It’s time for the women of Australia to get started

What do a film producer, a massage therapist, a lawyer, a photographer, a sustainability manager, a content marketer and a charity fundraiser all have in common?

Well for one thing, in this particular example, they are all women. But what makes them especially interesting, is the fact they are all founders of emerging tech startups.

That’s right, this eclectic group of professional women are riding the wave of the tech startup journey, building digitally-enabled businesses with big goals to change the world and disrupt the industries they have worked in.

They are business women, and also mothers, partners and carers. And they are slowly but surely working to break through the male-dominated, coded ceiling of the tech startup industry.

The seven women behind these stories are only at the beginning of their startup journeys, with their businesses still in early stage development and only just starting to seek growth capital. But the important thing is, they got started. Thousands of other don’t.

For most women, the tech startup environment has been a fairly hard nut to crack. Depending on which report you read, women represent between 14 per cent and 24 per cent of startup founders in Australia, and when you look at those attracting investment, the stats are as low as 4 per cent. While the data may be somewhat patchy, the message is consistent – women are missing out.

And when women miss out, everyone does. Women-led companies have been shown to drive three times the returns of companies predominantly led by men. What’s more, female CEOs are leading the push for inclusive leadership, creating companies where all staff can thrive and drive innovation. So it’s pretty obvious that backing female founders is a going to be a damn smart move. So what are the barriers we need to pull down?

For some it’s a perceived lack of skills keeping them out of the space. Read: ‘If I can’t code, how can I run a tech company.’ With women grossly underrepresented in Australia’s broader digital workforce (making up less than 30% of employees in the entire ICT sector) it’s no surprise they feel ill-prepared to engage in the tech startup economy – even though in reality you don’t have to code to run a tech company.

For others it’s deep-seated cultural barriers that prevent them from getting started. The fact that women want to be 100% certain they meet all the requirements before applying for a new job (let alone pitching a business), whereas men will do so when only 60% sure they have the skills for the gig. Many women are also less comfortable taking financial risks or going ‘all-in’ with an ambitious plan to build a global business, with caring responsibilities heavily influencing such decisions.

But for many, the biggest barrier is what they can’t see. When an industry is so male-dominated and consistently portrayed as the home of ambitious young men wearing hoodies, t-shirts and sneakers, it’s hard for women in all their diversity to see themselves in this environment. If we want to change the face of the startup space, we’ve got to light a path for them to get started.

While the lights have been dimmed for a very long time, we’re starting to see some flares on the runway. Several organisations aimed at inspiring and supporting women and girls in tech have launched or expanded in Australia in the past 18 months. And the long-time leaders of female entrepreneurship have continued the push to help women-led businesses break through the investment ceiling to become global success stories.

But a challenge this big, requires a massive collective effort. We need to take those flares and turn them into floodlights with everyone working together to move the needle.

So today, we’re launching SheStarts – the much anticipated national program and campaign to turbocharge female leadership in tech and entrepreneurship and drive gender equality across the startup ecosystem.

SheStarts will find, fund and accelerate ten ambitious female-led startups from across Australia and share their journeys through an 8-month documentary web-series, inspiring millions of other women and girls to follow. The program is backed by corporate champions including foundation partners ANZ, MYOB and Sunsuper, and higher education partner UTS. These organisations have a keen interest in supporting the growth of female-led businesses while also investing in women’s leadership in innovation within their own companies.

The enthusiasm of all the key players across the corporate and startup sectors, coming together to make this huge collective impact, is nothing short of inspiring – demonstrating a growing awareness that gender equality matters for us all.

The fact is, for Australia to create a globally competitive, sustainable, inclusive and thriving economy of the future, we need to engage more women in leadership – particularly in the growth industries of the next 50 years.

Our country is going through a massive economic shift, as businesses, governments and the community sector alike recognise the need to not only prepare for, but to lead and embrace the digital disruption that is already starting to transform many of our industries.

To set ourselves up for a strong future, we need to invest in innovation, technology and ideas – and we need all Australians to come along for the ride.

Women and girls right across the country have incredible ideas, often written in the back of a notebook placed quietly in a drawer. It’s time for us to open those drawers and turn ideas into action. It’s time for the women of Australia to get started.

Applications for SheStarts are now open with a national talent search underway to find the best ideas from women across the country, to solve major global challenges and tap into disruptive market opportunities.