Greenbackers Investment Capital recognises that many of the today’s most impactful high-growth companies are led by inclusive teams with women leaders.
It’s a paradox, women are more affected by climate change than men, and yet greentech is currently a male-dominated field. When it comes to creating climate solutions, the female perspective is sorely lacking. However, investing in female entrepreneurs would generate higher returns for society as a whole, as women invest more of their income in their families compared to men. And as female-founded businesses tend to employ 2.5 times more women than male-founded businesses, empowering female entrepreneurs would also mean that more women could access job opportunities.
To compound this, access to capital is a key challenge faced by female entrepreneurs, with evidence showing that they are discriminated against by banks. In 2017, only 2% of venture capital funding in the US went to all-female-founded startups. A study by Harvard, MIT and Wharton School showed this gender bias: when the same idea was pitched by a male and a female voice, two-thirds of investors picked the male voice. This bias could be a product of the fact that 88% of decision-makers in venture capital firms are men.
Comments Robert Hokin, Managing Partner at Greenbackers Investment Capital, “We would like to work with more women founders. The statistics are compelling: women-founded startups generate more revenue per euro, pound or dollar. Companies with more women in executive roles are 25% more likely to be profitable and on the investor side, each 10% point increase in diversity is associated with a 1.3% point increase in IRR. For Greenbackers, it’s an absolute no-brainer, we are keen to support them.”
Greenbackers are currently working with 7 fantastic women founded/co-founded ventures in the climate and cleantech space – to accelerate their fundraises. Meet the women entrepreneurs that Greenbackers are supporting!
Danu Robotics (Scotland) Danu Robotics has developed AI-guided, retrofittable, cost-effective robotic waste management systems. Amy Ma, CEO. See Danu Robotics 5-minute Pich Video here
Lambda Agri (England) Lambda energy’s photonic coating for greenhouse panels increases crop yields up to 30%. Monica Saavedra, CEO. See Lambda Agri’s 5-minute Pich Video here
L Saha (England) is a true-luxury brand, that applies pro-planet principles and a signature weave to their products, redefining the way fashion is produced and consumed. Laboni Saha, Founder & Creative Director. See L Saha Investment Deck here,
Nafici Environmental Research (England) NER converts agricultural residues into paper pulp for the paper packaging industry as an alternative to wood pulp, using significantly lower CO2, water and energy. Florence Miremadi-Nafici, CEO. See NER’s 5-minute Pich Video here
Reblade (Scotland) Experts in wind turbine decommissioning, providing clients across the UK and Ireland with a hassle-free turnkey service for renewable material removal. Fiona Lindsay, CEO. See ReBlades 5-minute Pich Video here
Sonichem (England) Biorefinery technology converts low-value woody biomass (e.g. sawdust) into high-value green chemicals: lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose sugars in an ultra-clean way. Miranda Lindsay-Fynn, Co-Founder, Commercial Dir. See Sonichem’s 5-minute Pich Video here
U-Earth Biotech (England) U-Earth Biotech uses cutting-edge biotech commercial air purifiers to remove air pollution. Betta Maggio, CEO and founder. See U-Earth’s 5-minute Pich Video here
If we can facilitate any introductions, please let us know. These companies can use all the community, resources and connections we can provide.
And if you are a female founder or co-founder in a cleantech start up or scale up seeking funding support…Greenbackers has your back. We know that raising first institutional capital for cleantech founders is very hard. Greenbackers can help.
About Greenbackers Investment Capital
Our mission: funding 1000 technologies to change the world. Greenbackers is a specialist venture firm focused on climate & cleantech capital globally.
We are the go-to fundraising advisory for Climate Tech ventures seeking to raise first institutional capital. Greenbackers are a highly experienced, but down-to-earth team who remove a lot of the fear factor and confusion from fundraising for founders.
We offer a goldilocks (just right) value proposition which falls in between (a) founders trying to raise on their own (low cost but soul destroying) and (b) retaining a major investment bank or mainstream advisory firm (cripplingly expensive and generalist)
Greenbackers use a combination of digital and on-premises channels to make the founder and investor experience as efficient and effective as possible. Operating from London, Glasgow and Houston. http://greenbackers.com
