Thursday 21 May 2026 11:40 am
At SCALE SUMMIT on 22 April, Women Who Scale brought together a panel of female founders and investors for a frank discussion on capital, culture and the conditions needed to enable more women to build and scale.The conversation went deep on what it actually feels like to raise money as a female founder. The near misses, the moments of being underestimated, and when to trust your instincts. Here are the key lessons, including what the investors backing women are really looking for.The panel, chaired, by Irene Graham, CEO of The ScaleUp Institute, featured: Louise Doyle, co-founder and CEO of Needi, a corporate gifting concierge business now serving clients including Microsoft, Virgin and Spotify; Andrea Sommer, founder of Womankind Ventures, a global consultancy that works with female founders and the investors who back them; Albert Azis-Clauson, investor and founder of Tramlines; and Sam Smith, founder of The Super Scalers.Read Sam’s fireside chat with Irene here. Due diligence works both waysLouise Doyle described a moment that nearly ended her company, Needi, before it had the chance to scale. Early in their fundraising journey, she and her co-founder Steph signed an exclusivity agreement with an investor without doing sufficient due diligence. “They made us sign a piece of paper that said we wouldn’t go to anyone else. And we nearly went under,” said Louise. But what followed was a lesson she’s carried ever since.
