“We want to be the equity partner of choice for dynamic women focused businesses.”
"The Female Economy," Harvard Business Review, September 2009
Welcome to Trapezia.
The Trapezia funds are the first of their kind in Europe dedicated exclusively to investing in high growth women-focused businesses. Following the launch of our first fund Trapezia EIS, which closed at £4.5m, we received credible investment proposals that were seven times the size of the Fund. We believe the marketplace will support a larger venture capital fund intended to target investment opportunities in dynamic, high-growth women-focused businesses and have launched our second fund. Trapezia EIS II is targeting a fund size of £10 million (minimum investment is £25,000), which will be invested in a range of companies at various stages of development.
In the UK, female entrepreneurship is growing quickly but lags behind the US where Women-Focused Businesses are among the fastest-growing segment in the economy, and attract more venture capital. Meanwhile, compelling research suggests that companies with gender-diverse management teams outperform their industry average. This is in line with the Fund’s objective of maximising financial returns with our access to exceptional deal flow.
Women’s enterprise is among one of the fastest growing sectors in some of the major developed economies. In the UK, women have achieved educational and professional parity. However, in the UK and Europe, companies with female chief executive officers received only 2.5% of all venture capital funding, even though studies show that businesses with higher representation of women in their top management team perform better than those with lower representation of women.
As part of its overall objective of seeking to create innovative investment products in venture capital sectors that are underserved by existing fund managers, Stargate has developed the “Trapezia” investment strategy and brand for the purpose of providing venture capital to “women-focused businesses.” For more information on our key investment criteria, click here.
The Trapezia investment approach emphasizes creating value with tailored support to female entrepreneurs, while using proven tools, business mentoring and monitoring and sharing strategic and operational insights to create strong, sustainable business performance. Trapezia’s collective networks and committed and active advisory board help to open doors, strengthen boards and business propositions.
Gita Patel, Fund Manager, Trapezia