Women helping women invest in the hottest Web3 startups
A group of prominent female financial leaders with combined crypto investments worth multi-millions of dollars has joined forces to help other women invest in the best Web3 startups to bridge the gender gap that currently exists in the blockchain space.
It’s no secret that the number of women investing in retail cryptocurrencies lags significantly behind men. Only 7% of women worldwide are involved in the $2 trillion crypto market compared with 16% of men.
The gender gap is even more significant for angel investors and venture capitalists. A recent Axios survey found that men still dominate venture capital. 65% of venture capital firms lack female partners in the US alone.
The crypto and blockchain industry is still predominantly a men’s club, making little sense based on yield and return on investment statistics. A Forbes report dated 28 January 2019 showed that,
“private technology companies led by women are more capital-efficient, achieving a 35% higher return on investment. And when venture-backed, 12% higher revenue than startups run by men.”
The lack of diversity and the stats showing that women are better investors than men is why a group of leading female investors is so relevant today.
There are women in crypto who are already leaving a huge footprint. Katie Haun, who left a16z and recently launched her own $1.5bn crypto fund, is one prime example. But so is Ophelia Brown of Blossom Capital, who recently raised a $432m fund within the Web3 space.
Kati Haun Ophelia Brown
Plus a recent report by BTC Markets revealed that women-led retail cryptocurrency investor growth in 2021 (reporting that the number of female retail investors on its platform grew by 126% compared to male investors which increased by 83%).
Now, five highly-regarded women in blockchain have decided it’s time to help more women become angel investors in Web3 startups by unlocking access to seed and private investment rounds.
Bridget Greenwood is the founder of The Bigger Pie women-in-blockchain community and co-founder of The 200bn Club, an accelerator program for female-led companies to raise investment.
“I speak to so many women interested in investing in web3 companies, but they don’t have access to the startups who are fundraising, or perhaps they’re used to equity investing and want some help evaluating and understanding token investments,” said Greenwood.
“We’re bringing them inside the circle. Giving them access to vetted, high potential startups, sharing our knowledge, and creating a strong support network for both investors and founders,” she added."
Caroline Hughes is the CEO of Lifetise, the DeFi metaverse startup launching the initiative. She’s focusing efforts to support women in several ways.
“I want more women investors for Lifetise. Plus, I want to encourage more women to become angel investors and get comfortable investing at an earlier stage – that is where the magic happens! So we are dismantling all the barriers,” Hughes said.
“For Lifetise, that means reserving part of our token private round and opening that up to all the women who want to invest in Lifetise at the private round price,” she added. “It means making the due diligence process collective and the investment transaction process super simple, so even non-crypto investors can join.”
Annee Park, the co-founder of F3, a community that connects female entrepreneurs with investors, adds:
“At F3, we recognize that funding female entrepreneurs starts with more female funders. Web3 creates entire ecosystems and infrastructure that make early stage investing accessible for women in ways that were unimaginable – through social tokens, NFTs, and DAO treasuries -the possibilities are promising.”
Catie Romero-Finger, Co-Founder and CEO of Sinofy Group, one of the few Web3 agencies that are made up of 80% women and on a mission to bring in more women-led projects to their portfolio and the Web3 space as a hold. By the end of 2022, Sinofy will be a VC firm with agency abilities and at least 50% of its portfolio will be diverse-led projects
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“We know that diversity breeds creativity, which means that if we are not bringing more voices to the table the narrative will never change. In a space where pushing the boundaries and being innovative is at the forefront, we must be conscious and deliberate about diversity so we can experience true innovation,” said Romero-Finger."
Amber Ghaddar, co-founder and CIO of Alliance Block and The 200Bn Club, also works towards making the crypto and blockchain investment sector more accessible to women.
“This is an incredible opportunity to let more women in on the action. With web3, we have this new financial system that democratizes capital markets and allows smaller investors to play in the field of the big boys,” said Ghaddar.
“Typically, as an investor, you’re going to see higher returns if you invest early in a business, but the traditional finance world restricts who can be an LP in a VC fund or sometimes even an angel investor. Web3 provides the chance to create a whole generation of women angel investors – just think of all the projects and companies that will exist and thrive as a result,” she concluded."
Want to get involved?
Women who are interested in joining the initiative can sign up via The 200Bn Club.