Put women at the heart of a post-pandemic tech boom
In a op-ed printed by The Telegraph, Merian Venture’s founder Alexsis de Raadt St James and Imperial College London President Alice Gast, together argue that supporting women in tech will be essential to recovery from the pandemic. They present arguments for business, governments, and universities to step up and do more to drive change. “Women have been disproportionately affected by the economic fallout of the pandemic. This is in part because they are underrepresented in industries that have continued to grow.”…
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The pandemic has been an economic disaster for women. Some took advantage of it.
As of December, more than a quarter of all small businesses in the United States have closed, according to data from Opportunity Insights, a nonprofit based at Harvard University. Among those still in business, half of the small business owners said they could survive only one more year under current economic conditions, according to a recent survey by MetLife and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Yet, as of mid-December, there have been more than 1.5 million new business applications in the United States, up 82 percent in the third quarter compared with a year ago, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Many of those businesses are being started by women. Welcome to a pandemic-fueled rise in female entrepreneurship.
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The SBA Is Stepping Up Its Efforts to Help Women Entrepreneurs
Last week the SBA launched Ascent, a free e-learning platform that provides help with issues ranging from hazard pay to how to create a profit and loss statement. The agency partnered with the White House, the U.S. Department of Labor's Women's Bureau, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury to develop the new tool.
The platform breaks down the early stages of starting a business into modules called "journeys" and weaves together materials from government and private sector sources.
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New Data Suggests Female Entrepreneurs are Driving Economic Recovery
Print-Print, a nationwide leader in the provision of printed leaflets, brochures, posters, and business stationery, has published the findings of its latest COVID-19 study, highlighting a surge in orders from female entrepreneurs.
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20 Asian Tech Pioneers honoured in 2020
Merian Ventures’ Venture Partner, Priya Guha, was recognized for her support of the tech ecosystem by Diversity UK in the annual Top 100 Asian Stars in the UK Tech list. The list celebrates diversity in the digital sector with a focus on disruptive technologies. Congratulations Priya!
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Silicon Valley and London: Uniting global tech hubs to solve global challenges
Last week, investors, entrepreneurs and policy makers representing some of the most profitable, game-changing companies from the UK and Silicon Valley met for the 14th Silicon Valley Comes to the UK. One consensus of the summit was that making profit does not have to come at the expense of simultaneously benefiting society. The majority of the speakers agreed – companies with a focus on profit, with a purpose, are what society needs more of right now. Read more about this impactful summit.
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Quarterly VC funding for female founders drops to three-year low
Venture Firms invested a total of $434 million in Q3 in female founded enterprises—the lowest figure since the second quarter of 2017, according to PitchBook data. The third quarter total also amounts to a 48% drop in funding from Q2, when female founders received $841 million across 132 deals
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Leader Insights | Driving Diversity in Tech with Priya Guha, Merian Ventures
Priya Guha, Venture Partner at Merian Ventures, will be participating at Startup Summit 2020, set to be held on 28th & 29th October on a virtual conference platform. Ahead of Startup Summit 2020, DIGIT caught up with Ms. Guhu to discuss diversity in tech and VC investment for female tech entrepreneurs.
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Computer Weekly announces the Most Influential Women in UK Tech 2020
Computer Weekly has announced the 2020 list of the 50 Most Influential Women in UK Technology. The list makes female role models in the tech sector more visible and accessible. Selected in this year’s list is Merian Venture’s Priya Guha, a venture partner on our team since 2019.
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How Coronavirus Is Changing the Future of Work for Women
The world is changing at a rapid pace, and the way we work, live and do business has changed along with it. Many changes have been obvious—increases in remote work, online business and flexible work schedules—while others have been subtle shifts toward what many are calling the New Normal.
For women, however, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a unique situation, turning the status quo on its edge. The economic uncertainty in the wake of lockdowns around the world have been labeled a ‘she-cession,’ with more women—especially women of color—being negatively impacted by the current recession. The gender pay gap alone will cost the average woman $900,000 over a 40-year career when compared to the average earnings of a man, and those numbers are much worse for minorities.
