Worldwide Finance Awards 2020

Acquisition International - 2020 Worldwide Finance Awards 11 he WIF AX is an opportunity zone and impact fund that was founded in February 2019, and operates with a three- pronged approach in pursuit of its mission. Firstly, the firm uses acceleration techniques to grow and scale emerging technology companies. From there, it ensures that the companies are gender balanced at the corporate level, with the bare minimum being an equal amount of men and women. Thirdly, the WIF AX then helps the companies become fundable and sustainable, working with underrepresented founders, and inside the local communities, to bring forth the next-generation workforce, entrepreneur, and investor. Essentially, the fund is creating its own IP around ecosystem building, funding structures, and sustainability. WIF AX’s accelerator is unique in that it prepares companies to become fundable and sustainable, through six weeks of intensive due diligence in which the WIF AX packages the companies for funding, before providing two weeks of sustainability to help the client a viable, long-term plan. In order to service clients in the world that has been changed by COVID-19, the WIF AX’s accelerator is also fully online and virtual so that it can serve more founders and they can interact with the ecosystems better. In the last years and a half since the fund was established, the core values of growth, equality, and sustainability have remained the same, with the fund now encompassing six of the seventeen sustainable development goals. As is the case with many industries across the United States, the finance industry is changing and evolving. There is the advent of blockchain technology which is changing the way people trade, lend, and finance companies. Once there is regulatory certainty, new products and services will be created for the masses. The venture industry needs to evolve to include a bigger set of companies, with deals and companies coming from everywhere. Also, the way in which companies get funded needs to be changed. The WIF AX is one of the most innovative and forward-thinking firms, and it showed when the pandemic hit. It was prepared to keep running given the accelerator’s virtual nature, and the length of the pandemic has encouraged the WIF AX to scale the accelerator. Emerging technology within the world of finance is something that presents itself as an areas of truly exciting growth for companies all over the world. In the United States, the finance industry is changing and evolving all the time. One of the most unique entities in the industry is the Women’s Innovation Fund Accelerator (WIF AX), and Opportunity Zone and Impact Fund with a three-pronged mission. We profile the business to find out more, and why it is a truly deserving double winner in this years’ Worldwide Finance Awards. Best Emerging Tech Fund & Accelerator 2020 & Finance Innovation Award in Equal Opportunity Private Equity 2020 T Over the course of the last twelve months, including the pandemic, the WIF AX has done very well, with two of its portfolio companies having raised money during the pandemic. That does not mean that the period has been without challenge, however. The main challenges that the firm has faced is that many companies do not understand how funding works. They need to get educated on their numbers, ownership, and structure. It is hard to invest in people that are not investable or knowledgeable about their own potential for investing. The other challenge is that there are a lot of pieces to building an ecosystem, with several resources that must be gathered in order to get that done. Incorporating these resources into communities has become a challenge, but one that the WIF AX continues to tackle head on. Innovation and the desire to invest in the right companies runs deep in the culture at the WIF AX, and the team thrives on strategy and execution. Everyone brings ideas to the table, and the firm strategizes on them. If they are good, then they move on. Crucially, if the ideas are not good, they are archived in case they become more applicable at a later date. Everything, and everyone, is recognized for the potential that they could possibly bring to a business. At a time where people are cautious and the future is uncertain, the recognition and the outstanding work done by the WIF AX is exactly what the United States needs. Company: Women's Innovation Fund Accelerator (WIF AX) Contact: Barbara Bickham Website: www.wifaxvc.com