Capital femmes indicator reveals promising progress in women representation in Quebec's investment funds Français
MONTREAL, Nov. 14, 2023 /CNW/ - Today, Réseau Capital publishes the results of the Capital femmes analysis, an indicator of women representation in investment funds in Quebec.
This year's analysis results unveils promising advancements in both women representation within investment funds and investments made by these funds in companies founded or led by women.
"Capital femmes allows us to highlight the growth of investments in companies founded or led by women and the increase in women representation in our industry. More importantly, this enables us to promote diversity and inclusion within businesses and investment funds in Quebec. The results obtained encourage us to continue in this direction, especially through the various initiatives of our ELLE-Invest committee," stated Olivier Quenneville, CEO of Réseau Capital.
Launched in October 2021 by Investissement Québec and transferred to Réseau Capital in 2022, the Capital femmes indicator is the first of its kind in Quebec. It provides an overview of women representation in investment funds operating in Quebec and within Quebec-based companies that have received financing from these investment funds.
- In total, 38 funds (representing nearly 80% of the 47 funds approached by Réseau Capital) participated in the study. These venture capital and private equity funds made 463 investments in 312 Quebec-based portfolio companies.
Cumulatively between 2010 and 2022:
- 65% of the surveyed investment firms include at least one woman partner.
- Women partners make up 25% of all the partners in investment firms.
Cumulatively between 2016 and 2022:
- 44% of investments were made in companies with at least one woman co-founder or leader. These investments went from 40% in 2016 to 61% in 2022, representing a 21% increase.
- Out of a total of $3.9 billion, $2.9 billion was invested in these companies, accounting for 74% of the total investment amount.
- 41% of Quebec-based companies that received investment from venture capital and private equity funds were founded or led by at least one woman.
You can view the data compiled by Capital femmes here.
As a reminder, Investissement Québec passed the torch to Réseau Capital last year for them to collect data and annually provide an overview of women representation in investment funds in Quebec.
In doing so, Investissement Québec aimed to expand the scope and enable a greater number of Quebec investors in companies founded and led by women to be made public, making the disclosure even more representative.
Indeed, transferring this analysis to the Réseau Capital's Center of Expertise has significantly broadened its reach and allowed for data collection from a larger sample of investment funds.
"This year, the goal was to broaden the scope of the analysis to encompasse the entire investment capital landscape in Quebec. In just one year, we have made remarkable progress, largely thanks to the valuable contribution and joint effort of our collaborators," said Simon Pelletier, Director of business intelligence at Réseau Capital.
To collect this data, Réseau Capital approached 47 investment funds. Following the answers from 38 of these funds, they were able to determine the number of investment firms with at least one woman partner and the proportion of women partners in these investment firms since 2010. They also calculated the proportion of investments in companies with at least one woman co-founder or leader and the proportion of companies founded or led by women that received funding from the participating funds, all since 2016.
Réseau Capital would like express its gratitude to its collaborators, CDPQ, Fondaction, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, and Investissement Québec, for their valuable contribution to this analysis.
Réseau Capital is the association of investment capital that brings together all stakeholders involved in the Quebec investment chain. Its mission is to contribute to the development and efficient operation of the private equity industry, which plays a major role in the development and financing of businesses in Québec. Founded in 1989, Réseau Capital has close to 100 corporate members representing private equity, tax-advantaged and public investment companies as well as banks, accounting and law firms, along with many professionals working in the field.
The Center of expertise at Réseau Capital aims to facilitate accessibility to quality data on investment capital in Quebec, establish strategic monitoring of the industry, and contribute to the development of knowledge to better understand and stimulate the ecosystem.
SOURCE Réseau Capital
Luc Tousignant, Vice President of Business Development and Outreach, Phone: 514-594-2393, Email: [email protected]
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