The FoundHer™ Forum, a series of events aimed at sparking discussions about investing in female founders within the Philippine startup community, begins its 2024 series on March 12, 2024, from 2:00 to 5:00 PM at KMC One Ayala, located at EDSA corner Ayala Avenue, Makati City. The event is made possible through the support of event partner 1882 Energy Ventures, an AboitizPower company.
Launched in October 2023 by inclusion studio Imaginable Impact, the FoundHer™ Forum bridges female founders with investors and ecosystem leaders. As an open and collaborative medium, startup stakeholders discuss what it means to close the gender investing gap. While previous forums explored the benefit of investing in Filipina founders, this upcoming forum will tackle the question, “How might we break the invisibility barrier for female founders and women-led ventures?”
Prominent figures from the Philippine startup community will lead discussions at the FoundHer™ Forum. Tina Di Cicco, Chair of the Gender-Lens Investing Committee at Manila Angel Investors Network (MAIN), will deliver the keynote, advocating for investing in women. Joining the Investor Panel to share their insights are Raya Buensuceso, Managing Director of Kaya Founders; Rene Cuartero, CEO and Co-Founder of AHG Lab; and Jojo Flores, Co-Founder of Plug and Play Tech Center and Launchgarage. Carmina Bayombong, Founder and CEO of InvestEd, will share her founder story, representing the female founder community.
Moving female founders “from invisible to investible”
In the Philippines, statistics show that only one in four small and medium enterprises are owned by women, as reported by Investing in Women, a partner of MAIN and Investing in Women, an initiative of the Australian government aimed at catalyzing women’s economic empowerment in Southeast Asia.
According to Imaginable Impact Co-Founder and CEO Niña Terol the theme for the upcoming edition of FoundHer™ Forum has its roots in her interactions with investors themselves. “Since Day One of our work with the startup ecosystem, investors have been asking us, ‘Where are the female founders? Where are the investible women?’ The question came as a surprise to us because we see and know these women. We’ve seen the innovative businesses they’re building and the underserved markets they’re engaging — many of which have huge economic potential.”
Terol continues, “But many of them are still largely under the radar of investors and ecosystem enablers, so they aren’t able to access the capital, the network, and the resources they need to grow and scale their businesses and their impact. So at the end of the day, women are still absent in deal rooms, and we still have a huge capital gap for female founders.”
While the local data on gender lens investing is still lacking, there is a burgeoning demand for the ecosystem players — investors, enablers, and founders alike — to go deeper into what it means to invest in females and their ventures.
“You can look at the gender investing gap as an ecosystem issue,” says Candice Quimpo, Imaginable Impact Co-Founder and COO. “While it is important for investors to evaluate and address their pipeline issues on their own, and for female founders to actively seek their funding matches, we need to realize it takes a collaborative approach for all of us — to look at funding models and paradigms that go beyond how we look at investing in startups today.”
Quimpo adds, “Women are not in the pipeline because they’re incapable of running a business; global data has already shown that women-led companies yield better returns on investment. Yet, females are in need of a lot of support to be able to get in front of investors in a meaningful way. Female founders looking to scale need better investment literacy, wider networks and influence, and non-capital support to validate their models and build traction. Let’s start here.”
Inclusive and open to all genders
Although the FoundHer™ Forum was developed to support female founders, Imaginable Impact’s co-founders underscore that it’s an inclusive event, open to all genders.
“Allyship has been an important part of our work, and we’re here because many allies have opened their doors to us and connected us to important people and resources,” shares Quimpo. “It’s important that everyone — regardless of gender — takes part in the FoundHer™ Forum conversations because we need champions and collaborators who will advocate for the systemic shift we’re working towards.”
“At Imaginable Impact, we believe that, ‘When women thrive, we all win’”, Terol adds. “When we support female founders in building successful, scalable businesses, we enable them to create impact that extends to entire families, communities, and even industries. We enable them to create jobs and generate returns for their investors. There is tremendous potential in a female-led economy — and we all will benefit from it.”
To learn more about the event and to buy tickets, go to www.imaginableimpact.com.