Issue 7 2019

14 CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 7 2019 , Ushers inThe Future of Funding for FemaleEntrepreneurs The Future is Female: Republic Announces Acquisition of SheWorx to Close the Funding Gap Republic, the leading equity crowdfunding platform, announced the acquisition of SheWorx, the prominent global platform and event series empowering 20,000+ female entrepreneurs to build and scale successful companies. The unprecedented partnership will allow female entrepreneurs to not only access SheWorx’s internationally recognized events, but also receive all of Republic’s platform benefits, including access to equity crowdfunding and their VC arm, Republic Labs. While women receive less than 2.2% of VC funding, women actually outperform men by 30% in crowdfunding, largely due to its community-oriented nature and the ability for non-accredited investors to invest as little as $10. Republic focuses on funding underrepresented founders with 40% of all investments on Republic having gone towards female founded startups. Republic’s crowdfunding investor base has funneled over $17M into 100+ startups while their institutional/ accredited investor base has deployed $150M+ since 2018. SheWorx has organized over 300 events over the last four years and has successfully helped women in the community raise over $50M in cumulative funding. With the SheWorx partnership, Republic is creating an even more robust system by increasing the accessibility of equity crowdfunding to an already existing female entrepreneurial community. SheWorx events will continue in NYC and SF. “We are very excited to bring the SheWorx community of 20K+ female entrepreneurs into the Republic family and begin giving women a more democratic way to access capital,” said Kendrick Nguyen, Founder and CEO of Republic. Founder Lisa Wang will remain an advisor to Republic and will also be launching her new venture in the fall. Lisa explains, “This acquisition is a powerful way to usher in the future of funding and a new wave of inclusive and socially minded leadership. You can’t create change by following old ways of doing things and success should not center around a small group of homogenous venture capitalists.” As part of the partnership kick- off, Republic is announcing the SheWorx Equity Crowdfunding Challenge to provide three selected female founders with comprehensive hands-on training and resources to launch their full investment campaign. Applications will be accepted starting today and will continue through August 15, 2019. Bianca Caban, Republic’s Head of Partnerships, will become Managing Director of SheWorx. “We’re excited to carry on the SheWorx legacy and create a truly global movement that will enable female entrepreneurs to access funding regardless of their geography,” she said.