Securing funding from angel and VC investors can be a challenge for any startup founder. However, startup founders from “underestimated” groups often experience far more difficulty in raising capital. In 2021, companies founded solely by women garnered just 2.3 percent of the total capital invested in venture-backed startups in the U.S. Similarly, Black founders raised just 1.3 percent of all 2021 venture capital funding.
Angel investor Nancy Hayes has made it her mission to help improve these numbers. As a former corporate executive, startup founder and nonprofit CEO, she has worked in angel investing since 2014 and focuses on women-led companies and founders of color.
“We’re trying to help broaden the pool and bring attention to these companies so that they have an opportunity to compete for funding,” Hayes says. “In general, many venture investment firms reach out to their own networks to get deal flow and their own networks historically have looked like them. So the deal flow can reflect that.”
On July 7, 2022, Hayes will host a webinar for Founders Network members where she’ll provide tips on how to present to angel and VC investors. Here are some of her tips for raising capital as a startup founder in an underrepresented group.
In the webinar, Hayes will also cover:
About the Speaker:
Nancy Hayes is a currently active angel investor who serves as a mentor to women entrepreneurs and founders of color. She has invested directly in over 30 women-led companies and in 5 funds. She also advises corporate and nonprofit executives in management and leadership topics.
Nancy was a senior executive of the IBM Corporation for almost 20 years, CEO of two social services nonprofit organizations, Dean of the College of Business at San Francisco State University, CFO of that university, cofounder of a rewards-based crowdfunding startup and Managing Director of Golden Seeds angel group Silicon Valley chapter.
Nancy has an MBA from the University of Chicago and lives in San Francisco.
About NKH Group:
Interim C-level Exec | Management Consultant | Mentor to Women Entrepreneurs | Angel Investor | Crowdfunding Innovator
Subject areas of interest are leadership and management, organizational effectiveness, entrepreneurship and small business (with a focus on women-led) and crowdfunding.
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