Survey Finds Women Entrepreneurs Get Little Venture Capital
April 14th 2007 08:36
A survey shows that only a trickle of the money is being invested in millions of businesses owned by women even as venture capitalists shower billions of dollars on start-up companies in the United States. Moreover, out of 38 percent of US businesses owned by women, just 2 percent of the money invested by venture capital firms goes to women-owned firms, according to a survey by the National Foundation for Women Business Owners and Wells Fargo Band Co.
The survey indicates most female entrepreneurs are relying on their own savings and loans to finance their firm's growth instead of tapping into a rich vein of venture capital for cash infusions. The reasons why women remain off venture capital's radar screen are varied, based on the survey's findings and interviews with industry leaders and observers. Some of the most cited explanations include :
* Women aren't aggressively seeking venture capital.
* Women don't have enough inside connections to plug into the venture capital industry.
* Most women have been running staid businesses that offer little appeal to venture capitalists looking for fast-growing companies likely to make a killing in the stock market.
This is changing, though, as more women receive technical engineering degrees and others migrate from the telecommunications industry to start Internet-related companies.
The survey indicates most female entrepreneurs are relying on their own savings and loans to finance their firm's growth instead of tapping into a rich vein of venture capital for cash infusions. The reasons why women remain off venture capital's radar screen are varied, based on the survey's findings and interviews with industry leaders and observers. Some of the most cited explanations include :
* Women aren't aggressively seeking venture capital.
* Women don't have enough inside connections to plug into the venture capital industry.
* Most women have been running staid businesses that offer little appeal to venture capitalists looking for fast-growing companies likely to make a killing in the stock market.
This is changing, though, as more women receive technical engineering degrees and others migrate from the telecommunications industry to start Internet-related companies.
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