Women in business don’t want cupcakes, but real support
Women in business are chipping away at the glass ceiling, but it’s a painfully slow burn, writes Jenny Li, partner at Scalare Partners.
Australia’s tech sector is booming. According to a 2023 report by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, it’s worth $167 billion and has become the third-largest tech ecosystem in the Asia-Pacific region – that’s despite a challenging year for the global economy.
There’s a big opportunity in Australia’s tech scene at present, with the likes of Afterpay, Atlassian and Xero as shining examples of success. However, the reality is that the possibility of success in the tech startup scene dwindles significantly if the founder is a woman – even more so if it’s a team of all women.
It’s true; women are chipping away at the glass ceiling, but it’s a painfully slow burn. If you look at the ASX 300, 91% of the CEOs on that list are men, and 71% of executive roles are held by men, with female representation up just 2% from 2022, according to the CEW 2023 Census.
The glass ceiling issue runs even deeper when it comes to starting a business. While nearly a quarter of startups are founded by women, only a measly 4% of funding went to solely women-founded companies in FY23, and just 18% went to mixed-gender teams, according to the 2023 State of Australian Startup Funding report.
The gender startup gap is actually a support issue – and it affects everyone
The reality is that women are innovating and starting their own businesses, but investors aren’t backing them at the same rate – just look at Canva co-founder Melanie Perkins who was famously rejected by over 100 VCs.
Let me break down the business case for having more women in leadership positions: According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, boosting female representation on the Boards of Australian ASX-listed companies by just 10 percentage points results in a substantial 4.9% increase in company market value. This increase translates to an average of $78.5 million in added value for each company.
The Diversity Council of Australia’s Inclusion@Work Index for 2019-2020 revealed that women-founded startups outperformed their male-founded counterparts, generating 78 cents of revenue for every dollar of funding, compared to just 31 cents for male-founded startups. Further, a report by Citi Group in 2022 estimated that achieving gender equality in business growth could unleash a staggering $2.88 trillion in economic impact on the global economy.
The gender gap isn’t just about numbers, it’s about missed opportunities and untapped potential. Women are out there hustling, starting businesses, and innovating, but when it comes to getting the cash and support they need to scale up, most are hitting a brick wall.
The way forward for a more gender-diverse startup ecosystem in Australia
So, how do we fix this mess?
We can first highlight the people and organisations already putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to supporting women.
We’re starting to see more and more VCs make public commitments to investing in female-founded businesses – with places like Airtree Ventures, Alberts and Blackbird Ventures promising to release data on the number of women-led businesses they’ve screened and supported. It’s an important first step in ensuring more transparency and accountability in the ongoing effort for diversity and equal opportunity.
But myself and the others at Scalare are adamant believers that scaling a business takes more than just capital – it takes skills and expertise that cannot always be afforded in the form of a CTO or CMO in the early stages of a business. This is why Scalare offers hands-on support to companies not just in our portfolio but also across the broader ecosystem, and we’re proud to say that about 55% of those companies we support with our services are women-founded or women-led.
As someone who’s deeply passionate about this issue, it’s important that I use my years of experience in finance leadership and business advising to uplift other women. It’s why I’m proud to be a partner at Scalare, where we’re deeply committed to advising female entrepreneurs and leaders, and we’re putting our money where our mouths are with a major investment that will seek to support over 1,200 businesswomen across more than 200 companies.
Beyond funding and formal advising, though, we cannot underestimate the power of mentorship. Whether it’s sharing wisdom over coffee or connecting on LinkedIn, let’s make sure no aspiring businesswoman feels like she’s approaching the glass ceiling alone.
As Australian business leaders, we have a golden opportunity here to level the playing field and unlock a whole world of innovation and growth. Let’s remember that women in business don’t want cupcakes, they want real support. And while it’s easy to pass the buck, here are three simple actions you can take today:
- Connect with a female founder on LinkedIn and write a quick message to say who you are and what your professional background is, in case you have any skills or potential connections that could help their business progress.
- Share about female-founded businesses on your social media, and not just during Women’s History Month or International Women’s Day. This can go a long way in unlocking opportunities for women – because sometimes, it’s about who you know.
- Take a female founder out to coffee and learn about their business and any opportunities where they could use support, financial or otherwise, and make a plan for how you or someone else can offer that support.
Let’s work together to ensure Australia’s business scene allows everyone to thrive.
Jenny Li is a partner at Scalare Partners.
