It’s no secret that female founders find it harder to get ahead.
The figures speak for themselves, with 90% of venture investment across the world going to male-led businesses in the past 5 years.
Supporting more female founders is a no-brainer with benefits far beyond the boardroom.
Enter AllBright, a groundbreaking new platform with the bold mission of levelling the playing field by injecting badly-needed cash and expertise into female-led businesses.
Founded by Debbie Wosskow and Anna Jones, two of the smartest women in British business, AllBright offers angel investment, crowdfunding and support services for the next generation of female founders.
Making an impact
Co-founder Debbie Wosskow is an experienced entrepreneur and campaigner for the UK’s growing sharing economy business sector. Wosskow founded and ran Love Home Swap, an online platform for home swapping and was recently awarded an OBE.
And co-founder Anna Jones is an experienced CEO and Board advisor, previously CEO of Hearst UK, one of the world’s largest publishing businesses.
The fund is already active, with £10m raised to invest. Some of Britain’s biggest names in technology including Sarah Wood (co-founder of Unruly) and Sherry Coutu (investor and campaigner for fast growth businesses) have backed the initiative.
Tax relief for investors
Investors will also benefit from EIS tax relief, earning them 30% back in tax relief on every pound invested.
AllBright joins the ranks of a growing number of female-led funds. StarVest Partners, a majority female-led fund based in the US, has been investing in businesses for 17 years, but AllBright is the world’s first fund devoted exclusively to supporting female-led businesses.
Read more: Inside a majority-female VC: investment talk, women’s strengths & trophy men
The launch of AllBright is perfect timing. As we reported earlier this month, despite all the noise, a recent survey showed 46% of business leaders rejected the importance of diversity.
We all know things need to change. Now the smart people behind AllBright are putting the cash in to make a real difference.
The post AllBright is a groundbreaking boost for female founders appeared first on The Memo.