Business
14:03, 22-Jul-2017
Female entrepreneurs fight against funding gap
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By CGTN’s Karina Huber
Female entrepreneurs looking to start their own company, also face a funding gap, especially from venture capitalists.
In 2016, venture capitalists invested 58.2 billion dollars in companies with exclusively male founders. Women received just 1.46 billion dollars. That’s according to the venture capital database, PitchBook. Along with that, 5,839 male-founded companies received funding to 359 started by women.
That’s 16 times more funding to companies run by men than by women.
One reason for the disparity is the vast majority of investors are men. The analysis shows less than ten percent of VC partners are women. Other reasons include the disconnect between investors and founders on projects.
Plus, women often ask for less funding from the start.
CGTN caught up with Lauren Schulte, the founder and CEO of The FLEX Company, during the Forbes Women’s Summit last month.
The company and primary product FLEX recently secured over four million dollars in funding.
Schulte is an unlikely entrepreneur. With a background in marketing, she did not intend starting her own business. But her curiosity leads her on a different path.