Female founder funding campaign sheds light on progress but bias remains…

New research was published last week from Tech Ireland that tracked €100m in funding for women entrepreneurs here in Ireland in 2018. Whilst the funding was just shy of the target by €3m, the good news is that there was an increase in investment from 2017.

The report is an interesting one and Tech Ireland are playing an important role in tracking and publishing this data, because when you see in black and white the statistics it’s so clear there is a big problem!

Here are the statistics to prove it….

€97.7m funding raised by women is only 10.5% of the total of €930m raised in 2018.

The number of female tech founders in Ireland in 2018 was 366 which is just 17% of the 2,173 founders counted in total.

The average deal size in Ireland in 2018 was €4.3m. Female founders raised on average €2.1m while male founders raised on average €4.9m.

So the message is clear, we all have more to do!

Norgil Associates is a consultancy specialising in enabling companies to achieve hyper growth. We can help you understand how to successfully scale and fund your business. The world of funding is bigger and more accessible than you might think. Find out more

Seven Questions with Tracey Young - co-founder and CEO of PlanGrid

Another great Q&A from our friends at Sequoia with Tracey Young, CEO of PlanGrid.

Her message about simply listening strikes me as so fundamental to leadership and business success. She says ‘As I met people who were incredible listeners, I noticed how much they were able to take away from a conversation, and I really admired that.

I have felt the need and the pressure to be the manager who is always giving the ideas and has all the answers. There is a time and place where that is vital but also standing back and just listening to the team, peers, clients and industry is so vital. Showing I am approachable, willing to listen and engaged is something I strive for daily.

As business mentors, it’s our role to listen and understand a clients journey, goals and aspirations. So often when we partner with clients, their strategy and approach quickly evolve, when we press pause on execution mode and take the time to just talk. Simply listening could be the difference! So Find out more and book an exploratory session today.

Practical Steps By Tech Firms To Attract Women....Can't Come Soon Enough!

Encouraging reading within this Special Report by The Financial Times that companies are starting to address the lack of female representation on a very practical level.

Training staff around unconscious bias, removing candidate gender from CV’s and most importantly changing job adverts to attract female talent are great first steps in getting the balance we need!

As female business mentor in technology, I help companies define their go to market strategy to help maximise revenue growth, having the right people in the room is vital and attracting, training and retaining talent is key. Find out more

Women can make AI count for us all…

The start of a new week and another inspiring example of women trail blazing in the world of Artificial Intelligence. This article by Forbes is highlighting that the reach of AI and the applications are so vast, we must have everyone represented to ensure we get the benefits for all!

As female business mentor in technology, I help companies define their go to market strategy to help maximise revenue growth. Find out more