Launch of The 200 Billion Club Elevates Female-Founders in the UK

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With support from 43 top VCs with £900Bn in AUM, non-equity programme focuses on getting females pitch perfect and investable at its conclusion 

The 200Bn Club today announces a unique programme to accelerate financing directed to female founders and connect them with leading VCs from seed to Series A.

Currently, gender equity within Venture Capitalism falls short, with female-founded startups securing the lowest share of investment in the European Union, despite generating more than twice as much revenue per dollar invested when compared to male-founded companies. The 200Bn Club aims to bridge this gap by providing hands-on support to female entrepreneurs, backed by 40+ UK-based VCs and corporate partners. 

Bridget Greenwood

Built by founders, for founders, the 200Bn Club is a 12-week non-equity programme open to applicants from all industries. Founded by Dr. Amber Ghaddar and Bridget Greenwood, it is geared towards getting participants pitch perfect and VC investable at its conclusion. The programme is unique in that it provides weekly mock pitches with VCs where they are asked to give honest feedback on why they would NOT invest in the participating startups. This allows startups to gain valuable insight and quickly fine-tune their pitch and business model to get them ready for pitch day in front of 40+ VCs with open books at the end of the programme. Additionally, corporate partners such as CMS Law, Mischon and others will donate their time to give hands-on courses and training on Legal, IP and Regulations.

Dr Amber Ghaddar

Commenting on the launch, Dr. Amber Ghaddar, said: “As a female founder, I’ve experienced first-hand the pains of raising funds and understanding the real reasons VCs reject investment. Having gone through the process,  I’ve discovered that most accelerators focus on networking and take equity, without any guarantee of investment. There’s no doubt  networking is important, but without the money to get started or scale, it is meaningless. This is why, with the help of our VCs and corporate partners, we are backing women to adapt, conquer and change existing paradigms within private equity financing. Female founders currently receive five times less funding than their male counterparts, with this number falling even lower among minorities, so The 200Bn Club  aims to arm females with the expert-led support they need to succeed.”

So far, 43 top VCs with a combined £900Bn in assets under management, including HSBC Ventures, Molten Ventures (formerly Draper Esprit), and Frontline Ventures have pledged their time to provide mentorship and support to The 200Bn Club participants. Given the high rate of yield per dollar invested in female-founded startups, the involved VCs will have a direct line to a promising talent pool. The 200Bn Club curates the deal flow to maximise return for the VCs, ensuring that candidates are matched to the respective selection criteria upon completion of the programme.

The 200Bn Club programme will initially run online, consisting of five hours of expert-led masterclasses and workshops per week. Throughout the programme, participants will receive candid feedback on where and how to improve to receive investment, and if unsuccessful, will receive coaching on what they need to secure funding in the next cohort of applications. All 200Bn Club participants will get valuable face time with VCs every week and will take part in mock pitches throughout the course of the programme so that by the end of the programme they are able to give a compelling presentation and secure funding for their business.

Edel Coen, Head of Dealflow at Molten Capital (previously Draper Esprit), concluded, “As VCs, we are in the privileged position of making investments that have a real impact on the world we live in. But I believe we can do more to find and invest in founders that reflect our diverse society. Addressing female under-representation not only makes business sense but will also enable the next generation of founders to see themselves in the tech leaders of today. Partnering with The 200Bn Club can help us shape a new generation of female leaders.”

List of participating VCs (alphabetically) brings more than £900Bn in AUM:

4impact venture capital, Ada Ventures, ADG Prefcap, Albion VC, Ananda Impact Ventures, AngelsDen, Angular Ventures, Anthemis, Antler, Ascension, Astia, Augmentum Capital, Balderton Capital, Beringea, Digital Horizon VC, EHE Capital, Fin Venture Capital, Forward Partners, Founders Factory, Frontline Ventures, Galvanise Capital, HSBC Ventures, Illuminate Financial, Insight Partners, LDP Ventures, MMC Ventures, Molten Capital, Mouro Capital, Mustard seed, OXX, Partech Partners, Playfair Capital, Point Nine Capital, Rocket VC, SFC Capital, Speedinvest, Supernode Global, SuperSeed Ventures, Sure Valley Ventures, Syndicate Room, Talis Capital and Velocity Capital Fintech Ventures.

If you’re a female founder and interested in getting involved, applications are now open. Visit https://the200bn.club/ for more information.

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