We know the dire numbers for female founders in Australia and New Zealand, with just two per cent of private capital going to all female-founded teams in 2025.
But what we can’t always quantify is the number of women determined to change this and those coming up with their own creative solutions to make a difference.
One such solution comes from Kate Gatfield-Jeffries, a New Zealand-based co-founder of functional drinks supplier, Moodi.
Gatfield-Jeffries has built a successful business, stocked in more than 500 supermarkets and known as one of the fastest-growing wellness companies across Australasia, selling more than two million cans in its first year of retail. She also has a large following on LinkedIn, where she shares what she’s learnt about building a business.
Gatfield-Jeffries declares on her profile that along the way of her own journey, she’s “tried to leave every door open for the next founder behind me.”
And she does so with no-strings-attached financial grants.
In 2025, she raised $10,000 across three women building businesses, noting on LinkedIn on Wednesday just how that money was spent.
One such entrepreneur was Grace Toombs, founder of June Health, aiming to close the gap in women’s healthcare by making sexual health accessible and shame-free. The former UNSW Medicine student sees prevention as the best opportunity for real systemic change and recently participated in our Women’s Health Innovation Roundtable at Mecca headquarters in Melbourne.
Toombs used the financial support to run a marketing campaign for June Health’s at-home cervical screening service.
Another founder was Lucy Kough, who founded Tap the Gap to close the wealth gap for women in retirement savings. She used the grant to help cover legal costs and get moving on her startups next stage.
The third founder was Hannah Killgour, who owns the Māori-designed children’s brand The Pēpi Pozy. She used the money to help scale by shifting from air freight to sea shipping. The result? Growth that supported her ability to make her first hire.
Now, a few thousand dollars isn’t going to enable a women-led startup to suddenly pivot to an AI infrastructure play (as a prominent NZ shoe retailer recently announced). Nor is it the kind of deal that’s going to land on the front page of the financial press.
But for an early-stage founder, this kind of money can make a world of difference — especially in getting a necessary, specific project done.
As Gatfield-Jeffries said, she knows this first-hand, having won a $6000 pitch competition when she first launched Moodi.
But applying for this type of support and being successful brings about something else: confidence.
As Gatfield-Jeffries said, more than the money, it’s the “vote of confidence” that can enable a founder to thrive — especially a founder who doesn’t fit the norm of who gets funding.
“Starting Moodi was incredibly rewarding, but it was also financially and emotionally tough,” says Gatfield-Jeffries.
“I didn’t pay myself for the first two years, and there were so many moments where a small amount of support would have changed everything. This fund exists to be that support for someone else.”
I, too, know the difference a little cash can make to a business. I distinctly remember the first $ 2,000 in ads we sold on Women’s Agenda after I’d made up the difference—and being so happy that we could finally pay a developer to fix a couple of key issues we were having at the time.
Now, Gatfield-Jeffries is doing it again this year, giving away $15,000 across four recipients with, as she says, “no equity, no strings attached.”
“Too many great ideas never get the chance to grow because the funding system wasn’t built with women in mind,” says Gatfield-Jeffries.
Applications for The Female Founder Fund close on the 24th May. You can learn more here.