18 of Southeast Asia’s leading venture capitalists will mentor over 50 female tech founders on July 21 to share their knowledge, advice and expertise via 1-to-1 mentoring sessions.
If you are a female founder in a tech startup at the seed or Series A stage, please apply by July 10 using the link below to secure your spot!
Cocoon Capital is proud to be launching Female Founders Mentoring Hours (FFMH) for Southeast Asian female entrepreneurs. FFMH will offer founders 1-on-1 remote mentoring sessions with some of the region’s most prominent VCs, creating a rare opportunity to both pitch ideas and to receive friendly, on-the-spot advice.
Supported by Enterprise Singapore and Amazon Web Services (AWS), the inaugural FFMH event will allow over 50 female founders to meet investors over four 15 minute sessions to discuss their tech business ideas, ask for advice, and/or simply pitch for investment. The focus will be on tech start-ups at the seed and Series A stages.
In an early-stage startup, the choices founders make will set the foundations for success and impact the journey along the way. By bringing together leading venture capitalists in Southeast Asia, we hope that this unparalleled access to knowledge, advice and expertise can help propel female founders forward and increase their odds at success.
Additionally, the venture industry has long acknowledged that there is still a huge funding gap between male and female founders. A large part of a successful fundraise is in building relationships with investors over time. We believe that FFMH will give female founders a good starting point, with the chance to cultivate relationships with the best of the best early on.
The FFMH initiative is an adaptation of Playfair Capital’s Female Founders Office Hours in the UK. The investment fund has so far worked with over 300 female founders and has made the initiative permanent.
Cocoon Capital will host the online sessions on Zoom and allocate investors and founders to separate breakout rooms. The mentors will primarily be female investors from the VC industry.
A huge thank you to all the investors who have supported us so far and to all the female founders who have already applied.
Full list of participating VC mentors
Tips and tricks for making the most of mentoring sessions
Set your goal of what you want to get out of the mentoring beforehand
Just as you set goals for every other aspect of your business, you should decide beforehand what outcomes you desire from each meeting. If you’re in fundraising mode, be succinct, capture the investor’s attention and don’t forget to ask for a 30–60 minute follow-up meeting with the investor. If you would like to get advice, make sure you have at least five questions prepared in advance.
Get to the point quickly
15 minutes is not a long time and there is surely a lot to discuss, so keep introductions to a minimum and focus on your goal. The investors would have reviewed your company profile and pitch decks beforehand, so it is important that you show confidence and clarity when speaking to the investors.
Know your audience
You are speaking to early-stage investors so understand the economies of a VC, research the investors beforehand and be confident about what you are pitching or asking. Ensure you can answer questions about your market, about you and about your vision.
For more details and guidance, check out A Guide to Getting to What You Want written by Alexandra Baranowski from Playfair Capital.
How to register
The primary aim of the FFMH initiative is mentorship & support with fundraising coming second. We hope that with time, the two will go hand-in-hand.
We welcome applications from any Southeast Asia based female founder whose business is tech and at the seed or Series A stages.
Apply at: https://cocooncap.typeform.com/to/fS7RtoFK from today, Tuesday, June 30 till Friday, July 10 at 11.59pm SGT.
Keep an eye on our LinkedIn and Facebook pages and blog for updates!
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You can follow the Cocoon team on LinkedIn, Facebook and through our newsletter. If you’re a male founder and would still like to pitch us, please submit your application for funding on our portal here.