Brief description of the organisation/initiative
Time to Raise is the leading program for incubating women-led startups and venture funds in the Nordics. It is a stand-alone initiative acting as the bridge between women-led startups and would-be investors. Time to Raise aims to expand the venture capital market by helping women build great companies. To date, the startups in +Startup track have in total raised €8,5 million from venture capitalists (VCs) in Time to Raise network.
Challenge overview
The establishment of start-ups is a key driver of economic growth and job creation. During the pandemic of COVID-19, start-ups continued to play an important role towards the resilience process of our societies and economies.
Start-ups have faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of vulnerability compared to other incubators to the uncertainty brought by Covid. Time to Raise have reacted fast and with flexibility to the pandemic and have been critical and crucial in helping women and other companies shift towards digital work through innovative programmes for fundraising for start-ups and investors.
Establishment of the organisation/initiative/enterprise
Since its founding in 2021, Time to Raise has been on a mission to empower Nordic women through a fundraising-focused startup accelerator. That female, funds-centric mission is shared by Full Potential, the Stockholm-based investor platform with the vision to invest in 100,000 world-changing companies by incubating 1,000 women-led venture capital funds.
Management structure and governance
Time to Raise has been founded by Peggy Poon, prior to that, she led Microsoft for Startups in the Nordics. Peggy’s main mission in life is to break social and economic inequalities. As a student and professional, Peggy has been fortunate to live in various places and meet amazing people from all walks of life.
Vincent Weir is the co-founder of Invenio Growth and Time to Raise +Investors. Prior to that, he worked for a Stockholm based venture firm and as a consultant at McKinsey & Company.
Mei Wen is the co-founder of Time to Raise +Investors and the former CEO of Startup Sweden. She is an alumna of Oxford University, Harvard Business School MBA and McKinsey & Company.
Together with Vencent and Mei, two McKinsey alumni and partners at Invenio Growth, the Stockholm-based venture incubator Time to Raise merges with Full Potential to create a full stack fundraising ecosystem for women.
Principles of work, objectives and activities
The leading principle of work behind Time to Raise is to fill the gender funding gap. Thanks to the merging with Full Potential, women can get funding for their innovative ideas.
The work of Time to Raise is based on the 5th sustainable development goal – gender equality. The team believes that women have as much right to shape society’s technological future as they do its biological one. To this end, the team behind Time to Raise has created an ecosystem focused on helping female founders and funders raise capital.
Through a 1000 funds, the mission of Time to Raise is to empower women across the entire stack of the fundraising ecosystem, also getting capital to female fund managers as well. The goal of Time to Raise is to incubate 1,000 venture capital funds that can invest in 100,000 world-changing companies.
+Startups is an 8-week acceleration program for women who are raising capital for their startups. Time to Raise’s mission is to guide individuals and to maximise the likelihood of raising capital for a startup by providing a schedule of fundraising skills, built together with the VC partners. Along with guidance and the hard work, clients will be connected to the Nordic’s top investors eager to invest in the brightest women out there.
+Investors is an Europe-wide community dedicated to emerging female VCs. Rooted in the Nordic values of equality and entrepreneurship, the +Investor community helps female angels and professional VCs do what’s needed to raise Fund I. Time to Raise’s online forums feature educational resources and networking as well as private invitations to digital and in-person events.
Target groups
The goal of Time to Raise is to connect women to capital. The organisation has two tracks: one for startup founders and one for investors looking to raise their first fund.
Innovation
The innovative ecosystem for fundraising is promoted for startups and for investors. Time to Raise offers a full focus on fundraising for women startup leaders.
An 8-week long +Startup program is tailored to female founders looking to exercise their fundraising skills. Throughout the program, founders will meet valuable partners for their long term start-up journey.
Time to Raise’s vision is to incubate 1,000 venture capital funds that can invest in 100,000 world-changing companies. As a first step, Time to Raise +Investors is launching a community of LPs, VCs and emerging managers with the resources and guidance to launch a first fund.
Key partners
Time to Raise is a disruptive venture in partnership with startup track partners such as Microsoft, Invenio and Full Potential.
Impact and Evaluation
Time to Raise has been chosen as a best practice because of its innovative platform that promotes fundraising for women. Time to Raise is about connecting talented women with the networks, knowledge, and capital they need to accelerate their mission. Women can join the community and start raising funds.
Recommendations
The good practice Time to Raise can be adopted in other contexts as well due to its ability to give life to new innovations and by creating financial freedom. Yet even in progressive geographies like the Nordics, female founders bring in less than 10% of invested capital, according to a 2021 report from Unconventional Ventures. Further upstream, the BVCA reports that less than 15% of VC decision makers are women.
Lessons Learned
The main lesson learned from establishing good practice, according to the founder of Time to Raise, Peggy Poon is that so many ideas can be wasted because the knowledge and innovation is not shared with the right people. There is a plethora to learn from different people and cultures. This is why the team behind Time to Raise is connecting with new people, through applications, and learning about their ideas and experiences.
References
The Time to Raise website.
The founder of Time to Raise LinkedIn page.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.