March 8 marks #InternationalWomensDay, an opportunity to both celebrate the achievements and contributions of women worldwide, as well as reflect on the progress yet to be made. In 2024, gender-based exploitation remains prevalent in workplaces worldwide through unequal pay, limited career opportunities, systemic discrimination, and invisible labor. These patterns of economic marginalization and social injustice are found in supply chains in most geographies and industry sectors. At Working Capital Fund, we invest in businesses that illuminate and address gender inequity in workplaces around the world.  

For example: 
♀ Advancing women’s leadership: Quizrr‘s educational model empowers female workers to express their interest in becoming leaders, line managers, and worker representatives.  
♀ Supporting woman-owned marketplaces: TO THE MARKET is creating a fair marketplace where in 2023, 70% of new suppliers onboarded are women-owned and/or women-operated.  
♀ Addressing gender-based violence: Diginex implemented a gender module to help brands detect and remediate gender inequalities and identify the risk of gender-based violence and harassment in their supply chains.  
♀ Focusing on sectors where women work: Honest Jobs invests in #responsiblerecruitment startups that are providing alternative fair recruitment and employment services to migrant workers in domestic work and supply chains.  
♀ Generating data about gender equity: Proof tracks specific DEI metrics, including measuring female leadership, minority leadership, and female employees. We engage all our portfolio companies to generate gender-disaggregated data about their work and beneficiaries. 

In addition, we are thrilled to support inspiring women entrepreneurs. Fully 56% of WCF’s investments are in companies led or founded by women. (This compares to the 3% of venture dollars invested in women-founded businesses by mainstream VC.) And they’re receiving recognition in the market. 

🌟 Quizrr’s Co-Founder Sofie Nordstrom was recently named one of Forbes’ most important 50 women over 50.  
🌟 Jessi Baker was awarded an MBE from the Queen’s Honour List for services in Global Supply Chains. 
🌟 To The Market was recognized in the INC. 5000 annual list, the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in America 

Our role is to provide growth capital to promising ventures that can scale social impact, including gender equity. By reimagining what ethical supply chains can look like, we can build a more just and equitable world for all workers.