Women, especially women of color, with great ideas for entrepreneurship are often left out in the cold when it comes to capital. And funding opportunities for all women are even more sparse in the U.S. Heartland, according to Pipeline Angels, which aims to improve the trend.
In its recruitment efforts of angel investors and the entrepreneurs who receive their capital, the national organization is trying to ensure diversity, according to the Pipeline Angels website.
Female start-up founders gained only 2% of the $85 billion invested by venture capitalists last year, according to PitchBook Data, while black women start-up founders reported receiving less than $100,000 in funding dollars, according to ProjectDiane, a report released by Digital Undivided, an enterprise network that supports and coaches black and Latina entrepreneurs.
“Their businesses are usually a side hustle and they aren't able to focus all of their time and resources on launching the company because they may be working full time elsewhere,” says Keisha Taylor, who learned how to invest in start-ups after completing Pipeline Angel’s boot camp. “When they do manage to get to first round, they are often exhausted. We want to help them arrive to first round in style and with financial support.”
Another undercapitalized group of entrepreneurs supported by the network are femmes (people who actively embody a female identity or presentation regardless of their birth gender).
Launched in 2011 by Natalia Oberti Noguera, Pipeline Angels has grown to more than 200 members who have invested some $5 million.
Serving as the friends and family round for entrepreneurs who may not have that ground-level support, the Pipeline Angels governing body is launching new cohorts specifically to close the geographic, innovation and technology gap that exists in the heartland.
Heartland cities include Austin, Texas; Bozeman, Mont.; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Chicago; Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Fargo, N.D.; Houston; Minneapolis; New Orleans; Salt Lake City; Dallas; and St. Louis.
“We're seeing growth in women as entrepreneurs in these targeted markets,” Taylor says. “Pipeline Angels wants to make sure that it has a presence to support them."
For example, Taylor, persuaded other Pipeline Angels to match her investment in a cosmetics line called the Pocket Palette, and they pooled their dollars to invest nearly $15,000.