US-based insurer Northwestern Mutual is allocating $20m from its $150m corporate venture capital fund to back women-led startups, while internet technology provider Google has committed $10m to back low-income and minority entrepreneurs.
Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures was formed with $50m in early 2017 before launching a $150m second fund in May this year. It has so far invested in 18 portfolio companies.
Souheil Badran, chief operating officer of Northwestern Mutual, said: “Women play an essential role in financial decision-making for themselves and their families and by investing in women-owned startups, we can create more opportunities for women through a dedication of funds, but also gain strategic insights to better serve our clients.
“We are committed to supporting female entrepreneurs and providing access to capital and resources to help them grow their businesses. Allocating $20m is only the beginning – we will continue to invest in and provide opportunities for female founders.”
Meanwhile, Google.org, Google’s philanthropic division, has announced it will set aside $10m to help low-income and minority entrepreneurs who are starting new businesses access training and capital.
American Library Association (ALA) will receive $2m from Google.org to create entrepreneurship hubs at libraries in 10 US states as part of a range of initiatives set up in the past two years.
Software provider Microsoft’s corporate venturing unit, M12, has meanwhile joined venture capital firms Mayfield and Pivotal Ventures to launch their second global Female Founders Competition in order to accelerate funding for women entrepreneurs developing business-to-business, software-as-a-service and deeptech products.
Four winning companies will receive a total of $6m in venture funding, along with access to technology, resources, mentoring and other benefits.
Peggy Johnson, executive vice-president of business development for Microsoft, said: “Last year’s competition helped highlight that there are innovative female entrepreneurs developing enterprise tech solutions, and they just are not getting equal access to capital.”
