global leader in gender smart investment, explains how women entrepreneurs can benefit from multiple types of funding. She also discusses the role of storytelling in making the business case for investing in women.

“How much ease can we create?”: Developing financial solutions for rural women

Chetna Gala Sinha founded Mann Deshi Bank and Foundation to help a woman blacksmith in rural India save for a tarpaulin cover. In her interview, she discusses how new financial solutions and credit rating tools should be tailored to women-owned businesses.

Why traditional investment indicators don’t always apply

Nathalie Aldana, who founded a business in Sweden selling dried fruits and jams sourced in Colombia, reveals why inclusive businesses may value performance indicators that don’t directly fit with traditional investment models.

Shifting capital towards women’s economic empowerment

Jessica Espinoza, Chair of the 2X Challenge, explains why investing in funds and platforms that invest in women through gender-smart business is one of the best ways to scale the impact of capital.

Overcoming gender barriers and supporting female farmers in Tanzania

Many investors expect you to spend 100 per cent of your time on your company, says Brigitha Faustin, founder and CEO of OBRI Tanzania. In this interview, she shares how she balanced life and family and how the Tanzanian government supports women founders.

Choosing the right type of funding to make a lasting impact on female artisans

Reese Fernandez-Ruiz discusses scaling and funding for inclusive businesses and how Rags2Riches supports women artisans beyond providing livelihoods in the Philippines.

Creating more tables, not just seats at the table: Narrowing the gender funding gap by investing in women capital allocators

In Africa, there are many startups led by women, but these enterprises often have trouble accessing finance. In her interview, Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes shares how Aruwa Capital Management opens up funding and opportunities for women entrepreneurs.

Investing in women is smart business and key to poverty alleviation at scale

Ajaita Shah discusses why investing in women has a strong impact on poverty alleviation, and how she has empowered a network of women sales agents in rural India through her enterprise, Frontier Markets.

Empowering women-focused businesses by tying investment to impact assessment

Robert Kraybill explains how IIX developed the first Women’s Livelihood Bond which limits risk for investors and ties investment to impact on women’s livelihoods in multiple countries.

Voices of global female entrepreneurs

Which challenges have female founders tackled, what have they experienced, and what have they learned? In this Voices piece, four successful women entrepreneurs featured in the Impact Stories series share their stories.