Same Pitch. Different Questions.

Hi ,

You walk into the investor meeting feeling confident.
You have validated pilot results, LOIs from three industry behemoths, and a clear path to profitability.

Thirty minutes later, you're answering questions about what happens if the tech doesn’t scale, how you’ll handle competitors, and whether your team has the experience to execute.

The male founder who pitched before you?
He was asked about his vision for global expansion and how big this could be.

Same room.
Same calibre of opportunity.
Completely different conversation.

The Invisible Bias Costing Female Founders Billions

Female founders receive < 2% of global venture capital.
In climate and nature tech, where purpose-driven innovation should level the field, the gap barely narrows.

But this isn’t just about fairness.
It’s about missed returns.
Bias filters are blocking the best talent from funding the solutions our planet needs.

And most investors don’t even realise they’re doing it.

The Question Bias You Can’t Unsee

Research shows that male and female founders are asked fundamentally different types of questions:

Male founders get promotion-focused questions:
➡️ “How will you scale?”
➡️ “How big is the market?”

Female founders get prevention-focused questions:
⚠️ “What if it fails?”
⚠️ “How will you retain customers?”

The result?
One founder sells a dream.
The other defends against failure.

Guess which narrative gets funded.

Why It’s Worse in Climate & Nature Tech

• More diverse founders are entering the space, which means more unconscious bias in rooms that aren’t yet ready.

• The expertise required to solve the world's biggest problems doesn’t always look like the “classic” tech founder.

• The complexity of climate solutions gives investors more surface area to ask risk-focused questions, often targeted disproportionately at women.

The problem isn’t lack of talent.
It’s pattern recognition that hasn’t caught up.

Flip the Pattern: From Defence to Growth

Understanding the bias is step one.
Using it to your advantage is step two.

🔁 The Pivot Strategy

When asked a prevention question, answer it quickly, then pivot:

“That’s a great question on competitive risk. What excites me is the $50B market that validates the size of the opportunity. Here’s how we’re positioned…”

📚 The Preparation Asymmetry

Female founders need to over-index on growth plans, not just risk mitigation.
Come ready with market size, expansion roadmap, and user momentum, even if you’re not asked.

🎯 The Narrative Reframe

Don’t lead with the problem.
Lead with the market you’re building into:

“We’re building infrastructure for a $4T natural capital market.”
Not: “We’re solving the problem of biodiversity loss.”

🧠 The Investor Filter

Target those who get it, or are open to learning.
Look for funds with women in decision-making roles, or those with a track record of backing diverse founders.
Don’t waste cycles convincing the wrong investors.

The upside?
Funds backing female climate founders, not for PR, but because they’re seeing value where others see risk, are starting to outperform.

Final Thought: Don’t Accept the Game, Outsmart It

The goal isn’t to navigate bias forever.
It’s to build toward a world where these tactics aren’t needed.

But until then, knowing the pattern gives you power.

The best talent is choosing to work on the biggest problems facing our planet.
Let’s make sure that talent gets funded.

Raaise helps pro-planet founders navigate bias, complexity, and capital raising, with tools that turn your clarity into investor conviction.

Ready to level the playing field? — Start here

Here’s to raising capital on your terms.

Amy and the Team @ Raaise

📣 What We’re Up To

Powered by thousands of data-driven insights, our AI-enabled platform is designed to help founders run faster, more efficient and more cost effective capital raises by:

🤝 Matching startups with aligned investors—so you don’t waste time on the wrong conversations.
💥 Enabling direct connections through the right channels—getting your pitch in front of decision-makers, faster.
🏁 Streamlining the entire fundraising process—from first contact to due diligence—so you can spend less time chasing and more time closing.

🔥 If you’re ready to raise smarter, sign up here and take your funding journey to the next level.