💸 Meet Anna-Sophie Hartvigsen, Co-founder of Female Invest
FemWealth Spingboard
Meet Anna-Sophie Hartvigsen, Co-founder of Female Invest
In today’s edition of FemWealth Springboard, meet Anna-Sophie Hartvigsen, Co-founder of Copenhagen, Denmark-based Female Invest. The women-led company is on a mission to close the financial gender gap and make investing more inclusive.
Together with her co-founders Emma Due Bitz and Camilla Cloëtta Falkenberg, Anna-Sophie has built a thriving social e-learning platform with a community of more than 140.000 women across 89 countries.
“There are 195 countries in the world, and not a single one has achieved financial gender equality. That is what fuels our mission to empower as many women as possible.” - Anna-Sophie Hartvigsen
The company is backed by Y-Combinator, Fiona Pathiraja (Founding Partner of Crista Galli Ventures), 10x Value Partners, and more.
Learn more about Anna-Sophie Hartvigsen and Female Invest’s mission in our deep dive Q&A:
Why have you made it your mission to support women’s financial success?
There are 195 countries in the world, and not a single one has achieved financial gender equality. That is what fuels our mission to empower as many women as possible. In 2019 the gender pay gap was 17.3% in the UK, which means that on average, women were paid approximately 83p for every £1 men were paid. Until that changes, Female Invest will continue to teach women how to get the most out of their money and begin investing.
Where have you met your co-founders, and why did you decide to start a company together?
We (Anna, Camilla, and Emma) met at University; none of us knew much about investing and had struggled to find the necessary information to get started. But more than that, we all felt lonely with our interest in investing.
This shared passion sparked the ambition to make investing more inclusive, transparent, and fun. By creating a private space for women to talk about money and investing, more than 140.000 women across 89 countries have now taken matters into their own hands by investing their money.
It started as a chance to have a drink and talk about stocks, and has become a global movement with a huge mission.
How do you guide women on their journey to financial success?
In many ways, the Female Invest community has guided us - we’re nothing without their honesty and feedback. This has meant focusing on physical events in 2023 and ensuring we have online learning content for members of all levels.
Membership includes webinars, articles, over 25 e-learning courses, live events, access to the community pages, and discounted money coaching sessions. We’ve also written a bestselling book called Girls Just Wanna Have Funds and acquired a trading platform which we’ll be developing when the time is right.
Why is it important that women invest?
It’s essential that women invest their money, and there are so many reasons why we should start investing as soon as possible. It’s widely reported that interest rates on cash are pretty poor at the moment, plus inflation means our money isn’t stretching like it used to. Statistically, invested money outperforms cash savings in the long-run, which is hugely important when women are ultimately receiving less than men in salaries.
It’s not just about cash, though - investing keeps us on top of our finances, and also empowers women to feel in control of their lives.
What distinguishes women as investors?
Women tend to outperform men when they invest, but the main problem is that comparably women don’t invest their money as much. Although they’re more cautious, often using the benefits of compound interest rather than typically riskier investments, female investors are arguably better when they do invest.
Compared to men, women who invest tend to buy and hold, use ISAs1 and tax free accounts, and usually have more diverse portfolios, meaning their risk is generally spread across a variety of investments to even out the highs and lows of the stock market.
What role does community play in women’s financial success? How can women support each other on their journey toward financial freedom, independence, and wealth creation?
Community is essential and one of the best features at Female Invest - the opportunity to share knowledge, empower one another and exchange real-life experiences gives members the confidence to start investing. Learning about investing is one thing, but building a sense of belonging in a community is hugely motivating.
When we hold physical events, members have been known to plan on the community boards to meet up at one of our events. LinkedIn profiles are shared between attendees during the networking sections at our events which is a dream come true. It’s the entire reason we started Female Invest - connecting women and empowering them one event at a time.
What is the message of your upcoming book “Girls Just Wanna Have Funds: A Feminist Guide to Investing”? Why should everyone read it?
Girls Just Wanna Have Funds is not only the book we all wish we’d before we started investing, but it’s also a feminist manifesto, shining a light on financial inequality and its impact on women around the world. It covers changing money mindsets to setting goals and making first investments.
Women are frequently reported to be more successful at investing their money compared to men, yet 55% of women have never invested compared to 37% of their male counterparts. The financial gender gap can only be tackled through various forms, including Female Invest’s e-learning membership, community, and tools like the Girls Just Wanna Have Funds book.
What advice do you give women founders just starting their first entrepreneurial journey?
Much like the stock market, you’re going to have to ride the highs and the lows - having co-founders has been a real blessing to get through the rejection and keep focused on the end goal. Being a mission-led company helps us remain on track, and even when we’ve had offers that feel too good to refuse, if it doesn’t sit right, it might be worth listening to your intuition.
We had an experience where an investor offered us a huge lump sum, something we almost couldn’t refuse in the early days, but we stuck to our roadmap, and it turned out to probably be the best decision we ever made when the investor turned out to have a very different view of our business.
Follow Anna-Sophie Hartvigsen and visit femaleinvest.com.
If you’d love to learn more about personal finances, pre-order Girls Just Wanna Have Funds.
Stay tuned for the next edition of FemWealth Springboard!
💌 If you’re a female or non-binary founder of a venture-backed, early-stage company and would like to be featured in a future edition, please email me at femwealth@substack.com.
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