Venture Capital and the Gender Financing Gap: The Role of Accelerators

By IFC, the World Bank Group Gender Innovation Lab, Village Capital and We-Fi

Women entrepreneurs in emerging markets face a daunting gender finance gap when it comes to growing their start-ups into mainstream businesses.  New research shows that despite women leading half the start-ups that participate in accelerators they continue to face greatly unequal access to capital. This report, developed by IFC and the World Bank Group Gender Innovation Lab in partnership with Village Capital and We-Fi, studies the steep differential between financing for male and female-led start-ups post-acceleration and finds perceived risk and investor bias are the most likely causes. The comprehensive research found that acceleration actually seems to increase the gap in equity fundraising.  

Read the full report here. 

Talent to de-Risk and Accelerate Investment (TRAIN)

By Open Capital and USAID

SGBs often face particularly acute challenges in raising capital. The USAID-supported “Talent to de-Risk and Accelerate Investment (TRAIN)” initiative aimed to test the combination of a new, streamlined due diligence approach with a talent-enabled model of post-investment support to reduce investor risk. In this report, Open Capital, as TRAIN implementer, shares lessons, observations and ideas from TRAIN to enable more investors and ecosystem stakeholders to engage more effectively with early-stage SGBs in East and Southern Africa.

Read the full report here. 

Enhancing the Financial Health of Micro-entrepreneurs: Beyond a mere assessment

By Klaas Molenaar (Timpoc Consultants) and Mathilde Bauwin (ADA)

This report provides an in-depth understanding on the financial health issues of micro-enterprises, the financial well-being of the micro-entrepreneurs and the ways in which such financial health and well-being might be enhanced. The major finding is that programs related to the financial health of micro-enterprises must not only focus on assessing a micro-entrepreneur’s understanding of the financial issues related to his/her business and be able to measure their capacity to deal with those issues, but more relevantly, programs must also draw up action plans to broaden and deepen the understanding and capacity of the micro-entrepreneurs.

Read the executive summary here. 

Read the full report here. 

Impact Investment Landscape for Women's Health Spotlight on Colombia & Peru

By Linked Foundation and William Davidson Institute (WDI)

Investing in women’s health is a critical component of women’s economic and social development. However, while country economies and health systems have advanced, under-served women in Latin America have not necessarily obtained access to critical healthcare services and products. This report provides a landscape for impact investment women’s health focused in Colombia and Peru in order to catalyze impact investment interest and capital to the most-needed areas of women’s health in Latin America. More specifically, it identifies gaps in service provision, areas of opportunity for investment, pipeline opportunities, and examples of impact-forward, sustainability-oriented women’s health programs.

Read the full report here. 

IFC & Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women: Investing in Women’s Business Growth
By IFC and Goldman Sachs

In 2014, IFC Banking on Women and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women founded the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility (WEOF) which was created to support women SMEs and entrepreneurs in developing countries.  Please read this progress report to learn more about WEOF, their achievements to date, and what WEOF has planned for the future.

Read the full report here.