Bumble announces a fund aimed at helping female entrepreneurs raise capital

Dating app Bumble announced that it will be launching a Bumble Fund, which will help female entrepreneurs raise capital for their businesses. The company says that it has 85 percent women in their workforce, and was founded keeping equality in mind. Keeping this in mind, through the Bumble Fund, it will focus on early-stage investments, primarily in businesses founded and led by women of color and those from underrepresented groups.Bumble Fund’s investment strategy will be led by the company’s chief operating officer Sarah Jones Simmer will along with senior advisor Sarah Kunst.[caption id="attachment_4979311" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

Bumble is launching Bumble Fund to invest in women founders. Image: Bumble Beehive[/caption]The Fund has already committed to these five businesses that won the ‘Bizz Pitch’ competition – Beauty Con, the digital media company focusing on the beauty industry; Cleo capital, a venture fund that focuses on female founders; Female Founders Fund, another fund for backing women; Mahmee, a prenatal and postpartum healthcare coordination platform, and Sofia Los Angeles, a swimwear company for women.What inspired Bumble to take this step?A lot of data proves that startups led by women outperform their male-founded counterparts, growing faster and producing more revenue. However, according to a study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Mass Challenger found that when women applied for investment, they received less funding compared to the average male founder, but made double the revenue.According to a report by Forbes, the new fund will make investments ranging from $5,000 to $2,50,000, and Bumble has committed to a million so far.Bumble is working towards identifying new, and potential investments through the Bumble Bizz. People can download the app, create a Bizz profile, and they will be updated about similar opportunities that will come this fall.