Women investors are the negligible 5%. What’s more, as a general rule, they invest around half of what men invest.

However, there’s one major difference – women invest 4x more in impact than men. What adds more fuel to the entrepreneurial fire is the fact that impact investing is more difficult.

That’s because this type of investing aims to not only bring the product and sell it as quickly as possible but also do it in a sustainable way. And the latter takes more time.

Male investors prefer to invest in SAAS and Zalando-type companies, not in impact-driven ones. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of female investors around. As a result, female founders have a really hard time attracting capital.

Inspiring Women to Start Investing

Annegien Blokpoel, a former banker, MBA, archaeologist, and Organisational & Management consultant, is changing that for good.

She has invested in numerous impact-driven start-ups and fintech, med-tech, deep-tech, and travel-tech companies. Examples include 3DClick, Quicargo, DekoEko, BitsofStock, Gamitee, Eaglet Eye, and many more.

Her mission is to inspire more women around her to start investing.

One of Ms. Blokpoel’s personal values is “Look for the hidden treasures.” and that’s no wonder as she is also a passioned archaeologist.

“To dig, you have to know how to excavate with overview and with good handwork; it is craftmanship. And it carries responsibility, once you remove it, it’s forever gone,” shares Annegien.

She has a similar approach to start-ups. Sometimes, all you have to do is retreat a little and have another look. Then, you can prioritise again and focus on the things that are really important.

“One of the things that I like about working with start-ups is that you learn about fields that you had no idea about before. And you also learn that the world is far more changeable than we think.”

Annegien Blokpoel’s Impact

In the last three years, Annegien Blokpoel has invested in 12 companies directly, and in 15 companies indirectly. She helped with the fundraising of all 12 companies, six of which are currently in their 2nd and 3rd fundraising.

Ms. Blokpoel is an active member of four Advisory Boards and the NextWomen in the Netherlands. She’s also actively involved in connecting the female angel initiatives cross border in Europe and Israel.

In 2019 alone, she inspired more than 30 women to start investing, and her vision is that many more women should invest.

The Connection with InvestHorizon

“InvestHorizon can help my start-ups get ready for Series A investments, especially my deep-tech start-ups.”

Besides Series A investments, there are also training opportunities where women can not only develop their entrepreneurial mindset but also expand their network.