Welcome to our #247 weekly newsletter.
“For women taking control of their financial future”
-Jana Hlistova
From The Purse
In this week’s newsletter, we spotlight Female Invest and their whopping £8.7m fundraise. The startup, founded by three female entrepreneurs, also secured $1m in 4mins via crowdfunding. This campaign had the highest number of female investors with 94% participation.
***
And you can review the news in brief so you stay on top of global financial, economic and investing trends.
I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.
Until next week,
Jana
Female Invest secures £8.7m in Series A funding, sets new records in crowdfunding
Female Invest, a finance app dedicated to empowering women through financial education and community support, has just closed its Series A funding round with a whopping £8.7m. This landmark achievement propels the company further in its mission to bridge the financial gender gap and inspire a new wave of female investors, as reported by EU Start-ups.
Community-driven focus
Founded in 2019 by Emma Due Bitz, Camilla Falkenberg, and Anna-Sophie Hartvigsen, Female Invest was born from a shared frustration with the glaring gender disparities in finance. Today, the global platform has over 73,000 paying members spanning 123 countries and a vibrant online community of more than 512,000 followers.
The Series A round, led by venture capital firms Educapital and Rubio Impact Ventures, also featured a groundbreaking crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs. In just four minutes, Female Invest raised $1m, setting multiple world records:
The highest number of pre-registrants with over 12,000.
The fastest to raise $1m.
The highest number of female investors in a crowdfunding campaign, with 94% participation.
Co-founder Camilla Falkenberg said:
“We are absolutely blown away that our community invested $1 million in just four minutes! Our members have been asking for a crowdfunding campaign for years, but we never expected such a rapid response”
Smashing the gender gap in finance
Female Invest is on a mission to tackle the financial literacy and investment disparities that women face.
70% of stocks are owned by male investors, and female workers retire with about two-thirds less in their pensions compared to men. This is despite women being better investors than men.
“Women are falling financially behind everywhere. They earn less, save less, and invest less. Our mission at Female Invest is to close this gap as quickly and effectively as possible,” explained Co-founder Anna-Sophie Hartvigsen.
Sky's the limit: future plans and expansion
Female Invest is on an impressive growth trajectory, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 240%.
Currently, 40% of its users are based in the UK, and with fresh capital in hand, the company is gearing up to launch in the US, expand its trading offerings, and scale its operations even further.
Celebrating endorsements and accolades
The co-founders, who have been included in the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list for finance, have also received endorsements from the likes of Hillary Clinton and Emma Watson.
They participated in the prestigious Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator in 2021 and co-authored the Sunday Times Best Seller “Girls Just Wanna Have Funds.”
“Traditional financial advice for women often focuses on saving money on beauty, clothes, food, and entertainment. But there's a massive gap in resources that help women grow their wealth through investments…” said Camilla Falkenberg.
Emma Due Bitz, a certified stockbroker since the age of 20, added, “The financial industry has long been dominated by men, often excluding women through its communication style and corporate culture…”
What’s next? (Re) listen to The Purse Podcast:
#104: Why every woman needs a financial plan with Kristine Beese
#117: How money works for women and why financial education is key with Sharon Lechter
News in Brief
Financial news
The Nasdaq 100 is now in correction territory: it is down 11.4% from the recent high.
US Federal Reserve liquidity falls for another week, offering no support for stocks and crypto.
Fear index Vix jumped 25.8% to hit its highest level since March 2023 as S&P 500 has its worst jobs day since October 2022.
There is kind of convergence between Nasdaq 100 and Russell 2000 YTD as investors shift their money out of big tech and into smaller stocks.
Global bonds have gained a whopping $1.2tn in value this week, most since December 2023, as bonds – at least government bonds.
Sahm Rule Recession Indicator jumped to 0.53 from 0.43 following weak US jobs data, triggering a recession warning.
Eurozone July inflation gives the ECB no green light to cut in September yet, but markets still price 96% probability for another 25bps ECB cut.
The Bank of England has cut interest rates from 5.25% to 5%, the first drop since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway halves stake in Apple from 789m shares at end-Q1 to 400m Apple shares now. Cash holdings hit a record $277bn – about ~30% of the market – cap as billionaire investor dumps $76bn of stocks
Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi
The crypto market has experienced over $272 million in daily liquidations amid a stock market downturn.
US spot bitcoin ETFs logged a daily net outflow of $237 million on Friday, the highest single-day outflow level since May 1 and the fourth highest since the launch of the ETFs in January.
Morgan Stanley tells wealth advisors they can pitch bitcoin ETFs in a first for a big bank.
Bitcoin touched $70,000 following Donald Trump’s pro-Crypto speech. The Republican presidential nominee Trump pledged at a weekend conference to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet and the Bitcoin superpower” if he returns to the White House following November’s election.
Bitcoin has over the week dropped by more than 9% to $61,358—dipping as low as $60,704—according to CoinGecko.
The price of Ethereum also dropped over the week, despite exchange-traded funds launching last month and proving popular with Wall Street.
ETH dropped by 8% in seven days and is currently trading at $2,915.
Solana also had a rough week, down over to $143. Indeed, essentially all of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap were down over that span.
Dogwifhat, the largest meme token running on Solana, has dropped the most by over 35% since this time a week ago.
Crypto policy was still the talk of the town with politicians, though. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) formally introduced a bill to establish a national Bitcoin reserve.
And Republican nominee and ex-president Donald Trump said the federal government could wipe out its $35 trillion in debt with Bitcoin.
Coffee Break? Read This
We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and janicka. We do no provide investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial adviser.
The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2024 & All Rights Reserved
Female Invest secures £8.7m in Series A funding, sets new records in crowdfunding