Female Invest targets US after netting £8.7m investment
Female Invest, which is on a mission to close the financial gender gap, has raised a record-breaking £8.7m ($11.2m) in Series A funding.
Emma Due Bitz, Camilla Falkenberg and Anna-Sophie Hartvigsen were inspired to set up the EdTech platform in 2019 after noticing the lack of women attending personal finance educational events and the wider unaddressed gender disparity in investments and savings.
Since their first fundraise in late 2020, the business has grown to 73,000+ paying members across 123 countries and become a global movement.
This Series A fundraise was led by Educapital and Rubio Impact Ventures.
Due Bitz said: “As a small part of the round, we also allowed our members to get real ownership through crowdfunding.
“They’ve asked for years, and it only felt right for a community-driven business to be (partly) community-owned too. It went wild.
“We raised $1m in four minutes, breaking four world records (and the crowdfunding platform) in the process!
“If this doesn’t convince the nay-sayers that women are indeed a powerful target group, we don’t know what will.
“Sadly, this fundraise is an outlier. Because today, women face unique, discriminatory barriers and raise just 2 per cent of capital.
“We hope this fundraise is part of a bigger change, smashing stereotypes of what an investable founder looks like.
“Finally, we haven’t done this alone. We thank our amazing community, team and investors for being on this journey with us – we can’t wait to smash more glass ceilings with you.”
Marie Geneste, a venture capital investor with Educapital, explained why they had backed Female Invest.
“I remember clearly when, a few years ago, my dear girl friend A. confessed that all her money was sleeping on her bank account, as she had no idea what to do with it, no clue where to start and no one’s advice to trust,” she wrote.
“She has now invested in an apartment, several ETFs and… a Female Invest subscription. If she had started her journey 15 years earlier she would be so much further.
“I was raised by a mother for whom having a good job was the way to ensure my independence.
“But that is not enough. The financial gender gap goes way beyond this: Women earn less; Women save less; Women invest less.
“That’s why I am very proud to announce the $11m Series A round of Female Invest, the largest European platform dedicated to financially educate and empower women.
“Camilla, Anna-Sophie an Emma are building a unique platform combining learning, community and soon trading. Let’s go global, let’s win this!”
Female Invest is based in London and Copenhagen and plans to accelerate its US expansion.
Raising investment is like driving on a motorway while building the car
It has grown its community to 450,000 women and subscribers have access to a wide range of learning materials, including investing, personal finance and financial wellbeing. Earlier this year more than 47,000 women signed up for one its webinars.
It’s a subscription-based model, with monthly membership costing $13 and annual membership $139.
All three co-founders were named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for 2020.
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