Women in FinTech

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1 Women in FinTech As part of the diversity programme Lead Media Partner October

2 The Women in FinTech Initiative Promoting diversity and inclusion are priorities for Innovate Finance and we are excited to be launching a new range of Women in FinTech initiatives in 2018/19 to extend beyond the successful Powerlist that already celebrates the achievements and talent of women across the FinTech ecosystem. That s why we have spent time talking and listening to the women in our industry ranging from founders, investors, investment banks, start-ups and technology firms. We all feel the same: the more we talk about the issues that affect women in FinTech and raise awareness, the easier it becomes to instigate real change. While we are kick-starting our diversity initiative with Women in FinTech, we intend to broaden this out in due course. What s the landscape? Statistics on women in financial services make for sombre reading - and in the FinTech ecosystem they are possibly even more challenging: a recent study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Mass Challenger, a network of startup accelerators, found that when women applied for investment, they received less funding compared to the average male founder, but made double the revenue. In 2017, female founders received a paltry 2.2 % ($1.9 billion) of the total $85 billion invested by venture capitalists, according to Fortune. 2.2% 21% 35% Received by female founders of total invested by VCs in 2017 More likely for firms to have higher profitability if in top quartile for gender diversity. More likely for firms to have higher profitability if ethnic and cultural diversity is also brought in. 2x k Diversity Awards Higher returns by hedge funds run by women Generated for every (US) dollar of funding by female founded startups The average investment in companies founded by women (compared to $2.1 million for men) 2

3 A compelling business case... There s a great deal of evidence that a diverse workforce makes businesses more profitable business. How much more compelling is it if you can show your CEO the impact diversity has on the bottom line and the direct return on investment? McKinsey s latest report on the topic showed that in 2017, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on their executive teams were 21% more likely to experience above-average profitability than those in the bottom quartile. If you throw ethnic & cultural diversity into the mix, that number rises to a 35% outperformance! Learn, Listen, Discuss & Do So, there is a clear, pragmatic business case for firms to have a diverse workforce, but we recognise that there are both challenges and opportunities for women wanting to work in FinTech, or indeed those already in place. With this in mind, we have created a programme of regular events that will include a mix of learning opportunities and community building, working in partnership with our members and others. We would also be delighted to work with our members as partners in curating ad-hoc events around a specific theme. We are also busy preparing for our flagship IFGS event in April 2019 and diversity will be firmly on the agenda so we are actively seeking partners to be part of this. Our key themes for this year are: Capital how can a greater number of women founders attract smart capital? Talent how do we foster a community that recruits and functions more diversely? We have designed our events and workshops to hopefully attract a wide audience of women: those starting off in their career, those coming back after a break/change of direction and the influential senior ladies at the top of their game. We want them to share experiences and learn from one another. It is important to us that our events attract a full community of participants, so both men and women can interact and gain a better understanding of their respective experiences in the workplace. We also want to celebrate the male champions who have made a real effort to get women more involved in FinTech. Celebrating Women in FinTech 3

4 Our events and initiatives Power Hours A quarterly series of moderated breakfast events that will bring a group of FinTech women within the ecosystem to meet, greet and hear stories from inspiring speakers (from inside or outside FinTech). These sessions may be theme-based or could be a more personal-based discussion about the challenges of making it to the top and an opportunity for the speakers to share their key insights on becoming a leader in their field. Our speaker will talk for around minutes, followed by Q&As and a chance for some informal discussion. Webinars Quarterly recorded panel sessions with a moderator to discuss key themes that women face in FinTech. These will kick off in October with Funding the Founders, which will look at how even though VC investment into FinTech has grown exponentially in recent years, with 2018 set to be the biggest year yet, women only raise a minute percentage of this. How are women in FinTech raising funding? Who are the funders? What are they looking for and what needs to change? Do women need to rely less on traditional modes of finance or are more dynamic options available? Future webinars will tackle portfolio careers and ensuring the future viability of the sector by attracting the next generation of entrepreneurs. Workshops Monthly sessions run by carefully selected partners to equip women with the skills they need to succeed in their careers and raise awareness among the FinTech community of the advantages of a diverse workforce. To kick off, we will be running two workshop streams: Hiring and recruitment: with the aim being to equip participants with the necessary skills to hire smart (job descriptions, role scoping, interview success, diversity matters, data-enhanced hiring). The 60-minute sessions will run over a breakfast/lunchtime to allow people to get out of the office to attend and numbers will be kept low to maximise the hands-on element. These will be run by Equality Group s Hephzi Pemberton. Women in FinTech

5 Executive Shine: The other workshop will use a combination of comedy and theatrical techniques to build confidence in the workplace and polish presentation impact. The 90-minute sessions will run in the evening and will include elements of building inner confidence through improvisation, storytelling and using humour as a powerful and effective form of communication and leadership. Again, participation will be limited to gain maximum benefit and they will be run by Streets Consulting. Women in FinTech Powerlist A revamped version of our successful Women in FinTech Powerlist with the vision to: Celebrate women in the sector Provide a list for role models for women to aspire to Highlight the trendsetters and doers who are making a real difference in the FinTech ecosystem, ideally not just in their day-to-day job but also through their contribution as a Diversity champion, either internally in their own firm or externally through work with a charity or mentoring etc. Applications are now open for the Women In FinTech You can apply or nominate here. Women in FinTech Survey We aim to conduct this with a partner in 2019 to take a pulse on the issues facing women within the ecosystem and map out the demographics of women in the workplace. The Global Summit Innovate Finance s global summit, now in its 5th year, will take place in the historic Guildhall on Monday 29th and Tuesday 30th April. We expect over 2,000 attendees, 300 FinTech companies and 200+ speakers. Diversity will feature within all the main stages/tracks, but we are also hoping to partner with a few key sponsors to create a Diversity zone in the Great Hall -- one idea is to have an area for speed-dating mentoring & we are also hoping to have a series of live podcast sessions broadcast directly from the event. We are very open to new and different ideas! Celebrating Women in FinTech 5

6 Get in touch: innovatefinance.com/womeninfintech (0)