Ta Eom es F Cubed founder Anu Duggal raises Rs 30 crore for women- led startups f BENGALURU: Anu Duggal, an IndianAmerican founder of seed capita find Female Founders Fund, or F Cubed, last week completed raising $5 millon, or about Rs 30 crore to invest in ‘womereled startups, Why? Because there's @ huge gap in early-stage funding for women and Duggal sees a great ‘opportunity to get good retuens on investments. “Almost every single woman entrepreneur Ive spoken to said thank you so much for starting ths fund,” said Duggal, who has so far invested '$60,000-$150,000 for 1 per cen-2 per cent stake in 11 companies. Duggat's is among several recert initiatives in Silicon Valley to help women entrepreneurs in the early days of ther entrepreneurial journay. Others inckide San Franciscobased Astia, ou Do abd rng se ean ‘AOL's 'BultBy Gir Fund and isabella Capital Star ly aio aman enmsanars oe ay of ‘According to Diana Project, an initiative of Babson College that studied venture capital funding Inwomen entrepreneurs, startups with women enizepreneurs received just 9 per cont ofthe total ET SPECIAL: Sow precious me aching our seed-stage investments ard 13 percent of early-stage investments in he US between 2011 (nserver and 2013. This despite women being majority owners of more than onethrd of all US businesses. ‘Woman entrepreneurs in hia, too, have a tough time securing early stage capital. Sangeeta Banerjee of Bangalore-based AparimeriAdda, an oniine account management and software provider for housing societies, sald it was a prize money of Rs § lakh she won from an annual ‘women conference in2011 that gave her the confidence fo launch new products. “was a moral support for us. The money became our cushion for almost every isk," said Banerjee, 37, whose company was sellfunded atthe time Today, ApartmertAdda manages Rs 60 crore of apartment biling across sixcities every morih, And Banerjee has passed on the Rs 6 lakh to another women entrepreneur, Meera K, of bootstrapped ontine startup Citizen Matters. “could have bought myselfa car, butitwas a lot more than mere money," she sai. Experts say investing in woman entrepreneurs is not about gender equality or empowering women. Instead, by nt investing enough in women erirepreneus, the ecosystem s excluding the most innovative and sensible half of the population, “Allof the big fms are predominantly male and simply dott understand the opportunites in markets and the capabilties of women” said Vivek Wadhwa, an Indian American technology enrepreneur and academic who co-authored ‘Innovating Women: The Changing Face of Technology." This is not segregation, itis simply a matter of focus and balance. So we need much more,” he said. One of the first woman- focused funds in hia is VentureBean Consulting, where promoting women entrepreneurship is the core focus. Asjana Vivek, who runs Venture-Bean, said @ network of women entrepreneurs in India has identified those venture capitalists without a gender bias and pitches their ideas to them. "But to getto the nex love, integration witn the larger ecosystem is required,” she sad, Globally, there are a few fms that ensupport the cause for women in entrepreneurship. San Francisco-based Asta has @ mentor network, an ‘angel fund and a growth fund in place to help identify and nurture women entrepreneurs. In September, AOL (previously America Online) Introduced a $10-millon Bull By Gis’ Fund, or 88 Fund, to invest in early-stage female-led startups, Then there is Isabella Capital, inspired by Queen Isabella of Castile, Spain, who funded Christopher Columbus! voyage that led to the discovery ofthe Americas. ‘Anu Duggal'sF Cubed, meanwhile, plans to fund 15 more femalesied companies. Besides F Cubed, Duggal, 35, aso runs Doonya, a Bollywood dance-nspired finess and media company, Four-years-ago, she cofounded Exclusively. in, an e-commerce fashion, jewellery and home decor compary featuring Indian brands and designers. She also advises‘companies such as india internet Group, Classtvly. com, LitleBorrowedDress and Lover ly. LUedtehot ows Fvselo lene TV Newshtor Carmen Speed katte ‘ver Tes Group news ses LMngandenteainmont Hat onthe Web Servcas Trasery 104018 Day eoeeoe|Wesber neh) Beck ac | cre sonora Zoom Drecrctt sere [farecpe"seege | To te rere toguy HDA eter ati | rte Astgy [0 1 on |B rm Sant Soeare ee eeeea tn a ‘Serato 1Esamey TN a tnt Novoust Sar networking Fame ms | yt | Ute ora soe | sng Cat | Sa ‘Aeutu Aeveea wine Tr of oa ance eee hay Ply Fondbeck Stara Cate ce ‘eh ©2094 Te Ht ed Ai ead