{"id":607643,"date":"2024-02-06T15:37:56","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T12:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/tnw-x-queer-funders-and-founders\/"},"modified":"2024-02-06T15:37:56","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T12:37:56","slug":"tnw-x-queer-funders-and-founders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/tnw-x-queer-funders-and-founders\/","title":{"rendered":"#TNW x Queer Funders and Founders"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3609b6c1e1e\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3609b6c1e1e\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/tnw-x-queer-funders-and-founders\/#A_home_for_the_LGBTQIA_tech_community\" >A home for the LGBTQIA+ tech community<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/tnw-x-queer-funders-and-founders\/#Flipping_the_script\" >Flipping the script<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-main-content\">\n                            <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the average individual, work makes up about \u2153 of their life. Everyone should have the freedom to not have to hide essential parts of their identity from their colleagues, business partners, or, in the case of startup founders \u2014 investors. Unfortunately, this is still far from reality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the tech industry is supposedly at the forefront of humanity\u2019s drive for innovation, many people in the LGBTQIA+ community working in tech suffer as a result of archaic and obsolete prejudices. Often, given the lack of external markers of mutual recognition, they do so in isolation, to the detriment of both health and creativity. One investor is hoping to change that. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI want to find my Queer tribe,\u201d says Sabine Schoorl. \u201cBecause when we are together, there\u2019s such creativity, such energy, and such talent.\u201d Schoorl is senior partner at LUMO Labs, an impact-driven multi-stage venture capital fund based in The Netherlands. She is also one of the initiators of the Queer Funders and Founders community, with <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eventbrite.co.uk\/e\/queer-funders-founders-tickets-777680682857#:~:text=Join%20us%20for%20an%20exciting,a%20supportive%20and%20safe%20environment.\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a meet-up event taking place at TNW City<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on February 29, 2023.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While there is plenty of data on the gender gap and other diversity issues in funding, there is very little on how much investment goes (or doesn\u2019t) to Queer founders. One significant reason for this is that as many as 75% of LGBTQIA+ founders are <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.proud-ventures.com\/lgbtq-founder-report\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hiding this part of their identity from investors<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_home_for_the_LGBTQIA_tech_community\"><\/span>A home for the LGBTQIA+ tech community<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\"inarticle-wrapper latest channel-cta hs-embed-tnw\">\n<div id=\"hs-embed-tnw\" class=\"channel-cta-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"channel-cta-img\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/events.tnw\/hardfork-2018\/uploads\/visuals\/tnw-newsletter.png\"\/><\/div>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/events.tnw\/hardfork-2018\/uploads\/visuals\/tnw-newsletter.png\"\/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<div class=\"channel-cta-input\">\n<p class=\"channel-cta-title\">The &lt;3 of EU tech<\/p>\n<p class=\"channel-cta-tagline\">The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol&#8217; founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It&#8217;s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When Schoorl decided to be explicitly open about her Queer identity (she is married to Ingrid T<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>in, founder and director of <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/techleap.nl\/communities\/diverse-leaders-in-tech\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Diverse Leaders in Tech<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) in her professional life, the magnitude of the response she received served as inspiration for the community she hopes to build.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI get the most amazing responses. People say \u2018oh, I\u2019m so happy that you are open. I would love that too, but I don\u2019t know any other Queer people in the tech industry\u2019,\u201d Schoorl states. \u201cAnd so I thought that apparently it is important to do this as an investor \u2014 to be open about it, and to attract people who also want to be open about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To that effect, Schoorl began working together with Til Klein, German entrepreneur and investor based in Switzerland, to build an LGBTQIA+ community in continental Europe for the tech startup ecosystem. Klein is co-founder and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> partner of <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/identity.vc\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Identity Ventures<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Europe\u2019s first VC fund that invests in LGBTQIA+ led early-stage (seed and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Series<\/a> A) startups.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another partner in this endeavour is TNW\u2019s own director of events, Zach Butler. The idea that TNW should host the Queer Founders and Funders meet-up at the company\u2019s spaces in Amsterdam arose when Schoorl and Butler shared a snowy taxi ride during the SLUSH conference in Finland last year. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI\u2019m excited that TNW will host the first Queer Funders and Founders meet-up, and hope that other LGBTQIA+ community members will benefit from having a warm home for sharing stories and connections,\u201d Butler says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSabine mentioned this idea when we were on our way to an LGBTQIA+ meet-up in Helsinki together, and I really see the need, but also the big value that Queer Funders and Founders can unlock from a new niche community platform.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Flipping_the_script\"><\/span>Flipping the script<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Schoorl adds that investors can be really brutal, even telling LGBTQIA+ founders to hide this part of their identity not to \u201cscare people off.\u201d LUMO Labs is a strong advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe have a lot of female founders in our portfolio companies, and now I want to add LGBTQ+ founders to our portfolio,\u201d Schoorl says, emphasising the importance of representation. \u201cNow that I\u2019m out and proud and vocal about my own queerness, the Queer community knows \u2018okay, I\u2019m safe there, I can be myself \u2014 I can be my best self\u2019,\u201d she says, adding that bicultural founders are also most welcome to come work with LUMO Labs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While funding gaps for founder minorities is a systemic problem, and closing it is, unarguably, the right thing to do, for an investor like Schoorl, it is also a big opportunity. \u201cI always like to flip the script here,\u201d she adds. \u201cFor me, it is a great opportunity to meet [LGBTQIA+ founders] and find them to add quality deal flow.\u201d <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just in case you missed the link to sign up for the event earlier in the article, you can <\/span><\/i><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eventbrite.co.uk\/e\/queer-funders-founders-tickets-777680682857#:~:text=Join%20us%20for%20an%20exciting,a%20supportive%20and%20safe%20environment.\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">find it here<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> again.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/tnw-x-queer-funders-and-founders\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the average individual, work makes up about \u2153 of their life. Everyone should have the freedom to not have to hide essential parts of their identity from their colleagues, business partners, or, in the case of startup founders \u2014 investors. Unfortunately, this is still far from reality.\u00a0 While the tech industry is supposedly at&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":607644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw-blurple?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/Screenshot-2024-02-06-at-13.19.38-e1707222697242.jpg&signature=9d8a1c1e8f8d1fce835551ecd78cafbc","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-607643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}