Jodie Kennedy, co-founder of the Auckland-based design and technology studio Edition Group, was surprised to discover that more of their clients were named Dave than were female founders. To address this disparity, the company is now offering a $15,000 service package to a female-led tech start-up.
This initiative stems from a concerning pattern Kennedy and her co-founder husband, Scott Kennedy, observed in their client base. After reviewing over 80 tech companies Edition Group has collaborated with since its launch in 2020, the majority were founded by men, and a significant number of those were named Dave.
“I realized we’ve worked with more founders named Dave than companies founded by women,” Jodie Kennedy stated. “We knew female-founded companies were under-represented among New Zealand tech at large, but this was pretty damn sobering.”
The winning applicant will receive personalized workshops and mentoring, along with competitor and market research, product strategy assistance, support in pitching to investors, a go-to-market roadmap, and a 12-month action plan. Kennedy explained that the package covers “pretty much anything that is critical for any founder looking to launch a high-growth tech start-up.”
Edition Group provides various services, including software, design, development, branding, and website support for both early-stage and established start-ups. Over the past five years, the company has supported tech start-ups such as Kernel, Kami, and FirstAML, as well as listed tech enterprises like Eroad and Lanzatech.
Kennedy aims to leverage this expertise to support another female start-up founder. The “Dave” factor started as a casual observation after Kennedy and her husband considered how many Daves they’d worked with, leading them to count the number of Daves in their client base. “It was a pretty shocking realization. It’s not to say that we don’t love Daves and all the clients that we work with. It’s just that we’d love to see more women founders come in and work with us.” They also noticed a frequent pattern with clients named Dan.
The Gender Investment Gap report by Dame Theresa Gattung and Jenny Rudd indicates that, in New Zealand, only seven out of 100 start-ups that receive investment funding have female founders. Globally, this figure is even lower, with less than 3% of venture capital funding going to women.
“That’s exactly why we get so many Daves over women, because that’s the funding that’s being received,” Kennedy explained. She suggests that the lack of investor funding could be a potential loss for the valuable start-up sector in New Zealand.
Kennedy pointed out the contrast between this reality and discussions around business leadership, stating, “While Mark Zuckerberg talks with Joe Rogan about how there needs to be more ‘masculine’ energy in business, it’s obvious the evidence points in the exact opposite direction. The numbers speak for themselves. There’s a long list of women-founded companies like Sharesies or Kami [which] have succeeded despite roadblocks, but for so many others, there are still barriers in their way.”
Kennedy acknowledges that one scholarship won’t solve the problem of funding disparities for women-led start-ups, but Edition Group is eager to contribute. “If we can do small things to help, I think we all should if we can,” she said. “If you have a start-up idea, aren’t named Dave and are ready to take the next step, Edition wants to hear from you.”
Applications for the $15,000 female founder scholarship are open until April 8. Interested applicants can contact hello@editiongroup.com.
