Local Investors, Entrepreneurs, and Business Leaders Team Up with Old Dominion University to Celebrate and Promote Women in Venture
Norfolk, VA , April 14, 2017 – On April 25, Hampton Roads’ “angel network” 757 Angels, Virginia venture capital firm NRV and Old Dominion University will host a Women in Venture luncheon, bringing together more than 100 women community and business leaders. The event is further bolstered by an impressive advisory board of the top women leaders in Hampton Roads and a network of sponsors including CBRE, Williams Mullen and Wall, Einhorn and Chernitzer P.C.
The Women in Venture lunch will celebrate women in private investing and educate women about entrepreneurship invigorating the system and beginning to change the distribution of knowledge, capital and power. Women control more than 60 percent of all personal wealth in the United States and account for over 50 percent of all U.S. public equities revenue yet less than 10 percent of investors at angel, venture and private equity funds are women.[1] Gender inequity has long been a challenge in private investing, with minimal growth in the number of female investors over the past 50 years. The Women in Venture lunch will showcase female entrepreneurs and discuss the hows and whys angel, venture and private equity in the Commonwealth can be a smart, viable vehicle for wealth management and growth.
Old Dominion University is a leader in the community for promoting women in business—from matching industry leaders with female students through its Women’s Initiative Network (WIN), to supporting female entrepreneurs at the Strome Entrepreneurial Center, to offering entrepreneurs coworking space and startup labs at the Center for Enterprise Innovation. “The Women in Venture program is a perfect tie-in to our ongoing entrepreneurship and innovation efforts. We are excited to sponsor and host this important event for women leaders in our region,” said Nancy Grden, executive director of ODU’s Strome Entrepreneurial Center.
Monique Adams, executive director of 757 Angels, agrees: “Inclusivity is critical to being impactful and interconnected. The demographics of the entrepreneurial world do not reflect the demographics of our country. The Women in Venture lunch highlights the efforts of talented female entrepreneurs and investors from our region galvanizing women to engage in meaningful ways in the innovative economy.”
The luncheon will feature Virginia’s Secretary of Technology, Karen Jackson. Secretary Jackson strongly believes, “It is exciting to see women stepping up to recognize the accomplishments of women investors and entrepreneurs For far too long the accomplishments of women have gone unspoken and I personally want to thank ODU and all of the partners for changing the paradigm."
NRV Director Liz Doerr is thrilled that this initiative is spreading across the Commonwealth. “NRV knows that cultivating a diverse investor base is critical to our ability to assess investment opportunities and offer council to our portfolio companies. We continue to be committed to supporting opportunities that educate women about the benefits of investing in early stage ventures located in their backyards,” Doerr said.
Women in Venture Advisory Board Member Anne Conner, president of TowneBank, is looking forward to the event. “For too long women have been left out of this conversation. This is an important dialogue for our region to be having,” she said.
[1] https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/85broads/2013/12/06/a-natural-remedy-for-private-equitys-women-woes/&refURL=https://www.google.com/&referrer=https://www.google.com/