We just passed the half-way mark of our 40-day investment offering in Pique Fund. Jill Earthy and I have been working together, reaching out to people in our respective networks and spreading the word about the opportunity to invest in women-led companies, through Pique Fund.
After several emails, 2 call-in information sessions, 1 investor breakfast, and a couple of networking events, I knew that people were interested – women investors were interested, but it felt as though they weren’t getting to the investment amount nor advancing through the investment process as quickly as men were. It seemed that more men were signing up on FrontFundr – or were they? My intuition and emotion were hinting at something, so I got out my trusty spreadsheet and counted – to prove or disprove my hunch and my feelings.
After 20 days, here’s what we have:
- 26 people have told me they are interested, of that 19 are women.
- Of the 26 people that expressed interest, 6 have logged on via FrontFundr, of that 2 are women.
- Of the 26 people that expressed interest, 7 people have discussed their desired investment amount, of that 4 are women.
So what does this tell us?
- Women are interested in this investment opportunity and mind you, Jill and I have been intentionally letting a lot more women know about Pique Fund.
- Percentage-wise, men have more quickly discussed investment amount and have gotten started on FrontFundr, but numbers-wise it is roughly the same number of men and women that have been ready to talk numbers.
- From this small sample, more men have explored FrontFundr.
What is particularly interesting about these numbers to me is the number of women who are interested. It’s the datapoint that was missing from my near-term hunch and feeling, but is exactly aligned with my long-term hunch. Women are interested in investing in private ventures and that we can change the ratio of investors represented by women with investment opportunities that serve their needs and desires. I’m happy to walk prospective investors through the process on FrontFundr. It takes less than 15 minutes to complete the initial investor assessment form. I recommend setting aside an hour to review the investment documents and read up on what Pique Fund is all about.
When Pique Fund first launched, 10 out of the 12 founding shareholders were women, representing 85% of the founding capital (whereas, for example, in the US, women represent less than 25% of US angel investors.)
Interested in changing the ratio? Pique Fund is open to anyone in BC to invest (and accredited investors outside of BC can also invest). We’ve invested in four impactful, revenue-generating women-led companies so far and have a great pipeline of companies to consider. The minimum investment is $5,000, BC investors can get a 30% tax credit, and investments are RRSP and TFSA eligible.
To invest and to review the full set of investment documents, register here or email me at bonnie[at]piqueventures[dot]com.
