Deeptech investor pi Ventures Fund I qualified under the “2X Challenge” by CDC Group 

Early-stage venture fund pi Ventures has been recognized as a 2X Challenge qualified Venture Capital fund by CDC Group Plc, the UK’s development finance institution, as 42% of its portfolio companies have at least one woman co-founder.

pi Ventures, which invests in disruptive Artificial Intelligence and DeepTech startups, is eligible as a gender inclusive ‘2X’ investment for having invested in 5 companies (Niramai, Wysa, Pyxis, True Lark and Transper) that have been co-founded by women entrepreneurs.

The 2X Challenge was originally launched in 2018 and has been renewed in 2021 as a commitment to ‘gender-smart investing’ by a group of international Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) of the G7 and Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), including CDC. The group currently aims to collectively mobilize $15 billion in commitments that provide women in developing countries with improved access to leadership opportunities, quality employment, finance, enterprise support & products and services that meaningfully support women. The 2X Challenge aims to identify eligible businesses that are committed to one or more of these areas.

Moreover, given the present context, where women have been disproportionately affected due to the pandemic, there is a greater need to have more women in leadership roles. Closing the gender labor gap could add $28 trillion, or 26 percent, to annual global GDP in 2025, according to a McKinsey report.

Srini Nagarajan, MD, Head of Asia, CDC said, “CDC is a founding member of the 2X Challenge and strongly recognises the value of investing in women. CDC believes in the importance of venture capital to seed early-stage, innovative tech sector businesses to promote economic growth by harnessing the power of the digital economy”

Roopan Aulakh, MD, pi Ventures said, “We are extremely honoured to be recognized by the 2X Challenge initiative. Though we do not focus on gender composition when investing, it is interesting that pi has come across such a large number of high growth potential DeepTech companies which are being led by women entrepreneurs. Increasing visibility of venture-backed female-led deep tech startups, can help transform the ecosystem and increase representation of women leaders in deep tech”