Currently, gender equity within Venture Capitalism falls short, with female-founded startups securing the lowest share of investment in the European Union, despite generating more than twice as much revenue per dollar invested when compared to male-founded companies. The 200Bn Club aims to bridge this gap by providing hands-on support to female entrepreneurs, backed by 40+ UK-based VCs and corporate partners.
Built by founders, for founders, the 200Bn Club is a 12-week non-equity programme open to applicants from all industries. Founded by Dr. Amber Ghaddar and Bridget Greenwood, it is geared towards getting participants pitch perfect and VC investable at its conclusion. The programme is unique in that it provides weekly mock pitches with VCs where they are asked to give honest feedback on why they would NOT invest in the participating startups. This allows startups to gain valuable insight and quickly fine-tune their pitch and business model to get them ready for pitch day in front of 40+ VCs with open books at the end of the programme. Additionally, corporate partners such as CMS Law, Mischon and others will donate their time to give hands-on courses and training on Legal, IP and Regulations.
Speaking about the launch of the programme, Dr. Amber Ghaddar, said, “As a female founder, I’ve experienced first-hand the pains of raising funds and understanding the real reasons VCs reject investment.”
“Having gone through the process, I’ve discovered that most accelerators focus on networking and take equity, without any guarantee of investment.”
“There’s no doubt networking is important, but without the money to get started or scale, it is meaningless.”
This is why, with the help of our VCs and corporate partners, we are backing women to adapt, conquer and change existing paradigms within private equity financing.”
“Female founders currently receive five times less funding than their male counterparts, with this number falling even lower among minorities, so The 200Bn Club aims to arm females with the expert-led support they need to succeed.”
So far, 43 top VCs with a combined £900Bn in assets under management, including HSBC Ventures, Molten Ventures (formerly Draper Esprit), and Frontline Ventures have pledged their time to provide mentorship and support to The 200Bn Club participants. Given the high rate of yield per dollar invested in female-founded startups, the involved VCs will have a direct line to a promising talent pool. The 200Bn Club curates the deal flow to maximise return for the VCs, ensuring that candidates are matched to the respective selection criteria upon completion of the programme.
The 200Bn Club programme will initially run online, consisting of five hours of expert-led masterclasses and workshops per week. Throughout the programme, participants will receive candid feedback on where and how to improve to receive investment, and if unsuccessful, will receive coaching on what they need to secure funding in the next cohort of applications. All 200Bn Club participants will get valuable face time with VCs every week and will take part in mock pitches throughout the course of the programme so that by the end of the programme they are able to give a compelling presentation and secure funding for their business.
