How a new VC fund plans to help Aussie women founders access money for their businesses

A new women-focused venture capital fund has big plans to pave the way to revolutionise how Australian women founders can access finances to grow their businesses. 

The members of the Women Changing The World Investments (WCTWI) board have already made it their mission to ensure that women from all walks of life have a seat at the table, especially when it comes to creating venture capital to support the growth and scale of female-led enterprises. 

The fund, which was announced on Tuesday, aims to change the experiences and trajectory of funding for female founders and entrepreneurs, as well as breathing new life into the tone of the conversation about female founders raising capital.

While the organisers have not disclosed the projected size of the fund, the WCTWI website states it will operate on a membership-based community model, with members given the opportunity to invest in vetted, women-founded and led businesses. 

Among the high-profile entrepreneurs and business leaders involved in the fund are chair Sally Branson Dalwood, co-founder of The Suite Set and crisis management specialist; and directors Peace Mitchell and Katy Garner, founders of The Women’s Business School, AusMumpreneur and Women Changing the World Press. 

The fund’s board also includes Kakadu Tiny Tots founder Kylie Lee Bradford, Busy Connecting founder Robyn Baker, Thought Alchemists CEO Kathy Rhodes, Serenity Press founder Karen McDermott, and company secretary Amanda Thompson

Providing appropriate resources, connections and skill development to women-led companies to ensure they are supported through their growth as a founder and the growth of their enterprise is a crucial part of the capital fund.

In 2021, a State of Australian Start-up Funding report found 82% of female founders believe gender affected their ability to raise venture capital funding. 

The same report also revealed that only 10% of female founders felt highly confident they would raise their next funding round, compared to 63% of male founders.

This is also reflected in global data, with the Harvard Business Review reporting that women-led startups attracted less than 3% of venture capital funding in 2020. 

Branson Dalwood says the fund wants to create change and new opportunities for collaboration, connection, and economic growth by investing in brilliant, high-potential, women-led companies.

“Empowered women, empower women,” she tells SmartCompany.

“We believe in investing in women; their ideas, and their innovation, is the way we make real change in the world.

“Our work has an immediate beneficial impact on the female founders we support, as well as creating lasting legacy work through amplifying the work of women entrepreneurs and changing the way venture capital can be accessed by women.”

The WCTWI website has opened for expressions of interest for those interested in investing or receiving investment. The website states the fund “exists to provide values-aligned female founders with capital, connections and support to grow their businesses faster than if she was doing it alone”.

Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) Bruce Billson says access to capital continues to be a key concern for women-led businesses in Australia. 

His office points to research by Asialink that suggests boosting the number of female business owners to equal that of men, could add between $70 billion and $135 billion to the economy. However, in a recent ASBFEO survey of more than 600 Australian women-owned, women-led small businesses, 43% of business owners said access to capital is “a central barrier to growth”. 

“About 38% of small businesses are owned by women and in recent years two-thirds of all new businesses have been led by women who are finding solutions to everyday problems, sharing their ideas and building a business from their ingenuity,” he added.