Can crowdfunding close the gender loot gap?

Crowdfunding has the power to even the funding gap

Shereen Shermak thinks crowdfunding can help solve the gender funding gap. In fact, the chief executive of the Boston-based venture firm Launch Angels is so convinced that she’s turned to crowdfunding herself. Earlier this month, Launch Angels created a new fund that invests in women-led and women-owned businesses. It listed the fund on SeedInvest, a highly selective crowdfunding platform that accepts only accredited investors, with a goal to reach $500,000 to $1 million through online and offline funding. Shermak said the company already soft-circled about $200,000 by the time it launched. “Now is a terrific time [to launch the fund] because the statistics on women in venture capital took a step back in the last couple of years,” Shermak tells me. “Between 2 and 7 percent of venture capital goes to women. That’s not representative of how many women entrepreneurs there are out there.” In contrast, at crowdfunding website Indiegogo, more than 40 percent of successful deals are led by women. “Crowdfunding is working for women, so we thought, ‘Let’s use that for the Women-Led Fund,’” Shermak says.