A new study suggests, Women are better investors than men but there just aren’t enough of us. Let’s change that.
By Women 2.0 Editorial Team
When it comes to investing in women-led venture startups a new study says, women bring back more returns to their venture funds. While the data is limited (women only represent 9% of Venture Partners), it is promising. Sahil Raina, an assistant finance professor at the University of Alberta lead this study. The study shows, “female-founded, venture capital-backed startups have much higher chances of a successful exit if the VC firms investing in them have women partners.” explains Valentina Zarya at Fortune.
Looking more closely, “When a VC firm that invested in a startup’s first round had all male partners, a female-led startup had about a 15% chance of a successful exit while a male-run startup’s odds were around 40%. But when a first-round VC firm had at least one woman partner, founders of both genders had equal chances of success—also around 40%.” says Zarya about the Study.
Zarya explains further: investing in the first rounds had the greatest impact on success of the startup. This is where the selection process of early-stage companies is paramount. Looking at the startup journey of these companies implies the importance of these venture investors seeing “signals” in the history of the startup having Angel Investors “picking” one startup over another.
Maybe you have a job. Maybe you have your own business. You have no plans to be a venture investor. This doesn’t preclude you from Angel Investing where you have the power to give money to ideas and teams you believe in. As an Angel Investor you can influence startups that see future funding opportunities.
This is where Pipeline Angels, a program running for five years, comes in. You can be an investor and specifically support women-led social ventures.
We spoke with Alumnae from Pipeline Angels on their experience in learning how to Angel Invest.
“Being part of the first Atlanta cohort of Pipeline Angels opened many doors for me in the angel investing and entrepreneurship ecosystems. Pipeline Angels’ programs, resources, and network provided a vital foundation for success, awareness, and knowledge. The mission is real, the experiences are eye-opening, and the rewards are invaluable.”
“Being part of the first Atlanta cohort of Pipeline Angels opened many doors for me in the angel investing and entrepreneurship ecosystems. Pipeline Angels’ programs, resources, and network provided a vital foundation for success, awareness, and knowledge. The mission is real, the experiences are eye-opening, and the rewards are invaluable.”
–  Jennifer Callender, Director, Business Technology and Strategy; Kaiser Permanente and Board Member, Minority Access to Capital
“Being part of the first Atlanta cohort of Pipeline Angels opened many doors for me in the angel investing and entrepreneurship ecosystems. Pipeline Angels’ programs, resources, and network provided a vital foundation for success, awareness, and knowledge. The mission is real, the experiences are eye-opening, and the rewards are invaluable.”
“I joined Pipeline Angels to participate in a forum where I could learn the ins and outs of angel investing from a variety of perspectives and actually put these learnings to the test by making a real investment in an early-stage company. The women in my cohort represent an incredibly diverse set of personal and career experiences, each bringing with them a unique perspective on what social enterprise means, what their individual investment strategy should look like, and what character traits are attractive to them in a founder.”– Anna Wilson, Director of Operations & Analytics, Music Industry, Pandora
“Prior to joining Pipeline Angels, I had invested in two startup companies, however, I didn’t understand the process well enough. Pipeline Angels gave me the knowledge and training I needed to critically assess startups for both financial potential and social impact, as well as appropriately calculate my risk and make informed decisions about where and how to strategically invest. Pipeline Angels also provided me with access to a network of entrepreneurs, angel investors, venture capitalists, and attorneys, which gave me the resources, support, and confidence I needed to build my portfolio of angel investments. I now have just over 10% of my financial portfolio in angel investments, including in three women-owned startups.”
– Lebone Chisara Moses, Director, Fidelity Investments
 “Pipeline Angels did so much more than teach me about angel investing. Through the program, I made my first investment, joined a network of some of the most amazing women across the country and am on my way to building my personal investment portfolio.”– Liz White, Board Member, Soko
Take on a new challenge and apply to Pipeline Angels. Â
Pipeline Angels has a rolling application process. Apply by the next due dates August 1, 2016 and August 8, 2016): https://pfapply.seamlessdocs.
Pipeline Angels Bootcamps are held in: Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin-Houston, Baltimore, Bangor-Portland, Boston, Boulder-Denver, Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland-Akron, Columbus, Dallas, DC, Jackson Hole, LA, Memphis-Nashville, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, NYC, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Raleigh-Durham, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Seattle, SF, Silicon Valley, and Vegas.
