PORTFOLIO

The FE+MALE Think Tank has designed The Beat Funding Bias Initiative (BFBI) to lead efforts to push and build the institutional capacity for a gender-bias-free systematic approach to help remove funding barriers for female entrepreneurs in Switzerland. Specifically, this innovative initiative was designed to address those gender biases or stereotypes that women are likely to face during the screening stages, vetting interviews, or ‘funding rounds’ that either qualify or disqualify them for potential funding. To this end, the FE+MALE Think Tank conducted a series of expert interviews from May to June 2022 (which included representation from well-known institutions from within the Swiss start-up space, including ‘Angel’ investors, VCs, prospective entrepreneurs, etc), to better understand the underlying dynamics where gender bias is occurring or where it was likely to be exhibited during the various vetting rounds. FE+MALE Think tank found there is not a systematic approach to avoid biased processes in the funding settings, hence there is no sharing of best practices or learning from each other.

To goal of the implementation orientied project is to:
1) Raise Awareness on the topic,
2) Conduct targeted stakeholder workshops,
3) Design & develop & test toolkit with partners to build institutional capacity,
4) Validate to scale it up.

Main Partners involved in the project are SICTIC, Venturelab, Startfeld, SwissEF, Startup days. The iniative is supported by a number of GREAT female founders.

To date, the FE+MALE Think Tank has conducted a series of in-person and online workshops to help develop a toolkit consisting of different materials; has undertaken tailored communications and outreach to various consumers of the toolkit based on consumer feedback; has developed related marketing materials; has pretested an assessment aimed to investors and the training for female founders to better overcome gender bias at work; has successfully launched a landing page during a webinar that was held end of June 23. The BFBI landing page||http://bfbi.fe-male-think-tank.comhttp://bfbi.fe-male-think-tank.com€€ includes videos, free insights, and specific materials http://bfbi.fe-male-think-tank.com.Additional materials will be integrated in later stages.
These activities were undertaken between February 2023 to July 2023. Said efforts included also the engagement of well-known institutions and individuals from within the Swiss start-up space, including ‘Angel’ investors, VCs, NGOs, and prospective entrepreneurs to help the Think Tank attain its stated objectives.
The Think Tank has promoted ongoing communication, dissemination, outreach, and raising awareness efforts throughout this period to inform stakeholders about related activities, via direct email, social media (LinkedIn) and network allies.
The Think Tank is entering currently the second half of its first-year project.