Women often have a deep underlying purpose for building their companiesGlobally, the underrepresentation of women in entrepreneurship and leadership is attributed to a range of factors, including a lack of education, limited asset ownership, social and cultural restrictions, gender stereotypes and unequal access to resources. In some countries, for example, women who are not heads of households need their husband's permission for certain activities and require men as co-signatories.
To gain insight into the experience of some female tech entrepreneurs, DNA spoke to four founders who between them, have between three years to 22 years of experience. For Renuka, becoming an entrepreneur was a personal decision. In 2001 she co-founded a legal practise specializing in intellectual property but didn't enjoy it as much. Her passion for coaching and mentoring entrepreneurs led her to work with startups and becoming a co-founder of ScaleUp Malaysia. Renuka believes that in order to teach others, you must first experience it yourself.
While she raised US$500,000 in seed funding led by 500 Global within a year of launching PurelyB in 2015, the subsequent funding was harder to come by. Women founders focus on taking care of the people they work with, their company, and stakeholders supporting it. Jesrina added that while men may also possess these qualities, she sees it in every single woman entrepreneur she knows. Moreover, women entrepreneurs often have a deep underlying purpose for building their companies due to personal experiences or something that has happened to someone they care about deeply.
To this, Lina adds: “There is strength in the patience and calm that women can bring to the table. Women have great intuition which make them great people leaders, they’re naturally courageous and great communicators. By being more risk-averse they can be more trustworthy and businesses can stay resilient.”
While the situation has improved, more supportive groups should be created, along with access to mentors and advisors, which can be instrumental in helping women navigate their entrepreneurial journey. She added “It is because you may have the best idea, execute it well but may not have enough resources to make it grow. By resources I mean everything and anything from access to funding and investment to marketing and branding strategies to lawyers, biz advisors, business structuring, access to target audience in the more cost-effective ways especially when you have limited capital.