A formidable force
- 500 Startups has released its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) report for 2020. ESG criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that 500 Startups’ latest global flagship fund is integrating into its investment analysis, decision-making, and portfolio management processes.
- Out of 93 companies surveyed:
- 38% of the companies have female representation on their board
- 49% of the companies have women in management positions
- 47% of the companies have women in C-suite with ownership
- Specifically in Southeast Asia, 500 Durians is honored to be a part of 56 companies that are founded and led by women entrepreneurs.
- Watch our International Women’s Day dedication to the #500Strong female founders here.
A wonder gal
- 500-backed founder and CEO Vap Yap of insurtech startup PolicyPal has been honored as one of the top 100 women in fintech by FinTech Magazine. PolicyPal is a free app that allows users to manage their coverage in one integrated platform.
- Val has been listed as Forbes’ ’30 under 30’ and Fortune’s ’40 under 40’ in recognition of her achievements.
- Since 2018, she has been teaching as a fellow of the Singapore University of Social Sciences, covering fintech and resource activities.
- Read more about Val on page 29.
Shifting mindsets
- In its International Women’s Day feature, Yahoo! Finance asked several women executives challenging expectations and stereotypes to share their thoughts on this year’s theme, #ChooseToChallenge. Group CFO Juliet Zhu of 500-backed automotive startup Carsome was one of them.
- She shared that globally, women make up only 20% of the automotive workforce, with representation falling below 10% at the executive level. “The consequence of this severe underrepresentation is that the industry continues to alienate women customers despite the fact that women are also buying and selling cars,” she said.
- “Carsome is always about challenging industry norms by doing things differently… Today, 35% of our senior positions are held by women, a number far above industry average,” she added. “With this, we hope to challenge gender stereotypes and shape the future of the automotive industry, as there is so much more we can collectively do as an industry to better understand and engage women customers.”
- Read the full article on Yahoo! Finance here.
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500 Startups is a venture capital firm on a mission to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems. In Southeast Asia, 500 Startups invests through the pioneering 500 Southeast Asia family of funds. The 500 Southeast Asia funds have backed over 240 companies across multiple sectors from internet to consumer to deep technology. It continues to connect founders with capital, expertise and powerful regional and global networks to help them succeed.
This post is intended solely for general informational or educational purposes only. 500 Startups Management Company, L.L.C. and its affiliates (collectively “500 Startups”) makes no representation as to the accuracy or information in this post and while reasonable steps have been taken to ensure that the information herein is accurate and up-to-date, no liability can be accepted for any error or omissions. All third party links in this post have not been independently verified by 500 Startups and the inclusion of such links should not be interpreted as an endorsement or confirmation of the content within. Information about portfolio companies’ markets, competitors, performance, and fundraising has been provided by those companies’ founders and has not been independently verified. Under no circumstances should any content in this post be construed as investment, legal, tax or accounting advice by 500 Startups, or an offer to provide any investment advisory service with regard to securities by 500 Startups. No content or information in this post should be construed as an offer to sell or solicitation of interest to purchase any securities advised by 500 Startups. Prospective investors considering an investment into any 500 Startups fund should not consider or construe this content as fund marketing material. The views expressed herein are as at the date of this post and are subject to change without notice. One or more 500 Startups fund may have a financial interest in one or more of the companies discussed.
