Achievement of The Year Finalist: On diversity in European VC and the underlying causes with Sophie Winwood, co-founder & CEO of WVC:E

This episodes features an exciting conversation on diversity in venture capital, and the story behind WVC:E. Don't miss Sophie's notes below ⏬

May 27, 2024

Transcript

Celebrating one of the finalists in the Achievement of the Year category at this year’s European VC Awards, this episode dives deep with Sophie Winwood, co-founder & CEO of WVC:E and Operating Partner at Foxe Capital.

Foxe Capital is a pre-seed and seed VC fund investing in the next generation of FinTech founders across the UK, Europe, and the US. Some of the companies they invested in are Flock, Kaiko, Hometree, Opply, and Ember.

Today, we are meeting with Sophie to talk about diversity in European venture capital, Sophie’s journey in VC, and some of the principles that led her to build WVC:E. WVC:E is a community and platform for women in VC. The company seeks to develop highly productive networks to increase the success of diverse investors and founders through frequent local and virtual events and training programs supported by a continuous stream of content and resources. The 950+ member WVC:E community includes GPs, LPs, investors, founders, and women working in tech. If you would like to join the WhatsApp community, let us know here!

The flagship Summit, which brings together 400+ women in VC across Europe, is taking place on Oct 7th and 8th in Paris, and early bird tickets are on sale now.

Watch it here or add it to your episodes on Apple or Spotify 🎧

Spotlight on Our Esteemed Achievement of The Year-Award Sponsor

We express our profound thanks to HSBC Innovation Banking, the sponsor for the Achievement of The Year Award and one of the founding partners behind the awards. Their support has been crucial in allowing us to build these awards to acknowledge our European VC Champions.

HSBC Innovation Banking partners with innovators and investors in the UK, US, Israel, Hong Kong, Denmark, and Sweden, helping them ignite the bold ideas that reshape our world. It offers flexible banking solutions for start-ups, scale-ups, growth businesses, investors, and those working towards IPO and beyond.

Engage with HSBC Innovation Banking: Explore more about HSBC Innovation Banking and its role in the venture capital community.

Engage with HSBC Innovation Banking

Chapters:

00:25 Diversity in European Venture
02:24 WVCE's Achievement of the Year
04:48 The State of Diversity in European VC
08:20 Challenges and Underlying Causes
10:26 The Role of Role Models and Representation
32:15 Parental Leave and Support Systems
50:06 Building WVCE: The Journey Begins
54:09 Community Success
55:36 Expanding the Community
01:00:24 Community Design Principles
01:08:24 Policy Work and Industry Impact
01:11:41 Building a Successful Community
01:29:33 Advice for Young People in the Industry
01:33:59 Advice for Emerging VCs

✍️ Show notes

The state of diversity in VC

Female founders receive 2% VC funding
16% of GPs are women
Of the funds that have singed the investing in women's code (UK) there are still 24% of signatories that have all male investment teams (and many more who haven't signed)

The underlying causes

Industry started by white men
Unconscious (and conscious) basis
Bar incredibly high for women
Lack of role models
Lack of network
Difficult industry for parents
Sophie also wrote a great editorial piece on this topic, that you can read it here.

What can we do better?

Promote role models
Parental leave policy & return to work processes
Supercharge networks
Empower female investors
More stick vs carrot from industry bodies / government

Building WVC:E - Now 950+ community

Started as an event in 2022
Grew into a community
Now 950+ community, local events, online roundtables, training

The principles behind building WVC:E

Build for the community by the community
Working with the best people from the go
Not being afraid of doing something differently
Taking positive action rather than negative reflection

Core learnings from building WVC:E

Build something you want to be part of and you feel the need for
Use your customers
Brand is key

Advice for young people in the industry

Find your tribe
Focus on area’s you are passionate and interested in
Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and don’t assume everyone else knows the answer (this job is HARD!)

Tips & tricks for emerging VCs fundraising

Find your tribe
Stay true to your story
This is a marathon not a sprint, take care of your mental and physical health

Most counterintuitive learning

You can have all the mental models and investment criteria that you want, but at the end of the day venture is all about outliers, so you need to be flexible
A lot of venture is people skills and emotional intelligence, building your network, winning deals, negotiating terms, supporting founders on the rollercoaster that is scaling a business.
Being an investor in a downturn is way better - you learn more, you focus on fundamentals and you are investing in an environment where only very determined founder will build things. [but yes it is way harder and emotionally taxing].

👋 Upcoming in-person events we’re hosting

There’s nothing we like better than getting Europe’s best and brightest together with good food, drinks, and conversations that go truly deep.

Fund Modelling Workshop & Mixer | 5th of June | 🌍 Berlin, Germany | Join waitlist.

European VC Awards | 4th of June | 🌍 Berlin, Germany | Get tickets.

📅 Upcoming virtual events

From time to time, a podcast is just not enough. Check out our roundtables and live events below.

🏆 Firesides with the winners of the European VC Awards

Fireside with the Newcomer of the Year Winner | 13/6, 12-1:30 PM | Register here. Hundreds of new VC funds come to market every year. But only ONE will win Newcomer of The Year. This is your chance to meet the winner firsthand.

Fireside chat with the Winner of the Hall of Fame | 25/6, 12-1 PM | Register here.
Hear firsthand from a true giant upon whose shoulders the European tech ecosystem stands tall.