It’s the system for funding that needs to be fixed, not women entrepreneurs, a recent panel on women-led tech ventures heard.

On a panel at Inspirefest 2017 with Astia’s Yuka Nagashima were entrepreneurs Veronica Bouchet, founder director of Novudel Associates; and Patricia Scanlon, founder and CEO of Soapbox Labs; as well as Astia Angels investors and advisers David Marple and Barbara Clarke.

The panel explored the kinds of questions investors ask entrepreneurs making a pitch, the dos and don’ts of pitching, and the biggest problems entrepreneurs encounter when presenting to investors.

The key message was that it is all about levelling the playing field in a funding world where cards are often stacked against women entrepreneurs.

Nagashima hit the nail on the head when she said it is the system that is wrong, not women entrepreneurs.

“And one of the reasons is that we believe that women do not need to be fixed, because we are not broken. What needs to be fixed is the system, so let’s get working on that.”

Words by John Kennedy