#19: Building a launchpad for women of colour founders - Stephanie von Behr
Less than 0.5% of venture capital goes to women of colour founders. Is it a pipeline problem rooted in a lack of such founders? Perhaps, women of colour simply do not dare to build high-growth businesses?
Stephanie von Behr, Managing Director of Founderland, debunks these myths. She is focused on increasing visibility, creating community and getting more women of colour founders funded.
We talk about what allyship truly means and why it matters, how disadvantages can become opportunities and what it takes to create a robust and flourishing community. Stephanie tells the story of building Founderland with simple tools like surveys and match-making keeping founders’ needs at the heart of every step and decision.
On a mission to build a diverse environment
Founderland community is a non-profit organisation that already supports over 300 women of colour founders by bringing visibility to what they are doing, building a community around them and connecting them with investors.
Stephanie explains how important it is not to stick to homogeneous networks around us to build a diverse environment where innovative ideas will sprout and grow. A Caucasian woman, she is leading the organisation that focuses on women of colour as she genuinely believes that an individualistic mindset has to be changed to an attitude where people care about each other.
“We actually have to make an effort to meet people that look different than us, that have different religions, backgrounds and who are from different cultures.”
Allyship - what is it about?
Stefanie sees the focus of their community in bringing visibility to what women of colour founders do and being cheerleaders for them in any challenges they face. Even small things like sharing founders’ stories on social media or offering emotional support after a bad co-founder break-up make a huge difference. For many founders, this community is about receiving warm intros to investors, shaping their business narrative and learning something new. Women founders know they will be heard and supported in any of these situations. The community of Founderland will care.
Warm intros to investors were the first challenge Founderland identified for its target group at its inception. Through spreadsheets, surveys, call to action for investors and founders, in just one month, 60 women founders got warm intros to investors. The organisation started to grow fast and was able to raise money to support more women.
“It’s a space where you can find help even if you feel so bad and you’re judging yourself for the relationship not working out, which is a typical experience of founders.”
About Stephanie von Behr:
Stephanie has been working with startups for over a decade, building community as a 3x Founder, operator, consultant, and mentor. As the Managing Director of Founderland, she is on a mission to disrupt the status quo and challenge systems of power across the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Founderland is an NGO that supports women founders based in Europe who’ve faced obstacles tied to their ethnicity/race in their business journeys. Founderland brings founders, allies and investors together to get more diverse, sustainable and scalable businesses funded.