Business schools target a fair start for women in start-ups

A report from the UK government’s Women-Led High-Growth Enterprise Taskforce noted in February that “eight out of 10 young people are unable to name a single female entrepreneur”. And, when they hear the word “entrepreneur”, they are four times more likely to think of a man, the report added.

While the position of women is improving in many areas of business — for example, the proportion on boards worldwide rose 3.6 per cent last year according to Deloitte, albeit only to 23.3 per cent — progress in entrepreneurship is patchy. Women-led businesses receive less than 2 per cent of venture capital funding in the UK, according to the government-owned British Business Bank, for instance.

But such obstacles and perceptions are not holding back Alvia Dibby Shadqah, an MSc Management student from Indonesia who led her team to the finals of Imperial College Business School’s WE Innovate entrepreneurship challenge, where they were runners-up. Their business, Hi-Fond, provides an edible preservative coating for fruits that prevents moisture loss and ensures better quality produce reaches consumers with less waste.

“Building confidence in a male-dominated entrepreneurial space can feel intimidating,” she says. “At industry conferences and meetings, I’m often the only woman in the room and that’s been daunting.” But she adds that Imperial offers “incredibly inclusive” programmes that “make female entrepreneurs feel safe to start expressing our ideas”.

The Enterprise Lab at Imperial, in London, has supported more than 500 women over the past 10 years, offering female entrepreneurs a range of support services over a six-month programme, including workshops, access to prototyping spaces and facilities, networking events and one-on-one mentoring by experienced entrepreneurs, investors and industry experts. The WE Innovate challenge, which comprises eight university partners, awards more than £250,000 in equity-free grant funding.

“There’s now more awareness and support for women’s entrepreneurship,” says Sarah Ranchev-Hale, head of the lab, “but the core challenges of gender biases and need for more female role models and mentors remain. Women still encounter significant barriers when seeking investment, often receiving less funding than their male counterparts.”

Elina Cohen-Peirano, a Masters in Management (MiM) graduate of Iéseg, in France, recalls meeting a female entrepreneur last year who was asked by investors if her husband would invest in her business. The investors did not fund her business. “It’s not a question they would ask male entrepreneurs,” the student notes. “Confidence is a major factor for aspiring female entrepreneurs.”

At the age of 24, Cohen-Peirano is on her third start-up. Urone is a social enterprise that works with business schools and universities to organise entrepreneurship classes, workshops and conferences for student entrepreneurs. A past venture helped young migrants integrate professionally and socially in the north of France, while another developed and marketed an innovative horseriding stirrup.

“Young female entrepreneurs who are also students need not only to strike a balance between academic responsibilities and their entrepreneurial journey, but also battle through gender gaps and inequalities while doing it,” Cohen-Peirano says.

“During my MiM, I had incredible professors, both women and men, who really opened my mind to what I could achieve,” she adds. “They’d studied at Harvard, started multiple businesses and worked with governments — all while still young. That really expanded my sense of what was possible.”

At industry conferences and meetings, I’m often the only woman in the room and that’s been daunting

A challenge that affects all young entrepreneurs, regardless of gender, is overcoming youth and limited experience when trying to build credibility and connections, says Mathilde Janicot, an HEC Paris MiM graduate. She did so, and launched Revolty, a venture that recycles electric vehicle batteries for use with solar panels.

“My MiM . . . gave me the confidence and ambition crucial for entrepreneurship,” she says. “Real-world challenges and initiatives became our classroom, such as the HEC Startup Launchpad that enabled me to create Revolty.”

According to data from the AACSB accreditation body, there has been a 6 per cent increase in entrepreneurship masters programmes over the past five years.

Now, a third of the students on French business school Essec’s new Master in Management entrepreneurship track, which starts this month, will be female, says academic director Anne-Sophie de Gabriac.

“At the heart of the course is the notion that running a new venture requires entrepreneurs to navigate many tensions and paradoxes,” she explains. “Female entrepreneurs who are not in tech, for example, often struggle if they don’t have a [chief technology officer] associate, which is why it’s important to train them in the [technology skills] that can help them to test and get their minimum viable product to market.”

The problems faced by female entrepreneurs go beyond stereotypes, finance or inspiration, says Guy Champagne, director of entrepreneurship at Essca in France. “Often, the challenges are associated with a lack of support from society — family, friends and social circles,” he notes.

Champagne says that the focus at Essca is on targeting female entrepreneurs with honorary loans and funds, pitch challenges, start-up incubators and business nurseries on its Bordeaux and Angers campuses, as well as networking and mentoring groups with alumni.

One such alumna is Mathilde Lefrançois, who launched Farmitoo, an online shop enabling farmers to buy equipment at fair and transparent prices, with direct delivery to their farms.

“In the farming industry, I noticed that many people were surprised to see a young Parisian female founder — I needed extra effort and mentor support to prove it was possible,” she says. “It’s crucial to support, reassure and accompany women through various means, whether that’s with mentors, incubators, investors, funds or training programmes.”

The signs are encouraging, argues Jurek Sikorski, director of the Enterprise Lab at Henley Business School, who says he has seen an increase in business angel investors and venture-capital firms funding female-led businesses.

“They still receive a disproportionately small percentage of private investment, but there’s a growing recognition of gender bias within the start-up sector, and that’s leading to more initiatives promoting gender equality and diversity,” he says.