"Women-led startups pitch for bigger slice of scarce funding"

" Women-led startups pitch for bigger slice of scarce funding \r\n\r\nAdaora Oramah\u00a0has been looking forward to this moment for years, as she adjusts her blazer and prepares to pitch in front of\u00a0international\u00a0investors.\r\n\r\nThe 26-year-old has already secured around $700,000\u00a0for her startup\u00a0Amaka Studio,\u00a0a digital media venture that seeks to connect women globally through Pan-African stories. She is now looking to raise $1.6 million to help\u00a0creators make money through the platform,\u00a0including in local currencies,\u00a0and to accelerate advertising capabilities.\r\n\r\nBut in this economy, fundraising is a challenge. \u201cI know that\u2019s particularly harder for women; typically harder for black woman as well,\u201d the London-based founder says.\r\n\r\nOramah\u2019s Amaka Studio\u00a0is one of 10 tech-related enterprises that\u00a0made it to Morgan Stanley\u2019s demo day for startups at its Canary Wharf offices in east London this week, an even that followed five months of coaching. Five firms from Europe, the Middle East and Africa were selected from 1,200 submissions, in an expansion of a program that Morgan Stanley has run in the US since 2017.\r\n\r\nOne founder walks the room through slides with Tamagotchi-style pixel art, another uses golden tickets taped under chairs offering lucky winners treats from her online artisanal food store, and one reveals her startup secured an investment that gives it 30 months of runway. Pitches from the cohort in New York are fed through a livestream.\r\n\r\nThe entrepreneurs\u00a0were told there would be investors from Atomico, Silicon Valley Bank, Google for Start Ups, Black Seed Ventures, Lakestar and Cornerstone Partners in the room. Rather than committing to funding on the spot, they\u2019re given time to hold conversations after the presentations.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt was exhilarating,\u201d Oramah says as she stepped out of the auditorium. \u201cIt\u2019s been great being able to connect and learn more from the investor community as well as the startup ecosystem as well.\u201d\r\n\r\nDora Palfi\u00a0says her company imagi, which teaches school girls to code, had gone through a pivot during her time in the program to focus\u00a0more on\u00a0school partnerships. \u201cIt just felt like a\u00a0big moment\u00a0to also celebrate where we have gotten over the past few months.\u201d\r\n\r\n Funding Gap \r\n\r\nThe past year was difficult for almost anyone looking to raise money, as rising inflation, recession fears and the crypto winter\u00a0led investors of all sizes to press pause. But it was already almost impossible for small companies founded by women.\r\n\r\nAbout 87% of all venture capital\u00a0funding in Europe was\u00a0raised by male-only founding teams last year, according to a\u00a0report by investment firm Atomico. The proportion of funding raised by women-only teams has dropped\u00a0even further, from 3% in 2020 to 1%.\r\n\r\n\u201cVC, fundamentally, is a game of network. And because it's a game of network, there are certain patterns\u00a0that investors expect founders to match,\u201d\u00a0says Precious Oyelade, the program\u00a0lead for Google for Startups UK. \u201cDisadvantaged, underrepresented founders are less likely to get funding\u201d in today\u2019s tougher environment, she added.\r\n\r\nMorgan Stanley\u2019s program has invested in more than 69\u00a0startups that have gone on to raise over $670\u00a0million in further funding, according to the Wall Street bank. Next year\u2019s lab will expand to 15 companies in the US and 10 companies in EMEA.\r\n\r\nFor Oramah, the pitch day was a long time coming. \u201cSometimes you hear people say, \u2018Oh, I raised this amount in three weeks.\u2019\u00a0But for me, I don't\u00a0have any shame saying this has taken me about a year to to raise this. But also has made me really value the importance of sustainable revenue growth.\u201d\u00a0She\u2019s also learned that fundraising is not the only mark of achievement for a new business, and knowing how to bootstrap is valuable.\r\n\r\n\u201cBut at the same time, it also would be really great to have somebody that can back us as well,\u201d she says, and gets up to network some more."

"Women-led startups pitch for bigger slice of scarce funding"

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