Recent research has shown that female founders are more successful than male founders. A study by The Diversity Council of Australia’s Inclusion@Work Index (2019-2020) found that for every dollar of funding, women-founded startups generated 78 cents of revenue, compared to 31 cents for male-founded startups. Another study by BCG and MassChallenge found that female-led companies yield better returns on investment (ROI), generating 35% higher ROI than male-led companies.
Inside Ageing recently spoke with Kristen Graham, founder of Dossy, about a current capital raise and success across a number of awards.
At the time of writing, Dossy has been recognised as a Telstra Best of Business Awards State Finalist and a Top 10 Global Finalist in the Super Connect For Good awards – Diversity & Inclusion Category.
Against this backdrop, Dossy has raised close to $400K, with potential funding from the Alice Anderson Fund under LaunchVic’s Female Founder Scheme and some high-net-worth individuals and ‘sophisticated investors’. Kristen highlighted the challenge of securing investment as a female founder due to gender bias.
“Normally at seed round a $1.2M raise would result in 20% equity. We’re offering 25% given some of the reluctance out there to invest in female-led startups”
Kristen Graham, Founder, Dossy
She noted the importance of support networks, like the Friday Club, which empowers women entrepreneurs, including opening their office for founders to use.
There are a number of reasons why female founders may be more successful. One reason is that they are more capital-efficient. Female-led companies typically receive less funding than male-led companies, but they are able to generate more revenue with the same amount of funding. This is likely due to the fact that female founders are more focused on building sustainable businesses that can generate profits, rather than on raising capital in a market where they are likely to lose out to male-led businesses.
According to a recent article by Forbes, citing research from SBE/Deloitte Access Economics, the level of venture capital funding allocated to women-founded and led businesses has halved since 2020 to just 3%.
Dossy in partnership with Uniting AgeWell, the University of Melbourne, and Ageing with Grace, recently received funding from Aged Care Research & Industry Innovation Australia (ARIIA) to pilot a program using Dossy to help reduce social isolation and loneliness among older adults by facilitating regular video calls with family and friends. The results will unveiled at the next ARIIA conference.
Kristen is actively seeking strategic partners in the aged-care sector to bolster the early-stage expansion of Dossy, as well as investors eager to explore new opportunities.
