Mindshift Capital

An amazing opportunity to join a powerful leader Jessica Robinson and a growing #purpose-led organization Solve Strategies! ⬇️ Mindshift Capital Cornell Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise Monica Touesnard

❤️

An honor to be part of #innovationday Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority and Techstars 🇦🇪 Nader AlBastaki Christie Pitts Michael Downing Mohamed Almazrouei, CFA Heather Henyon

One of the things that brings me most joy in my life is the work I do as a gender lens investor (definition: investing that takes into consideration gender-based factors across the investment process to advance gender equality and better inform investment decisions"). I've met the most incredible women in this journey - in particular, Heather Henyon who has rockstar status in this field and set up Mindshift Capital of which I am an LP. One thing that amazes and delights me is the number of female founded start-ups that seek to solve sustainability challenges. I love the tenacity of these women who understand societal and environmental complexities and just think, 'how can we solve this problem?'. We had a great discussion with some of these fantastic companies at Mindshift's AGM - Patricia Bubner, PhD Chen Zhu Magnus Schreiber Orbillion Bio (YC W21) Swedish Algae Factory (photo of Heather below - doing her magic at the AGM!) As an aside, I am working on a new project to support women entrepreneurs developing climate solutions so please do reach out you know of any, esp. in the GCC ...

🚀 Excited to be joining an amazing group of international speakers at the WED Innovation Day. Organised by the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority in partnership with Techstars on October 29, 2024 we will be exploring ecosystem-building, highlighting startup leaders and uncovering development opportunities at the intersection of early childhood development (ECD) and innovation in Abu Dhabi and the UAE. Techstars Mindshift Capital #EarlyChildhoodDevelopment #Innovation #Entrepreneurship

Thank you Jessica Robinson for walking the talk and your support of #femalefounders and #funders!

On behalf of Mindshift Capital I had the honor of attending the Standard Chartered Women in Tech Demo Day 2024 HE Alia Abdulla AlMazrouei, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Ministry of Economy gave an inspiring keynote highlighting the numerous initiatives the UAE is taking to promote entrepreneurship and showcasing how women have been leading the charge Afterwards, the pitches kicked off and I was BLOWN away by the passion and innovation of these fantastic impact entrepreneurs - all of whom happen to be women! They are tackling a wide variety of critical problems: - ImInclusive | Disability Inclusion Service creating employment opportunities for people with disabilities - Circa Biotech Using insects (!!) to upcycle organic waste to produce fertilizer, high quality protein and aviation fuel - BioSapien Revolutionizing cancer treatment - The Surpluss | Certified B Corp AI-powered platform helping SMEs monetize their surplus capacity - EduPloyment AI Powered recruiting platform for workers - 2MO - Second Medical Opinion: Optimizing the second medical opinion process - Ostaz Connectjng students to qualified private tutors - Takkul Surplus food app - Olive Gaea AI-driven carbon management and accounting platform - Kanjo Health AI-driven platform to improve clinicians’ diagnosis of mental health conditions - Archireef 3D printed reef tiles to support coral reef recovery - siira.me Facilitating community support for employee wellbeing Congratulations to the winners Biosapien, Siira and Archireef and thanks to Kevin Holliday and the rest of the C3 - Companies Creating Change team for putting together a fantastic event as always Heather Henyon Barbara Baumgartner Rebecca Hall Marcia Dawood Medea Nocentini

The ACA has released a new white paper, "Empowering Change: Lessons from the Women’s Investor Forum.” Written by thought leaders Marcia Dawood, Sue Bevan Baggott and Angel Investor Foundation’s Katelynne Staehnke, the article sheds light on the significant outcomes of the Angel Capital Association’s (ACA) Women’s Investor Forum (WIF) events held in 2023 and 2024. Get the full white paper here: https://lnkd.in/gGP7nEM7 and click through to get an overview. Pat Gouhin Mindshift Capital Show Her The Money Silvia Mah PhD, MBA Nicole Washington Michal Soclof Joann MacMaster Dawn Batts Kristina Montague Eva Doss Ronald Weissman Catherine Gray Golden Seeds The JumpFund Next Wave Impact NuFund Venture Group Citrine Angels Black Girl Ventures 37 Angels Fearless Fund Dr. Shakenna K. Williams BELLE Capital USA LP

I recently came across the 2024 Wells Fargo Impact of Women-Owned Business Report, developed in collaboration with Ventureneer, CoreWoman, and Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP). Here are some key highlights (link to report in comments): Women-owned businesses represent 39.1% of all U.S. businesses, totaling over 14 million, employing 12.2 million workers, and generating $2.7 trillion in revenue. Between 2019 and 2023, women-owned businesses grew at nearly double the rate of men-owned businesses, with the rate of growth from 2022 to 2023 increasing to 4.5 times that of men's. During the same period, employment in women-owned businesses increased by 252.8%, compared to 94.3% in men-owned businesses. Women own 75% of businesses that are 15 years old or younger, versus 66% for men. Throughout the pandemic, women launched more businesses than they closed, added 1.4 million jobs, and increased their revenue by $579.6 billion. Nearly half a million women-owned businesses with revenues between $250,000 and $999,999 increased their revenues by about 30%. Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino women-owned businesses saw revenue growth of 32.7% and 17.1% respectively, outpacing the overall 12.1% rise for all women-owned businesses from 2019 to 2023. Despite women-owned businesses effectively addressing user pain points and experiencing rapid growth over the past five years, female founders still receive less than 3 percent of all venture capital investments. Why is this the case? The evidence is unmistakable: when women lead and own businesses, they thrive and grow. However, the persistent bias among predominantly male investors undervalues the economic potential of female founders, significantly hampering economic growth and progress. This oversight not only stifles innovation but also costs the economy in missed opportunities. The numbers don’t lie—so what actions are current investors taking to ensure that bias against women doesn't undermine their potential returns? Cindy Belardo Ella Rytsölä 🎉 Jennifer S. Ives Ellen Sullivan Medha K. Jen Ngozi Dr Jummy Okoya PhD, Sharon Melnick, Ph.D. Heather Henyon Alessandra Lomonaco Shanthi Marie Blanchard (she/her) Nick Dean