Combatting investor bias during the pitching process
Professional barriers
The issue
Unfortunately, gender bias remains prevalent in the world of investment, whether conscious or unconscious. While only 17% of survey respondents identified this as a barrier, our leadership panel acknowledged that discrimination against women during the funding process does exist.
Furthermore, 20% of respondents cited as a barrier the ‘perceived higher risks associated with investing in female businesses’, suggesting that discrimination against women in the investment process remains an issue.
of survey respondents identified gender bias as a barrier to business growth.
What our panel said
“One of the challenges still for women in business is that there isn’t parity. Women will have to go further to demonstrate their abilities and capabilities to fulfil the role.”
- Heidi Carslaw
“I think that a lot of VCs and investment panels are still typically male, which of course is a barrier. There is a misunderstanding that a male would be more dedicated or have more time during the startup phase, because during the startup phase, arguably you do have to be working 100-hour weeks at times.”
- Jenny Kitchen
Others interviewed expressed frustration at being labelled ‘life-style businesses’ because they were launched by working mothers.
Action needed
To address this, we need to increase the number of female investors and promote gender diversity on investment panels. 22% of respondents agreed that having more female investors and women in finance would be beneficial. Increasing the number of women in investment positions, such as angel investors or within venture capital and private equity, can have a measurable impact on the number of women accessing funding. ‘Blind’ interviews and processes can also help to remove bias. At present, there are no initiatives in place to address this at scale. However, there are some smaller existing initiatives which include The Girls Network, which aims to support and encourage girls from disadvantaged communities to succeed in the business world.
Additionally, initiatives such as targets or quotas for investment companies to invest in female-led businesses can help address this imbalance. 21% of our survey respondents supported targets or quotas for investment companies to invest in female-led ventures. This aligns with the current approach on gender targets in the UK, which focuses on targets rather than strict quotas. By setting targets for investment in female-led businesses, we can encourage venture capital firms and other funding sources to actively seek out and support female entrepreneurs.