MIT D-Lab Scale-Ups Accelerator
The What: The FutureProof team worked with the MIT D-Lab Scale-Up Accelerator program to co-create a peer-driven curriculum for the 2021 cohort of female Indian entrepreneurs focused on equipping the entrepreneurs with the leadership skills to overcome a systemic challenge in the social entrepreneurship sector: female founders consistently raise less capital than their male counterparts. The program focused on tackling systemic inequities in finance from two sides, the entrepreneur and investor. On the entrepreneur side, the program built skills for investment readiness and mindsets to counteract internalized and cultural barriers. While on the investor side, it identified institutional challenges to equitable investing and then co-design solutions that address these barriers.
The How: We collected best practices on community-based models and conducted qualitative user research on investor bias in gender financing and leadership development. We worked with the Social Entrepreneurship Manager to co-define and develop a a set of practical facilitation methods and strategies to build a community of peer-learning that can be incorporated throughout the program. These strategies focused on introducing Peer-Driven Change, an innovative peer-engagement and learning framework, that builds and leverage peer learning as a method for tackling structural and internal challenges to fundraising.
The Why: Too few startups supported by incubator and accelerator programs worldwide are women and minority-owned, and equipped to manage the magnitude of global climate and health risks, which will disproportionately impact women of color in emerging markets. The IFC estimates that there is a 300 billion dollars financing gap for women entrepreneurs in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in low-income countries. In 2019, women-led companies received less than 3% of VC investment for their businesses. By coaching women to become aware of neurolinguistic bias in pitching and investor communications, as well as developing strong support systems with fellow female entrepreneurs, we can start to close the gender gap in founder and impact investing.
Our Results: We co-designed a program to reimagine solutions in the social enterprise ecosystem for women entrepreneurs and investors to close the gender financing gap. Our peer driven-change framework comprises a customized collaboration and learning toolkit of more than 70 activities to foster peer-driven change among cohort members.