Astia CEO Reflects on 2017

More Than Numbers
Astia CEO Reflects on 2017
to Chart Beyond 2018

2017 really put a spotlight on women's rights... from the historical manifesto authored by a Google employee decrying diversity in the workplace to the unforgettable #MeToo movement and underlying accounts of discrimination, harassment and abuse.

The question for 2018: what will we do next? Will this create a backlash that sends us spiraling into the abyss or shine a light on a new path forward? I have more conviction than ever before of Astia's mission: ensuring that women get the same opportunities as men, starting and running successful businesses. The best part: we have an ecosystem of investors, partners/sponsors, advisors, and volunteers who have the same conviction. We are also celebrating many successes across every part of Astia. Here are some highlights from our year:

Our Entrepreneurs
In 2017, we welcomed 17 startups who raised $4.2M from Astia Angels, representing $57M in syndication! To date, this brings our portfolio to 51 companies, who have received more than $17.5M of capital from Astia Angels, and $185M in funding total! 100% of our startups have a female executive or were founded by a female. We've teamed up with people who came to us because of our relationship-driven approach. These leaders understand that it's not just about having a good pitch—it's about creating opportunities to connect and build something meaningful together.

Our Portfolio—the Thesis at Work!
We don't take a cookie-cutter approach to the companies we fund. If you look at the three companies who had successful exits with Astia this year, you'll see geographical diversity—one from Pittsburg, one from Silicon Valley, and one from London. You will note they were from very different sectors (medical devices, cloud service, fintech) and that they ranged in stages of growth (from early-stage to pre-IPO). Read more about each of these exits here! [more specifically, Boku IPO on the AIM Exchange, Cloudamize's merger with Blackstone-owned Cloudreach, and Ciel Medical being acquired by Vyaire Medical]

Our Investors—Putting their Money where their Mouth is!
Our community of 55 seasoned investors is comprised of men and women, individual contributors, couples, and family offices, with expertise in a wide spectrum of sectors. These Angels understand the need for diversity in their portfolio and chose Astia to demonstrate their values in dollars and deeds. In return, Astia proved our model and delivered huge returns on their investments. We will continue to leverage these relationships to drive systemic, positive change in the investment community.

Our Community—Making a Difference!
Our community boasts over 2000 Astia Advisors who actively review on average 120 applications a quarter. The three exits we celebrated in 2017 continue to validate the Astia Expert Sift™ model and the Astia investment thesis of investing in teams that include women. In 2018, we will create more meaningful touchpoints with the community to ensure each member realizes the value of their contribution, whether giving Astia access to their network, providing expertise during the early assessment stage, or offering counsel to entrepreneurs during the growth of their business.

We would not be able to do the work we do without our sponsors, some who have stood by us for over ten years: from global brands like Dentons, Silicon Valley Bank, and Salesforce.org to best in class entities such as Moss Adams, Lowenstein, and Prolog Ventures; and of course, our founding sponsor, Three Guineas Fund. Partners like Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Google for Entrepreneurs, who are themselves leaders in entrepreneurship and innovation, extend our reach and validate our mission.

Our Team—Eleven Strong and Mission-driven!
As we grow, we have not diluted or lost sight of who we are. We take a very personal, relationship-based approach to our mission. It is the lens by which we operate and how we attract those who want to change the world. This year, we added one part-time staff member, four Executives in Residence, one intern, and two volunteers—senior level individuals who still want to grow professionally and play a meaningful role in empowering women around the world.

Our voices—Leading the Change We Seek!
Our thought leadership platform, Astia Think, is one of the most challenging aspects of our work because we face two reactions: that there is no problem to solve or that it's too overwhelming to solve. Our objective for 2018 is to create increased dialog around our call to action: invest today. As we head into the new year, we must learn from the watershed moments of 2017 and capitalize on our investment momentum to establish a dominant voice and position in the investment community.

I leave you with our final message. invest today. The call to action is clear and the time to engage and act is now. No more sitting on the sideline. Still today, less than 5% of venture capital is invested in women-led companies: this must change. These words are not just intended for Astia Angels, who demonstrate their commitment by investing in Astia-screened companies. We invite all VCs to review the Astia pipeline that includes companies from all sectors, stages, and geographies. To facilitate this access, we hold monthly Venture Showcases for the venture community. If you are a VC, we welcome you to join us! You can register for the Venture Showcases by contacting our Managing Director here. And if you are an angel investor looking for a group to invest with, we welcome a conversation.

