The Importance of Diversity in Tech, Entrepreneurship and Angel Investing and the Female Founders of RVZ
At the early stages of fundraising, founders are often not yet de-risked enough to attract venture capital. Without customer traction or data points, how they are selected for funding is based on their pitch, their network and early champions.
It's also critical that the ecosystem is aware of the gaps in the funding market. The factors that affect women's success in raising from angels can be traced to limited access to networks, lack of capital, and training. In Canada, women make up only 2.82% of the country's CEO ranks. Due to the lack of female representation in the angel networks, women entrepreneurs in Canada are often pitching to rooms of only male investors.
Raising an earlier round of angel capital can be critical to attract future institutional investors, and a startup's ability to find and connect with like-minded individuals can be very valuable to its success. Before you start searching for potential investors, make sure to pay attention to red flags in the process of fundraising. It is a mutual relationship that can last for the rest of a startup's lifecycle.
Angels vs. VCs
Angel investing is different from other forms of capital. While VCs typically have a contract that clearly states the terms of their funding, angel investors have their own money and are not bound by specific investment criteria other than their own specifications. This is an important aspect to understand about angel investing, as this stage of funding can be entirely subjective.
How to Find Your Angels
It's equally important for founders to conduct their own due diligence on angel investors. Do your homework. There is a steep learning curve to raising capital. As a startup, you want to identify a reputable angel investor that has a track record of successfully assisting businesses (with more than just money — imagine contacts, resources, and so on).
It's equally important for startups and early-stage enterprises to thoroughly investigate the credentials of potential investors. You should also look for someone with a track record of helping companies. You want someone who has the passion and experience to connect with what your company offers. Before you start searching for potential investors, make a list of people who you would like to connect with.
You will also want someone whose experience and passions are authentically aligned with what your company offers. Make a "wish list" of people in your field with whom you would like to create relationships. Network your way into a warm introduction and a well-received conversation with them. Ensure your mutual contact follows up and champions you to get a close, this can take some time so don’t oversell or rush the relationship.
Find ways to diminish the likelihood of hasty, early decisions that can have lasting effects on your startup journey. It's crucial to pay attention to the red flags when building relationships. Build a trusted network that can open further trusted networks. This part is difficult to do quickly and it can be a numbers game. I have seen founders meet with over 1000 potential investors in one month. It is possible, but the hustle is real.
Phoenix Fire
As the newest fund of Archangel, Phoenix Fire is an all women investing team focused on women entrepreneurs. This is our solution to the gaps that exist within angel stage funding, enabling matches between female founders and aligned investors, advisors and champions. There are many more possibilities and opportunities out there, women do make up 50% of the population, after all.
The Women Founders at RVZ
The fierce women founders of RVZ have shown dedication and resilience while building their health and wellness or smart city, mobility and logistics startup as part of RVZ Launch. RVZ’s Launch (Incubator) program provides the necessary tools and resources for founders to launch in the market and connect with industry partners who can help them grow their companies.
As these founders build their tech startups, they're looking for like-minded people to join them on their growth journey. A startup's ability to find investors and advisors who share their vision, gain value from the ecosystem, access key time-efficient resources, apply strategic advice, and build a large network can make or break their business.
RVZ's female founders are looking for funds and raising capital in the near future to support their company. If you're interested in becoming an angel investor, please fill in this form to connect with AIO. Through their network, they've been able to create over $550 million in funding for high-potential ventures.
Shirook Ali- COO and Founder of Ecosystem Informatics
Ecosystem Informatics Inc (ESI) is an impact driven innovation company. It offers cost effective air quality and meteorological real-time monitoring and management to help control environmental impact, optimize operational efficacies, and boost production. ESI is filling the critical need for hyper local data and insights. ESI’s product has many applications uniquely offering governments, industries and advocacy groups a tool to manage environmental impact and operational efficiencies, helping them achieve their sustainability objectives.
Sakeena Mihar- CEO and Co-Founder of Savyn Tech
Sakeena Mihar is the CEO and co-founder of Savyn, a visbly Muslim female who has the lived experience of trauma as an immigrant from a country that had a war, which was the motivation behind starting Savyn. Savyn is an inclusive mental health platform to heal trauma using innovative therapies that combine both the physiological and cognition of traumatic memories. Savyn's beta has launched that uses grounding tools in English,Arabic and Mandarin and can be accessed here (external link) . Their EMDR product is currently being clinically validated at Sick Kids Research Institute.
Susan So- CEO and Co-Founder of FirstScreen
FirstScreen is a custom health screening solution that protects private health information. Businesses decide on the health policy for their teams based on data visualized and provided by FirstScreen.
Annette Selvanayagam- COO of Transpots
Transpots is empowering small trucking companies with the technology to compete and succeed. It offers affordable solutions to seamlessly manage the most challenging parts of their operations.
Eveline Pasman- COO & Founder of Tenomix
Tenomix’s mission is to develop novel technologies that target inefficiencies in the pathology workflow, optimize cancer care, and reduce healthcare costs. Currently, Tenomix is developing a bench-top robotic scanning device that guides pathology staff in efficient and reliable lymph node collection in surgically removed colon cancer tissues for accurate identification of cancer spread.
Sanila Sebastian- CMO of Pumpkin Kart
Pumpkin Kart is an online ethnic marketplace place that connects ethnic communities to their needs. Currently, they provide ethnic food, grocery, and alcohol delivery service. They hope to feature more ethnic businesses on their platform in the future.
About Danielle
Danielle Graham is currently the Capital Executive in Residence/Mentor at RVZ. She is also the Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Phoenix Fire, Founder of Fierce Founders at Communitech, previously Board Member of Golden Triangle Angel Network (GTAN), Principal at Sandpiper Ventures and Dream Maker Ventures, Manager at OCI’s Market Readiness Fund and Consultant at Deloitte. MBA, MA and BA.