No, as far as I'm concerned there's no post that's too bespoke.

I was just intrigued, I'm <25 and thought at first glance it sounded quite pre-historic and promotes a divide, after all, that's what it is – its like solving the race issue by having race-specific pubs and restaurants (which sounds familiar!).

The world is a changing place, I don't believe there is such a thing as 'old boys networks', they are just social networks made only of men, because there are more men in business, and after all, men have been in business longer. Now more women are getting into business, taking the top-spots and essentially diluting these networks to the point where they will die out. I'm not saying they will never exist, because they will, but I don't believe the intentions are such as to create a divide.

It looks like what the UK government are doing (and the frequent women only meet ups) are promoting women only networks. Solution? Or problem accelerated?

But then again, I'm not a woman and so have no experience of the issue. I might have been blissfully unaware my penis was short cutting me to success.

Onwards & upwards!

Geoff

On Sat, Apr 18, 2009 at 1:54 PM, Barbara <[address removed]> wrote:

Hi Geoff,

I guess in the same spirit as there are grants for businesses in certain areas (Enfield,Islington…) or incentives for young people with lower education to start businesses , there are now this fund for women led-businesses.

Apparently it comes from studies that showed that women had more difficulty to access equity funding (old boys networks, not a good knowledge of the various sources of funding,etc…)

Obviously I haven't lived long enough in the UK to judge the rationale here but having lived in other countries and also met women entrepreneurs from various cultures and background, I know this is sometimes a cultural sensitive issue.

I guess the UK government has chosen to lead by example here by trying to reduce the gap.

This scheme is new and I just wanted to know if some women have come across that already or if people have provided support to eligible businesses. Just to share experience and give advice really.

I don't know the proportion of women Entrepreneurs on the list, so I apologise if this was maybe a too bespoke post.

Barbara

2009/4/18 Geoff Wright <[address removed]>

There are exclusive funds for women-led businesses?

On Fri, Apr 17, 2009 at 5:35 PM, Barbara <[address removed]> wrote:

Hello,

sorry for the bespoke question here (but they are all to some extent).

I was wondering if any woman Entrepreneur or woman-led business had gone for matched funding equity with the Aspire Fund?

For reference : the £12.5m Aspire Fund targets support for Women led businesses across the UK. The fund is able to make equity investments of between £100k and £1m, on a co-investment basis, in order to help strong businesses grow.

The objective of the fund is to increase the number of successful Women led businesses within the UK, ensuring that those with real potential to succeed are not held back through a lack of growth capital.

Than you for your testimonial and advice.

Kind regards,
Barbara

–
Please Note: If you hit "REPLY", your message will be sent to everyone on this mailing list ([address removed])

This message was sent by Barbara ([address removed]) from London OpenCoffee Meetup.

To learn more about Barbara, visit his/her member profile
To unsubscribe or to update your mailing list settings, click here

Meetup Support: [address removed]
632 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 USA

–
Please Note: If you hit "REPLY", your message will be sent to everyone on this mailing list ([address removed])

This message was sent by Geoff Wright ([address removed]) from London OpenCoffee Meetup.
To learn more about Geoff Wright, visit his/her member profile

To unsubscribe or to update your mailing list settings, click here

Meetup Support: [address removed]
632 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 USA

–
Please Note: If you hit "REPLY", your message will be sent to everyone on this mailing list ([address removed])

This message was sent by Barbara ([address removed]) from London OpenCoffee Meetup.

To learn more about Barbara, visit his/her member profile
To unsubscribe or to update your mailing list settings, click here

Meetup Support: [address removed]
632 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 USA

–
Please Note: If you hit "REPLY", your message will be sent to everyone on this mailing list ([address removed])

This message was sent by Geoff Wright ([address removed]) from London OpenCoffee Meetup.
To learn more about Geoff Wright, visit his/her member profile
To unsubscribe or to update your mailing list settings, click here

Meetup Support: [address removed]
632 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 USA