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Former Digital Adviser to David Beckham Joins OII
Traci Maddock, a Director at Merian Ventures, has been appointed a Visiting Policy Fellow at The Oxford Internet Institute (OII), part of the University of Oxford.
Ms. Maddock is a leading digital strategist and social media architect specialising in identifying and realising strategic partnerships for brands, causes, and global talent. Her focus will be to examine the true social and personal impact on the lives of young women who have participated and embraced image-led social media platforms in their daily lives.
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Mapping Out The Top Female Founders On Every Continent
A report on the leading female founders around the globe was recently published by Business Financing UK, identifying leaders on every continent that are succeeding at challenging the gender bias in funding and founding successful enterprises.
It’s no secret that when it comes to funding and investment for entrepreneurs on a global scale, women (and especially women of color) are being ignored at a depressing rate compared to men. With 98% of Venture Capital funding going to men, to be more precise, the gender gap in the world of entrepreneurship has a long way to go because it means women-led companies aren’t hitting the market in the same way as male-led companies.
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Today’s Students Want to Become Startup Founders — and 40% are Female Founders
Students aren’t quite as keen as they used to be to become lawyers and bankers and management consultants; they want to become founders instead. A quarter of UK students now run — or plan to start a company — while at university. Collectively, they raked in £1bn in 2019; a 32% increase on 2016. Four in ten of these startup teams are led by female founders.
To support this trend, universities now have accelerators, incubators and other programmes to encourage and support tech startups — and Ana Bakshi, director of Oxford’s entrepreneur centre Oxford Foundry, recently called for more to jump on the bandwagon to stimulate the UK’s economic recovery.
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Most Influential Women in UK Tech: The 2020 Longlist
Computer Weekly asks “Who are the most influential women in UK tech?” Each year, the number of nominations grows as the industry tells us who it thinks should be considered for the top 50 list.
As part of our commitment to shining a light on the female technology role models throughout the UK, Computer Weekly started publishing the longlist in 2017 when the number of nominations exceeded 160.
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Future Fund Releases First Set of Diversity Data
The UK’s Future Fund released diversity information about applicants that have been approved for funding.
Only 1% of the funded companies have all-female management teams – even lower than the 4% of startups which received VC funding in the UK in 2017 with all-female founding teams. The 3 companies have received £3.2M out of £236.2M awarded to date.
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson launches London Tech Week’s virtual sessions
Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, welcomed attendees of the online London Tech Week LTWConnects series. Alexsis de Raadt St. James, Founder & Managing Partner and Priya Guha, Venture Partner of Merian Ventures spoke at this event with other speakers including Hillary Rodham Clinton, Cherie Blair QC CBE, Simmone Taitt and Ruby Wax. Read more about the State of Investment and other topics presented during the week.
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UK’s Coronavirus Startup Rescue Package Disfavors Women-led Startup
This pair of articles discusses the UK government’s £1.25bn ($1.55bn) COVID-19 rescue package for startups, devised by an all-male panel of tech investors. The package, comprised of The Future Fund and Innovate UK Fund, favors startups that already have VC backing – typically launched by men. This built-in bias against women-led companies has raised concerns and sparked debate. Priya Guha, a UK-based Venture Partner of Merian Ventures and a council member of Innovate UK, offers an interpretation of this investment bias.
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TLA Resource Hub Launches to Aid UK Startups Through Pandemic
Tech London Advocates launched its TLA Resource Hub to support startups in the UK through the current coronavirus pandemic. Established for the purpose of providing startups in London advice and expertise during the outbreak, the TLA Resource Hub has been backed by representatives from companies such as Hiscox, KPMG and Merian Ventures.
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Female Founders Face Funding Hurdles Amid the Pandemic
Women, especially first-time founders, have long lagged behind men in raising venture capital for their startups. But in the pandemic's heightened climate of caution, anecdotes from female founders suggest that they face even greater hurdles because VCs are suddenly turning more risk-averse. Having a track record goes a long way toward gaining the trust—and checks—of investors, even in a growing economy.
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