The Global Support Ecosystem for Women Entrepreneurs and Investors
By: Joshua Henderson
Tags: Entrepreneurship, Startup, Venture Capitalist, Venture Capital, Founders

The Global Support Ecosystem for Women Entrepreneurs and Investors

340+ VCs, accelerators, angel networks, conferences, platforms, and communities supporting women innovators and investors

Changelog: Last updated September 6, 2020 (+AIM-HI Accelerator Fund’s Women’s Venture Competition, Capital Access Lab by Kauffman Foundation, Chingona Ventures, Collab Capital, Diversity Rider Initiative by Act One Ventures, Diversity Innovation Hub, Dreamers & Doers, Firstboard.io, For Colored Girls Who Tech, Hadean Ventures, Hello Career Guru, Included VC, Ingressive Capital, Metrodora Ventures, OSEA Angel Investors, PledgeLA Summer Lab Fund, Startup-Investor Matching Tool, The Community Fund, The Venture Collective, Transparent Collective, WLOUNGE, -The Ventura); July 7, 2020 (+ 24 Hour Assembly, Anthemis, Array VC, Beta Boom, Consider Something Better, Eleanor Venture, Female Innovators Lab, FourthWave, Fund the Women Ventures, Her Corner, Launchpad2x, Lightship Capital, Talent x Opportunity Fund, Venture Forward, Women Founders Community, YSYS, Zane Venture Fund); June 1, 2020 (+ Daintree Capital, Financial Alliance for Women, Invest for Better, Nia Impact Capital, NNE WIN, OneTech, Teja Ventures, wiseHer, Women’s Innovation Fund Accelerator); May 25, 2020 (+ Bossy Chicago, The Capital Network’s Fellowship for Female Founders, Chooks SA, Code Like a Girl, CoworkHERS, DBL Partners, EllePod, Emerge, FD Global’s ScaleUP Programs, Found & Flourish, Girl Geek Academy, H Ventures, Halo Incubator, Heads Over Heels, Her Capital, How Women Invest, Impulse4women, Mums & Co, Rogue Women, Tech Ready Women Academy, WEConnect International, Wedbush Ventures, WeDemption, Women In Innovation; -SheStarts by Blue Chilli); May 11, 2020 (+ 23 Code Street, Female Founder School, Venturous Counsel, W Fund); May 5, 2020 (+ Camelback Ventures, Diana Capital Partners, Female Founder Collective, Female Ventures, Femstreet Membership, For Colored Girls Who Tech, GUILD Academy, Impact By Women, Impact Engine, Marigold Capital, NY Fashion Tech Lab, Scroobious, Women of Wearables)

An original version of this list in 2015 could fit on a single slide…

Maintaining this list over the last five years has been a labor of love, and one that has allowed me to witness the exponential growth of this support ecosystem for women that build and invest in early-stage companies. Over the last 12 years as the Vice President of Springboard Enterprises, a global network of women innovators transforming industries, I’ve met the leaders of many of the organizations included in this list and I’m honored to be part of a community of exceptional people that recognize this is not only a valuable mission but a lucrative one: there is big money to be made in finding and funding companies led by diverse teams.

Since the last edition of this list there is a significant amount of new funding in the hands of women, including funds that do and don’t focus on investing in women-led teams. I love how Jane VC’s Ann Bordetsky put this in a recent post on women-led VC funds: “The most exciting and transformative trend happening in the Tech community right now is a new generation of venture funds — founded, raised and led by experienced, badass women. This wave of Wonder Women will reshape Silicon Valley as we know it.”

COVID-19 is also reshaping the startup world and the way that all of us connect with and support those on the herculean mission to build a viable business. Communities are convening in new, virtual ways and evolving their support models. In the coming months, I will update this post to call out those organizations with virtual engagement opportunities.

If you’re part of a woman-led company, I hope this list makes your life easier by pointing you to valuable virtual resources and human capital you didn’t already know about.