Our Story

Behind the Scenes

We were invited to a Venture Capital Fund briefing breakfast – all we saw was a sea of suits. And those suits weren’t being worn by many women. A few spouses or partners were there but no other investors were women.

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We decided that it’s time to break down those gender barriers. Too many women have made some money through their businesses and entrepreneurial activities and meet the criteria for being categorised as a sophisticated investor. They have built wealth and can afford to place some of their wealth in a venture capital or private equity fund, which might be more high risk than other types of wealth growth.

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Up until now, they have mainly been excluded from being invited to participate in fund-raising rounds in top venture capital or private equity funds. There have been many reasons for this: 

• Lack of knowledge about what these funds do and why they are an investment option, albeit more high risk than other investments.  Women might be invested in a variety of other asset classes such as shares, cash or property trusts. 

• Lack of opportunity. They don’t have a ‘men’s club’ of investors who pull their ‘mates’ along with them to the next capital raising and use the wealth they have created in a previous fund to invest in the next one. This lack of access to the right networks hinders female investors.

Force for Change aims to broaden the opportunities for women so that they are included and invited to participate in venture capital funds. We aim to overcome the challenge of fewer connections through introductions to the right people in funds that support our Force for Change initiative.