Ask an Angel: Roo Harris, Scale Investors

Oh my – where to begin!? It’s vitally important that we exist because women are still struggling to access capital for their start-up businesses. We know that globally, women founders receive approximately 3% of Venture Capital funding and that drops to about 0.7% for solely female founded teams. 

Meanwhile, data shows that women led teams outperform, making for a better return on investment.  And not only that, the economic impact for the global economy in terms of achieving gender equality for entrepreneurs, is estimated at over $2 trillion.   

We also think a lot about the goods and services being created today and the impact, appropriateness and access of those goods and services tomorrow. There must be a diverse range of people working and solving the problems of our generations that reflect the society we live in.  

We have an outsized opportunity here in terms of both impact and returns!  We don’t believe there should be an early-stage venture funding gender gap. 

It’s definitely tough out there!  

Expect the raise campaign to take longer than what you anticipate and, as such, start early and manage your burn carefully. Where you can, build a strong network of potential funders and other eco-system players in advance of your raise.  

Also, expect to need to be flexible on the structures you adopt and sources of funding you go to – for example, you might start out raising a mil and switch to $500k when the market won’t go for a higher sum.  

Talk to others that have raised capital before and preferably in tough markets; for every investor you meet, ask for 1-2 more potential connections. You could probably expect to also have to raise from more investors, so aim to widen your pool as much as possible.    

Demonstrating velocity, ambition and passion are key when attracting investors. Think hard about what kind of investor you are looking for too – it’s a long and windy road. 

At the early stages, we are looking for rock-star founder(s) with a clear connection to the problem, the right skillset and experience, and an ability to iterate.  

Beyond that, we want a scalable, innovative product that solves a genuine problem, ideally with proprietary features or otherwise a clear moat and a massive market – so our angels can realise 10x returns.   

Also, we need some traction to see that what you’re doing can be commercially viable.  

We will leverage our network to provide whatever support we can – be it warm introductions to customers and downstream investors, angels sitting on portfolio boards/advisory committees, mentoring and access to talent.   

Opening doors to networks is a specialty and the more specific your “ask” is, the more likely we can connect you! Be bold – if you don’t ask, you don’t get, what is the worst that can happen? They say no!