Introduction

Purpose

Giant Leap (GL) believes diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are critical aspects to the operations and investment activities of a successful venture capital (VC) fund and a thriving startup ecosystem more broadly.

In their H1 2022 Report, Cut Through Venture noted that capital raised by teams with women founders or cofounders and the percentage of deals they participated in remained relatively unchanged over the last year. Moreover, founding teams made solely of women founders represented only 8% of completed deals and 2% of capital raised.

Research by BCG showed that if women and men participated equally as entrepreneurs, global GDP could rise by approximately 3% to 6%, boosting the global economy by $2.5 trillion to $5 trillion. We also believe in the strength of women-led businesses, which generate 12% higher revenues annually, using an average of a third less capital than their male counterparts.

We acknowledge also that these challenges (and potential upsides) extend beyond women founders to people from a variety of different backgrounds and lived experiences.

We are publishing our policy and additional resources that we hope will inspire others in the ecosystem to consider what they can do to take action to build a more diverse and inclusive ecosystem.

Giant Leap’s values

In developing this policy and objectives we have anchored our actions in line with our values:

• Act with radical candour – Care personally and challenge directly. We value self-awareness and acknowledge we don’t know all the answers. We trust others to highlight opportunities and blind spots that we can’t see.
• Think with an abundance mindset – We seek to be generous and without expectation or ego when giving to others. We believe that a rising tide will lift all boats. We value collaboration and seek to grow the pie.
• Lead by example – We exist to demonstrate the power of startups to solve the world’s problems to guide us to a cleaner, healthier, happier future. We act with courage, integrity and kindness to challenge the status quo.
• Play the long game – We are strategic in our decision-making and think about the consequences of our actions and inactions. We respect the past, present and future.
• Be human – We value human connection and seek joy in life. We understand the importance of relationships and acknowledge we are only one piece of the puzzle. Without others, there is no self.

Approach

This policy was developed by undertaking the following activities:

• Review of research relating to gender lens investment and approaches to foster diversity
• Review of best practice and existing approaches undertaken by local and global VC funds
• Consultations with ecosystem stakeholders

<aside> 💡 Continuous Improvement: Giant Leap will continue to investigate opportunities to further our understanding of DEI from experts and look to maintain best practice policies moving forward. This policy is a reflection of our best attempt to capture our views and aspirations at this moment, but we know the issues we are addressing are nuanced and constantly changing. Our views on these issues are one amongst many and, while we may not always be right, we are willing to learn along the way.

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