Welcome to Female Funders

Female Funders has been built as a labour of love by a small group of women (and men) for the past few months and we’re incredibly excited to show you what we’ve been up to!

I believe that women are the new face of angel investing. I believe that with the right exposure, and education women could one day not only match — but surpass the number of men actively angel investing. Today we lack female role models in angel investing, and a community to support women getting involved in the space. With Female Funders we’re setting out to change that.

Today we launch a challenge to have 1000 women step forward and make their first angel investment in the next year.

“You don’t need to the net worth of Elon Musk to invest. If you’re working at Google or Facebook and have been there for a few years and you’re not scraping for cash, think about how you could best spend an extra $5,000-$10,000.” 

- Christine Tsai of 500 Startups for Women 2.0

Female Funders and angel investing in general is about so much more than just a financial return. We’ve found that the best female angel investors are investing to bring new products into the world, to explore personal interests, to learn about new industries and to help create the change the want to see in the world. They are unlocking new opportunities for themselves and the entrepreneurs that they support. We’ve talked to some of the top female angel investors to bring together Female Funders and what these women have in common is a belief that they have the power to make a difference and a clear understanding the risks that they are taking as angel investors. They know they may never see their money again, and to them it’s worth the risk.

I believe that through conversation, education and open discussion we can show women with the financial means to invest that angel investing is not some dark art or old boys club, angel investing is something that they too can become active participants in.

“The reason to invest is not to be an investor, but because you think this is a good idea and someone should make it happen. I invest in things that would not exist without me or some small group of investors, I invest in things that I think are worthwhile.” 

- Esther Dyson

I encourage you to explore the site.

The Female Funders profiles everyone from the who’s who of angel investment, like Joanne Wilson, Esther Dyson, and Cyan Banister, to woman you may never have seen profiled as angels before, like Heather Payne, Founder of Ladies Learning Code and HackerYou, and Renee DiResta, VP of Business Development at the startup Haven.

In addition to interviews, podcasts and educational resources, we’ll be publishing an ongoing blog series, “Angels in Training”, following a number of women as they set out to make their first investment. Aspiring angels like Rachel Ma, Toronto-based Creative Director in her early thirties, and Nicole Verkindt, a 31-year-old technology entrepreneur, as they go through the investment process for the first time.

“How much money did you spend on your holiday vacation this year”?  For many, the amount of money needed to make their first an angel investment is less than what they spend on their vacations.“ 

- Joanne Wilson, Angel Investor

I can’t wait to hear from you and to continue building Female Funders into the community you want it to become. If you want to be part of educating and inspiring the next generation of Female Funders as a volunteer, mentor, sponsor or in any other capacity - please email us at hello@femalefunders.

To help us empower 1000 women to make their first angel investment this year, visit Female Funders and use the hashtag #FemaleFunders1000 to spread the word.

Female Funders was created by Katherine Hague, a serial entrepreneur and angel investor. Katherine began angel investing after raising over $1 million in financing and selling her latest company at the age of 23. Today Katherine acts as the VP of community engagement at PCH — the company behind some of your favourite tech brands and accessories. In addition to supporting entrepreneurs through Female Funders, Katherine is a driving force behind the Women in Hardware movement, leading PCH’s #SheMadeIt series. Katherine was recently named one of the Women to Watch in Wearables and is the author of the upcoming book “Funded - An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Raising Your First Round”, being released early 2016 by O’Reilly Media. She has been quoted in the New York Times on fashion tech and recently interviewed for the Oprah Winfrey Network. Find Katherine online at @KatherineHague or at katherinehague.com.