It’s 2024 and still, startups founded by women struggle to raise venture capital (VC) funding in Europe and the United States: raking in just 1.8% in Europe and 2% in the US. Beyond The Billion (BTB) — a pioneering organisation dedicated to addressing the funding gap — is now deepening its efforts in Europe. Based in the United States but with global reach unlike any other, BTB has catalysed over $1bn for women-founded companies, of which $638m has already been deployed into nearly 800 women-founded businesses.
The consortium is pushing to close the gender investment gap in Europe and embrace the untapped potential of women-led ventures by targeting European VCs and limited partners (LPs). This latest push in Europe is delivered via its global tour, ‘The Billion Dollar Series’ powered by Dell Technologies.
Shelly Porges, cofounder and managing Partner of BTB, notes, “Europe is ripe for this. Women founders across Europe are driving innovation, and we’re determined to make sure they have the capital needed to reach their full potential. And of course, we’re excited by the Great Wealth Transfer in Europe — which is expected to be one of the most significant financial events of the coming decades, with estimates suggesting around $3.5tn in Europe. This will be a game changer for women-founded startups as women wield the power of their check.”
The challenge: a gender funding crisis
Europe has long been a dynamic hub for innovation, but, like much of the world, women entrepreneurs are often underfunded. Women founders account for a mere fraction of total venture capital, which speaks to a systemic issue that goes beyond borders. With the barriers to venture funding stacked high, BTB’s work over the years specifically targets the capital allocators: ultra-high-net-worth individuals, family offices, endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds and other institutional investors.
Sarah Chen-Spellings, cofounder and managing partner of BTB says, “Women are overmentored and underfunded. We know that the biggest lever for change is capital, and we’ve seen that in the years of our deep work as investors ourselves; and in the ecosystem. We come to this issue as investment professionals who understand that we have a fiduciary responsibility to deliver returns. The question we often pose is: how can we be delivering our responsibility when we are missing out half the population, talent and innovation potential? We see profit and purpose delivered when LPs make diversity a condition of their capital.”
Why Europe — and why now?
While the organisation’s campaign has already seen significant impact in regions from Sydney to Austin, Europe is increasingly a priority due to its promising opportunities for growth and its funding challenges.
Companies like Canva and Airwallex — valued at billions and backed by leading investors and pledged funds of the consortium, Blackbird VC and Gobi Partners — are success stories proving the massive potential of women-led ventures. Canva, a graphic design platform led by co-founder Melanie Perkins, counts BTB pledged fund Blackbird VC as one of its earliest investors, and is today one of Australia’s most valuable companies, demonstrating that women-led startups can achieve exponential growth and market impact. Meanwhile, Airwallex, co-founded by Lucy Liu and invested in by BTB pledged fund Gobi Partners, has established itself as a fintech powerhouse on a global scale. These successes underscore how investment in women-led startups yields not only financial returns but also groundbreaking innovation across industries.
Beyond The Billion’s mission is to replicate this impact across more women-founded ventures, providing the fuel for Europe’s future unicorns led by women. BTB has already had a good representation of funds investing in Europe, including fund of funds Teralys Capital and Demeter, which signed up to BTB’s initial campaign. By mobilising a network of European LPs and general partners (GPs) in collaboration with their ecosystem partners like European Women in VC, Techstars, Startup Nation, Cartier Women’s Initiative, BTB aims to now accelerate the success they have seen from their initial campaign.
“As Europe stands on the brink of transformative shifts — from advances in AI to the generational wealth transfer — this is a critical moment to prioritise investment in women-led companies. LPs have the power to lead this narrative and we are committed to partnering with them to drive meaningful change,” adds Lizanne Atherly, partner of business development and strategic partnerships of BTB.
Credibility backed by results
BTB isn’t new to tackling complex investment ecosystems. Backed by top brands such as Dell Technologies, Goldman Sachs, Mastercard, Bank of America, Brown Advisory, UBS and many others; BTB maintains its steadfast commitment to catalyse capital for high-growth women-led startups even through the global pandemic and what many deemed a ‘fundraising winter’. These partners echo a belief in the value of investing in women-founded companies as a strategy for boosting returns and resilience within portfolios.
Beyond metrics: building lasting change
For BTB, it’s not just about numbers — it’s also about systemic transformation. By increasing the representation of women in venture-backed companies, the organisation hopes to foster a diverse pool of entrepreneurs who can solve Europe’s — and the world’s — biggest challenges. This movement is set to inspire more VCs to include gender diversity as a critical factor in investment decisions, aligning with the growing trend where diversity metrics are no longer optional in portfolio management.
What’s next for European investors?
As BTB expands its efforts across Europe, there is a call to action for local investors to join the wave of gender-forward venture capital.
Their signature convening of the “The Billion Dollar Brew” on November 18th in Paris and November 26th in London, will bring together top European investors, policymakers, and tech innovators to drive the dialogue forward.
Registrations close soon, SIGN UP on these links for Paris and London.
For enquiries, email events@beyondthebillion.com.
About Beyond The Billion
Beyond The Billion is the world’s first and largest consortium of venture funds pledged to invest and actively deploying over $1bn into women-founded companies.
Beyond the Billion’s (BTB) first pledge campaign was launched as The Billion Dollar Fund for Women in October 2018 with an audacious goal of catalysing $1bn into the hands of women founders globally, addressing the gender venture investment gap of women receiving only 2.2% of all venture capital funding. In under two years, $638m of the first billion pledged was deployed into close to 800 women-founded companies, of which to date, 15 have been recognised as unicorns. To continue to build on this momentum, the founders, Shelly Porges and Sarah Chen-Spellings launched Beyond The Billion, to catalyse capital deployed to and with these venture funds, ensuring their continued capacity to invest by bridging LPs and GPs, building a community of institutional investors, sovereign funds, IFIs, DFIs, family offices, wealth managers and high net worth individuals; driving the agenda collectively.
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Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/europes-funding-gap-paris-london-brnd/
