In this episode I chat with Tanya Rolfe, co-founder of Sophia (https://www.sophiawomen.com/), about the path that led to her founding Sophia, including the challenges faced by women investors, and the mission Tanya and her co-founders are on, through Sophia, to increase early-stage investing among women and end the gender investing gap.
We hear Tanya's thoughts on the key ingredients investors are looking for in the businesses they fund, learn from the mistakes she has seen along the way and, at the end of the interview Tanya's shares her top piece of advice for women founders just starting out on their journey.
Following a 15-year legal career at some of the world’s largest law firms, eager to enter the world of venture, Tanya founded the Ladies Investment Club in Singapore shortly after moving there from the UK in 2017. Tanya grew a team of 40 female investors which enabled female investors to build their investment portfolio and credentials, while providing hard to access funding to female founders.
In 2020, Tanya founded Her Capital, a female-led seed fund in Singapore investing in female-founded, scalable businesses.
Most recently, in early 2022, Tanya launched Sophia, an exciting new learning platform for women with a goal to increase financial education and diversity and inclusion in early-stage investing.
You can contact Tanya at: tanya@sophiawomen.com
Or via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanyarolfe/
Your host, Stephen Carter, is Founder of The Intellectual Property Works (theintellectualpropertyworks.co.uk) and a patent attorney by trade.
Over the last 25 years Stephen has worked with some amazing businesses, including writing the patent applications for the Speedo swimsuit that helped Michael Phelps to his record breaking 8 gold medal haul at the Beijing Olympics and Second Sight, a West Coast US startup who make a retinal implant to restore sight to the blind.
Stephen is now recognised by IAM Strategy 300 as one of the world's leading IP strategists and is on a mission to help innovative businesses succeed by protecting their most valuable asset, their innovation, so they can make a positive impact in the world.
Follow Stephen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenjcarter/
Follow Stephen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theipstrategist
Contact Stephen directly: stephen@theintellectualpropertyworks.co.uk