Member Article

Indiegogo Announces Women’s Day Initiative To Empower Females

Indiegogo, the global crowdfunding platform, announces a new year-long initiative to support diversity in entrepreneurship. In celebration of International Women’s Day, the company will seek to offer extra support for women-run crowdfunding campaigns between now and March 2017.

Partnering with Girls In Tech UK, Girls in Tech US, Blooming Founders, Trep Life and Lipstick & Politics, Indiegogo will host events throughout the year focused on supporting female entrepreneurs to get their ideas off the ground through Indiegogo. Women that launch campaigns through the initiative will also have the opportunity to sign-up for additional campaign mentoring from Indiegogo’s dedicated support team.

As an equal opportunity platform that removes barriers to funding, Indiegogo has found that while the vast majority of venture capital funds do not go to businesses with women on the founding teams, a full 47% of fully funded campaigns on Indiegogo are run by women.

“Because it’s a completely open platform Indiegogo has broken down gender inequalities and removed bias from the funding equation,” said Indiegogo co-founder Danae Ringelmann. “We’re really proud of building a platform where all ideas are welcome and have a chance to thrive.”

Since its launch, Indiegogo has seen many successful campaigns led by women, such as Jibo, the world’s first social robot for the home, which raised $3.7M, and Axent Wear cat ear headphones, a product designed by UC Berkeley Alumni, Wenqing Yan and Victoria Hu, which raised over $3.4M dollars and is currently available in Brookstone. Other notable, non-tech campaigns run by women include Linjer, Miss Possible, LuminAid, Emmy’s Organics, Kuli Kuli, and many, many others.

Indiegogo’s women’s entrepreneurship effort follows a recent study from UC Berkeley that found on average women raise more money than men through crowdfunding. The new study analyzed more than 9,900 Indiegogo campaigns and determined that women typically more positive, inclusive language in their campaigns, which helps them connect more deeply with a broader audience.

“We’re incredibly excited to be a part of Indiegogo’s initiative to support and encourage women entrepreneurs,” said Malachi Leopold, Co-Founder and CEO of Trep Life. “Every Indiegogo campaign involves a leap of faith, taking a risk, betting on yourself - and that’s what Trep Life is all about. We’re looking forward to telling stories that are launched from this initiative.”

“Blooming Founders is thrilled to partner with Indiegogo to support female entrepreneurship in the UK. Indiegogo has been a real game changer in early stage finance,” said Lu Li, Founder and CEO of Blooming Founders. “Now, women get a fair chance and more access to investors, both men and women who, in contrary to established funding institutions, are willing to back a woman-led business idea. Hopefully, more successful campaigns led by women will empower other women to consider crowdfunding as an avenue of fundraising.”

“Girls in Tech UK is excited to partner with Indiegogo on their campaign to support and promote women in tech and entrepreneurship,” said Lora Schellenberg of Girls in Tech UK.

“It’s no secret that women still face a multitude of challenges when it comes to representation in leadership. As of 2015, there are 9.4 million women owned businesses, yet support and career advancement is negligible. Lipstick & Politics is excited to partner with Indiegogo and support women in entrepreneurship through their initiative,” Said Mira Veda, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Lipstick & Politics.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Oliver .