LONDON, 19 July 2021 -- SV Health Managers LLP (SV), the UK based entity of SV Health Investors, a transatlantic venture capital and growth equity firm, today announces that it has become a signatory of the Investing in Women Code (‘the Code’), a commitment by financial services firms to improve female entrepreneurs’ access to tools, resources and finance.
The Code is designed to support and guide investors in identifying and addressing the challenges currently preventing female entrepreneurs accessing equitable levels of finance. This gender gap in investment was exposed by the Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, published in March 2019 and the Code was established in response to it. By becoming a signatory of the Code, SV is making a formal commitment alongside other dedicated investors to address and overturn the current barriers which exist for women accessing finance.
As a signatory of the Code, SV has made three overarching commitments:
- Having a member of the senior leadership team responsible for supporting equality in all their interactions with entrepreneurs;
- To providing data on financing entrepreneurs disaggregated by gender that will be collated in an annual report by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS); and
- To adopting internal practices that aim to improve the potential for female entrepreneurs to successfully access the tools, resources, investment and finance they need to build and grow their businesses.
In order to meet the third commitment, SV has formalised existing practices aiming to improve gender equality across all aspects of its business and introduced new initiatives. For example, a review of the SV website was carried out to identify additional opportunities to incorporate reference to diversity and to clarify how innovative entrepreneurs looking for funding should best get in touch with our teams. This purpose of this exercise is to signal to talented and diverse entrepreneurs that they do not need to rely on “warm introductions” which research suggest favours male orientated teams.
SV is also formalising internal practices focused on making diverse investment decisions and Kate Bingham has formally been appointed as SV’s representative on the senior management team responsible for overseeing all diversity related activities.
“We are delighted to be a signatory of the Investing in Women Code,” Kate Bingham, Managing Partner in the SV Biotech Team, “the gender gap in investment is something we’ve been working to address at SV for a long time and becoming a signatory formalises our commitment and, we hope, will encourage our peers to do the same.”
SV hopes that by signing up to the Code, it is sending a positive signal to entrepreneurs who are looking for funding, and to other investors who can be confident that SV is committed to supporting diversity in access to finance.
About SV Health Investors
SV Health Investors is a leading healthcare fund manager committed to investing in tomorrow’s healthcare breakthroughs. The SV family of funds invests across stages, geographic regions, and sectors, with expertise spanning biotechnology, dementia, healthcare growth, healthcare technology and public equities. With approximately $2.7 billion in assets under management and a truly transatlantic presence with offices in Boston and London, SV has built an extensive network of talented investment professionals and experienced industry veterans. Since its founding in 1993, SV has invested in more than 200 companies with more than 90 of these having achieved successful acquisitions or IPOs.
For more information, please see www.svhealthinvestors.com
About the Investing in Women Code
The Investing in Women Code is a commitment by financial services firms to improving female entrepreneurs’ access to tools, resources and finance.
The Investing in Women Code is designed for all organisations that finance entrepreneurs.
This Investing in Women Code commits organisations to promoting female entrepreneurship by:
- having a nominated member of the senior leadership team who will be responsible for supporting equality in access to finance
- increasing the transparency of financial services firms’ data concerning support for female entrepreneurs
- adopting internal practices to improve the outlook for female entrepreneurs
For more information, please see www.gov.uk/government/publications/investing-in-women-code
