Redefining Self-Worth Beyond vc Funding as a Female Entrepreneur

As a female entrepreneur, the journey of self-funding a start up can often feel like a rollercoaster ride of emotions, challenges, and triumphs. Saying that, nothing brings the highs and lows quite like actually raising the money to bring your idea to market. Unless you have access to a large amount of savings or go down the crowdfunding route, you will most likely enter the world of venture (VC) funding.

Currently VC funding remains a male-dominated game, despite women-led businesses consistently outperforming their male counterparts in terms of return on investment. This is reflected in the stark statistics, with all-female founding teams receiving just 2.3% of venture capital funding globally according to Pitchbook (2021) - which when we make up 50% of the population is wild.

This disparity isn't due to a lack of ambition or capability on the part of female founders, but rather biases within the investment ecosystem. The reality of these numbers means for a female founded business to get off the ground, there is often little choice than to self-fund until investment can be sought.

But at what cost?

Many female founders find their self-worth often ends up closely tied to the business they are building, which naturally has an impact on their mental health. If you are also raising a family, this adds another layer of complexity and sacrifice on your time and energy resources. The traditional expectations placed on women as primary caregivers over career advancement juxtaposed with the relentless pursuit of external funding, can naturally exacerbate feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy.

However, all is not lost.

While VC funding can provide valuable resources and opportunities for growth, it's not the sole indicator of a startup's potential or a founder's capabilities. The benefits of self-funding empowers women to retain control over their vision, values, and decision-making processes, free from the influence of external stakeholders which in the long term will become a valuable asset.

Furthermore, building a supportive community of fellow female founders who have either gone through or are currently going through the same things can be a game-changer. It can be a place to celebrate small victories, seek out mentors, collaborators and importantly ask for help, which is often hard to do but necessary.

That is why we at Mother+ are looking to champion the female founders in our community and spotlight them on The M+ List in a regular monthly feature. We believe in celebrating you and want to help you grow your business through our community.

In this challenging landscape, it's crucial for us to redefine the metrics of success and self-worth. We want to get to a point where self-funding is a choice driven by empowerment, not a necessity born out of inequality.

Remember that your worth as an entrepreneur extends far beyond the size of your funding round or the balance in your bank account.

We believe in you.

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