These 4 female founders speak up on women receiving less VC funding

(L-R) Women entrepreneurs Cherilyn Tan, Roshni Mahtani, Dr. Wenting Sun, and Lena Quek.

Being an entrepreneur is challenging enough. But as a woman, startup life is more complicated. In 2016, the VC funding that went to women founders was a paltry 2.9 percent. But despite these odds, we see women founders who have persisted in pursuing their passion for entrepreneurship.

So what got them to start up and what are the challenges they face in a male-dominated scene? I spoke to four Singapore-based women founders about their startup journeys and their perspectives.

How did you begin your startup journey?

A tumultuous experience

Roshni Mahtani, the founder and CEO of Tickled Media, said her startup life was tumultuous. According to her, “Half of the time [it was] nerve-wracking, the other half was downright thrilling. But all the while, it was exhausting,”

The company, which handles parenting portals The Asian Parent, The Indus Parent, and Parent Town, is her very first startup.

Mahtani shared that she had her fair share of epic mistakes. She recalled the time when she was on vacation and the whole team resigned on her. “I was heartbroken, but I also knew that it was a wake-up call,” she said. “I took a good, long look at what I had to fix in my company and went right to short-term firefighting and long-term planning.”

Pain point-turned-app

Lena Quek founded Babykins when she experienced her pain point, literally. After giving birth to her child, she realized that being a parent was a monumental change and that there was no shortage of pain points that needed addressing. She created an app in response, which helps parents and extended caregivers track and understand their babies’ development.

She credits her husband as her number one supporter. He reminds her that it is the journey that matters most, regardless of the result. Of course, there are days where he jokes, “Maybe make this a hobby instead?”

Natural entrepreneur

After struggling to get an objective assessment and quotation for legal work in a previous business, Cherilyn Tan founded Asia Law Network, a platform that facilitates the engagement of legal services in Asia.

It was natural for her to be an entrepreneur, as she was brought up in a family of business people. According to her, “Understanding business concepts and trying to do things on my own started really young [since I started] taking on leadership roles as a student and dreaming and making things happen in my immediate circles.”

The drive for innovation

Why do you think female entrepreneurs have less funding?

What can we do to resolve gender discrimination in the startup world?

Any advice to female entrepreneurs?