As I have said time and again since coming to Astia in 2004...Astia is a community. Astia is You! Thank you for another year of support, engagement, and enthusiasm for the women we serve and the companies they lead.

Look at what you did in 2014!

Thank you to each of you for making 2014 such an extraordinary year for Astia. You are integral to the work of Astia, so we wanted to share with you the many ways you participated, supported, engaged and committed to Astia this year.

You can download an end of year report here: 2014 end of year report - Astia is You!

#40Forward | Rethinking and Redesigning the Ecosystem

In the lead-up to International Women's Day we are reminded by the world’s media of the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. So, as part of these celebrations, I often take this weekend of the year to reflect on Astia’s successes, those of our entrepreneurs and the high growth ecosystem at large in advancing innovation through inclusive leadership teams.

Astia’s raison d’etre is to promote, ally and assist women high growth entrepreneurs and their ventures, one by one and by changing the ecosystem. As such, this year, we’re delighted and proud to be part of Google for Entrepreneurs’ campaign #40Forward: 40 startup communities rethinking the gender gap, a challenge issued to startup communities to increase participation by women by 25% this year.

Dramatically Increasing Women's Access to Capital

Astia and Google for Entrepreneurs are partnering to increase the frequency and city coverage of the Astia Venture Lunches. We are tripling the number of opportunities for exceptional woman-led start-ups to access capital, as well as expand our reach to include new markets outside of Silicon Valley, London and New York.  

For those new to Astia Venture Lunch, it is Astia's groundbreaking effort to increase dramatically women's access to capital. Not once a year - or even quarterly - but every single month Astia showcases outstanding woman-led companies to accredited investors in London, New York and Silicon Valley. Using Astia's Expert Sift – the proprietary community-sourcing and screening process- in our search for supernovas, each presenting start-up is pre-screened by no less than 25 industry experts before being selected to present.

And what do we know that those selected start-ups will have in common? That their founders have made a very smart business decision: to be part of an inclusive leadership team.

Inclusivity is essential to innovation and job growth

“The diverse group almost always outperforms the group of the best by a substantial margin,” according to The Difference, Scott E. Page, University of Michigan. “The key to innovation, in economic terms, resides inside the heads of people, the more diverse the better. That link may not be immediately apparent, yet any understanding of innovation's role in economic growth must focus on diversity as well as ability.”  As such, Astia works with inclusive leadership teams and actively encourages all members of the team to participate within our community, irrespective of their gender.

The importance of men’s participation in the global conversation around women’s high growth entrepreneurship

We know that high-growth entrepreneurs are similar in almost every respect. Regardless if male or female, entrepreneurs have largely the same education, economic background, needs, and challenges. This gives credence to the need for a unique offering for entrepreneurs focused on including men and women.

Women, however, place greater importance on the moral support, expertise, and financial backing of business partners, while men need far less encouragement from others. This desire of women, for community support and engagement, is what Astia offers our entrepreneurs.

Women uniquely need:

1.  Access to Networks - Around the globe, men and women are still by-and-large in separate business networks. Men are the holders of capital for entrepreneurs. Investment relies heavily on trusted business relationships. Astia is a model for creating a global network of men and women doing business together. 

2.  Access to Opportunity - Research shows that women self-assess differently than men and as a result often have lower aspirations commensurate with the lower assessment of their abilities. Astia exposes women to the opportunity of high-growth entrepreneurship and to the tools and networks needed to succeed within it. This personal growth is best achieved through exposure to the Astia community of men and women who have been there themselves and understand the challenges entrepreneurs face.

Through all Astia’s work to promote, ally and assist women high growth entrepreneurs and their ventures, bringing together men and women who are dedicated to the success of women-led, high-growth ventures is front and center.

And I ask you this. As you assimilate the many truly inspiring women entrepreneurs you will read and hear about this week as we all celebrate International Women’s Day, take one decision that will ensure that men and women are coming together to change the gender gap.

Let’s move forward.

Let’s move #40Forward.