The Billion Dollar Boat – Helsinki was an exclusive event hosted by Beyond The Billion and sponsored by Anthemis Group.
This event was a unique opportunity to gather some of the most prominent figures in the investment and entrepreneurial landscape for a special gastronomic dinner experience, fostering relationships and engaging in insightful discussions.
The idea behind this gathering was to create an informal yet stimulating setting where our guests could share collective insights, learnings, and war stories from the last 24 months, and explore new ideas and opportunities for growth in these rapidly evolving spaces.
Some Key Takeaways:
The Need to Shift to “Legacy” vs “Fear-Based Planning”
Limited Partners (LPs) discussed how planning driven by fear can prevent future generations from building on past achievements and may even cause family conflicts. Behavioral studies indicate that fostering confidence and trust is a more effective approach for preparing the next generation to manage and grow wealth, and working together across generations is beneficial.
Investing in Women: A Returns & Impact Imperative
Investing in gender-diverse teams presents a significant opportunity for higher returns, as seen in public data points, as well as BTB’s consortium of funds. Research shows that women-led businesses often outperform their peers, and diverse leadership teams can drive innovation and profitability. Investors are increasingly recognizing the value of gender diversity in their portfolios.
More Support Desired from LP-led Women Initiatives
While LP-led initiatives aimed at supporting women in venture capital have made strides, they often face limitations such as inadequate funding, lack of mentorship, and systemic biases that hinder progress. These initiatives alone are not enough to significantly increase the number of women GPs funded.
However, strategic support from large financial institutions can make a substantial impact. For example, some of BTB’s sponsors and supporters from Bank of America to Mastercard has committed to investing in women-led venture funds, including some of our Pledged GPs, demonstrating a strong institutional backing that helps bridge the funding gap. Such investments not only provide necessary capital but also enhance credibility and visibility for women GPs, fostering a more inclusive venture capital ecosystem
We will continue to host these gatherings globally, recognizing the significant impact on the investment and entrepreneurial communities through these convenings.
We would love to extend our gratitude to all guests for their contributions and active engagement, which were instrumental in the event’s success. Last but not least, it is imperative to deploy capital in ways that yield not only financial returns but also create a net positive impact on the world.
Drive Returns Through Diversity with Us #investinwomen
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Some moments from the event:
About The Organizers
Anthemis deploys financial, human and intellectual capital in service of a better system. Anthemis supports pre-seed to growth stage companies that embed finance in their products, services and operations.
BTB is the world’s first and largest consortium of venture funds pledged to invest over $1Bn into women-founded companies. Beyond the Billion’s (BTB) first pledge campaign was launched as The Billion Dollar Fund for Women in October 2018 with an audacious goal of catalyzing $1 billion into the hands of women founders globally, addressing the gender venture investment gap where women were receiving only 2.2% of all venture capital funding. In under 2 years, $638 million of the first billion pledged was deployed by our partner funds into close to 800 women-founded companies, of which 11 have been recognized as unicorns— from Canva to EverlyWell. To continue to build on this momentum, we launched Beyond The Billion, to catalyze capital deployed to and with these venture funds, ensuring their continued capacity to invest by bridging LPs and GPs, building a community of institutional investors, sovereign funds, IFIs, DFIs, family offices, wealth managers and high net worth individuals; driving the agenda collectively.
