Ms. Anu Bhardwaj, founder of Women INVESTING in Women, is an Indian-American woman, who spent 12 years living, working, and studying in Scandinavia. She completed her MBA at the Stockholm School of Economics in 2006 and won a Fulbright grant to attend the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai immediately after to research high-growth women's entrepreneurship. Her study ended up focusing on access to capital for women entrepreneurs where she was able to do a global benchmark on Women in Private Equity. She spent the next 7 years helping private equity and venture capital funds access capital around the globe while looking deeper at access to capital for women and what this means in terms of Macro Finance.
We got the opportunity to ask Anu Bhardwaj a few questions on how Women INVESTING in Women help women entrepreneurs and what her future visions are.
What is your mission?
– The world is obsessed with women & microfinance. We are not victims. We actually control 51 percent of the wealth in the United States in the amount of $14 Trillion USD Dollars which will only increase to $22 Trillion USD by 2020 according to a recent BMO study that was featured in Business Insider UK. I am extremely passionate about helping women access capital but more importantly about educating women about investing in a more innovative, fairer, and peaceful world. It is my firm belief that when women control more of the economic resources, we will have more decision making ability and political power, which will ultimately translate into more innovative and compassionate world.
How does Women INVESTING in Women help women entrepreneurs?
– In several ways. We have a Facebook page which I have personally curated, that has about 15,000 article focusing on innovation, entrepreneurship, investing, and global women's issues. At the moment we have over 350,000 Facebook followers - 52% female, 48% male between the ages of 13-35 from over 100 countries. The highest number of followers are from the emerging markets and Islamic nations. English is the most widely spoken language, followed by Arabic amongst our users. We have also launched Women INVESTING in Women & Girls Radio Show - produced & broadcasted by teenage girls. Our interviews are conducted on Skype which are now available for download free-of-charge on Apple iTunes. Guests include Maud Olofsson, Katarina Bonde, Dr. Ann-Christine Langselius, Sanna Nilsson, Aurore Belfrage, HRH Princess Reema Al-Saud, HRH Sheikha Sheikha Al-Thani who are all entrepreneurial role models. Our Global Summit Series is designed to help women entrepreneurs connect with one another and meet with potential investors interested in investing in women entrepreneurs from various sectors. Education, networking, connecting is how we assist women entrepreneurs. We will be launching a financial technology platform in the near future which we will be announcing once we're ready.
Could you tell us more about Women INVESTING in Women Summit Series?
– The Women INVESTING in Women Global Summit Series started in Phoenix, AZ on 12-12-12. We knew from the very beginning that Women INVESTING in Women would go global but never had an idea of how big and how far we would go, this fast. Our Summit Series includes private equity roundtables where women learn about investing in private equity, angel investing, and crowdfunding. We've included topics like access to capital for women entrepreneurs and getting more women on boards in partnership with 2020 Women on Boards, SVCA, DVCA, Advokatfirman Delphi, PWC, and Linklaters which we launched in Stockholm in November 2013. BRAVA Fund, a global impact investment fund focused on women & girls domiciled in Norway was announced at our Spring 2014 Summit in Stockholm; HERA FUND, the first women angel fund focused on women entrepreneurs in San Diego was announced at our Summer 2014 Summit in San Diego. Access to capital is broad, so we've also partnered with Crowdfunding platforms such as Funded By Me (Stockholm), Mums Mean Business (Oslo), Woomentum (Singapore). Our ASEAN Women INVESTING in Women Summit held in partnership with INSEAD's Global Private Equity Initiative focused primarily on crowdfunding, angel investing for women entrepreneurs, in addition to a separate Women in Private Equity Roundtable. Women are responsible for 85% of the consumer decisions (across the board, around the globe) yet control less property and received less than 12% of venture capital and less than 6% in most countries around the globe. Our Summits are aimed at not only addressing this highly visible barrier for global economic growth but also in providing concrete solutions where we have men & women at the table.
You recently had an event in Stockholm, how did it turn out?
– We are most that ecstatic about the quality of our speakers as well as our attendees. We are absolutely making progress in Scandinavia and hope to scale our efforts in Helsinki, Malmo, & Copenhagen next year. It very clear that global women's issues is at the core of many major conversations in Swedish politics, corporations, and start-ups. Women INVESTING in Women comes to Stockholm every year to learn from you and share our experiences on what is working around the globe. We love collaborating with all of the brilliant men and women leading by example!
What are your visions for the future?
– We are currently raising angel capital to grow our operations in Europe and plan to have our European HQ in Stockholm hopefully within the next year! WIIW Cairo, WIIW NYC, WIIW Capetown will be taking place this Fall; WIIW Berlin, WIIW Zurich, WIIW London, WIIW Singapore, WIIW Bali, WIIW Bangkok next Spring. We launched the State of Women Radio Network, this past Spring, the world's first internet Radio Network exclusively focused on women & girls and now in the process of launching WIIW Merchandising this Summer. We have a brilliant team of men & women collaborating with us ranging from high school girls to retirees from all different backgrounds and cultures. We are really looking forward to partnering with world class companies, governments, investors, and entrepreneurs in making Women INVESTING in Women DIGITAL a premier digital and financial technology company focused on the economic empowerment of women & girls!
Please visit www.womeninvesting.in for more information.
