Increasing Women + Minority Led Company Funding

Women and minority led businesses only receive 2% of VC funds, our guest is on a mission to increase that. This week hosts Tim Ryan and Zack Miller sit down with Allison Byers, Founder of Scroobious to discuss her experience raising money for her medical device startup, and what launched her into her new venture to help women and minorities navigate the fundraising ecosystem. Watch this week's episode to hear about these topics and much more!   Tim Ryan is the Executive Director of StartWheel, an organization dedicated to connecting entrepreneurs with resources in Hampton Roads, Virginia.    Learn more at: https://www.startwheel.org    Zack Miller is a serial entrepreneur and recent author of his new book Anomaly, a guide on how to differentiate yourself and your business from the crowd.   Learn more at: https://www.zackmillersays.com   Enjoy the show? Watch the Fervent Four Show LIVE every Thursday at 11AM.   Live: https://www.startwheel.org/live/ Watch past episodes: https://www.startwheel.org/fervent-four-show/ Listen to past episodes: https://fathom.fm/podcast/fervent-four    Show notes:   (0:00) Introducing Allison Byers + Scroobious   (5:00) Only 2% of VC Dollars go to Women Founders   (12:00) New funding sources for Entrepreneurs   (16:03) Starting Scroobious   (29:24) Allison's advice to founders + Being a go-getter   (41:05) The Mirroring Effect   (51:51) Conclusion   About Allison Byers & Scoobious   Allison is the Founder & CEO of Scoobious. "After varied roles in consulting and tech, I spent about five years launching, building, and leading a medical device startup spun out of MIT and raised nearly $10M. We went from a friends and family round through an A1. During that time I was floored by how inefficient and stressful the process of fundraising was, and caught off guard by the challenges I faced as a woman despite a career full of being the only woman in the room. When I did some research and found out that women and minorities receive only 2% or less (yes, that's real!) of VC funding, I felt compelled to help in some way.   "I founded Scroobious in January 2020 to increase diversity in the startup ecosystem by providing the education, tools, and community founders need to create investor-ready pitch material and an innovative platform to help investors easily find those founders. We're doing just that and have now helped over 200 founders on our scalable platform."   Learn More: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-byers   The Fervent Four Show:   Did you know that only 4% of businesses hit $1M in revenue? Tim Ryan and Zack Miller are the creators of The Fervent Four Show, designed to help you get there. Check them out Live every Thursday at 11 AM.   Social Media:   Allison Byers https://www.scroobious.com   Twitter: @scroobiousinc (https://twitter.com/scroobiousinc)   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scroobious & https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-byers   Instagram: @scroobious (https://www.instagram.com/scroobious/)   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Scroobious/   Tim Ryan https://www.startwheel.org   Twitter (personal): @ryantnt (https://twitter.com/ryantnt)   Twitter: @StartWheel (https://twitter.com/StartWheel)   LinkedIn (personal): https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryantnt/   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/startwheel-org/   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StartWheel   Zack Miller https://www.zackmillersays.com   Twitter: @zackmillersays (https://twitter.com/zackmillersays)   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zackmillersays   Thanks to our Sponsors:   The Hampton Roads Small Business Development Center – http://www.hrsbdc.org/en/   StartWheel – https://www.startwheel.org