A new women-led business angel group is up and running in Scotland.
Mint Ventures’ 20 founding members say they are close to completing their first investment in a Scottish women-led growth company.
The group was set up in response to research, by Women’s Enterprise Scotland, showing access to finance remains the biggest barrier for women starting and scaling their businesses.
Gender imbalance from the get-go
Women start their businesses with 53% less capital than men do, ask for 30% less funding and, as a result, are often hugely under-capitalised from the outset, the study found.
Only 14% of all capital raised goes to women-led businesses and fewer than 15% of the UK’s business angels are female.
Mint Ventures is supported by LINC Scotland, UKBAA, Royal Bank of Scotland and Par Equity.
It will focus on investments in the “critical” £50,000 to £250,000 funding gap, particularly in “under-represented” sectors – including creative industries, retail and food & drink – that are often of more interest to women.
All companies seeking investment will need to demonstrate a social, ethical or environmental purpose and have clear ESG (environment, social and governance) goals.
For too long women have been under-represented and under-funded when it comes to early-stage equity investment. We are on a mission to change that.”
Gillian Fleming, chief executive, Mint Ventures.
Mint Ventures will also provide an educational, development and networking programme for its women members, allowing them to train for six months to qualify before they make their first investment.
The new group is led by chief executive Gillian Fleming, an experienced start-up adviser and investor, and one of the UK Business Angels Association (UKBAA)’s top 20 women business angels in 2021.
Ms Fleming said, “For too long women have been under-represented and under-funded when it comes to early-stage equity investment.
“We are on a mission to change that through our educational programme to support more women to become angel investors and invest in diverse companies with purpose.”
You don’t have to be super wealthy to be an angel investor.”
She added: “We want to democratise angel investing and make it more accessible to women from all walks of life.
“You don’t have to be super wealthy to be an angel investor – our minimum investment ticket size per person is £2,000.
“We are looking forward to having more members joining our monthly networking and leadership events and to helping more women fulfil their economic potential.”
UKBAA chief executive Jenny Tooth said: “Our research has shown that key barriers for women are lack of access to knowledge and peer experience on angel investing.
“It’s good to see the approach that Mint Ventures is taking to provide educational resources and mentoring support to new women angels.”
Paul Atkinson, partner and founder of Par Equity, one of Scotland’s leading business angel groups, said “We recognise that in Scotland we have too few women angel investors and are pleased to partner with Mint Ventures as they build their membership.
“If we want to help women realise their economic potential, we have to challenge the conscious and unconscious biases which result in women-owned businesses not getting access to the business funding they need.”
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