Launch With GS is Goldman Sachs' commitment to invest $500 million in women-led companies and investment managers. In our efforts to narrow the gender investing gap, we are also building a global network of business leaders to facilitate connections, share ideas, and uncover opportunities. Ultimately, we believe investing in diverse teams – diversity of gender, thought, and background – leads to outperformance and will drive growth for our clients, shareholders and communities.

The Opportunity

 

Women founders and investors receive less capital than their male peers – a phenomenon often referred to as the ‘gender investing gap.’ In the US, all-women founding teams raised only 2.2% of VC funding in 2018, and just over 5% of PE firms in the US are women-owned. More broadly, fewer than 1 in 20 CEOs in the S&P 500 are women 1. 

We know that tackling the gender investing gap is a challenge that’s far larger than any single company, but we believe that Launch With GS is a step in the right direction.

 

 

Our Approach to Driving Value and Change

Investing in women-led companies

through Goldman Sachs’ principal investing businesses, focusing on later-stage growth equity

Backing women-centered* investment managers

by investing client capital across venture capital, growth equity, and private equity strategies

Building a community

of entrepreneurs, investors and other business leaders to facilitate connections and grow the pipeline of future investment opportunities

Our Perspectives

“In Asia, many healthcare, technology and consumer companies are increasingly catering to female consumers. Portfolio companies with a diverse leadership team at the helm have a clear competitive advantage since they are better positioned to understand the true needs of their customers.”

Stephanie Hui
Managing Director
Corporate Investing

“We believe in the power of community in growing businesses, and that having a diverse network can make the difference in getting to that next level, whether you’re an entrepreneur or an investor. That’s what we’re building with Launch With GS.”

Jemma Wolfe
Vice President
Business Lead for Launch With GS

“Entrepreneurs think differently than everyone else – otherwise their idea would already exist. If you’re looking for entrepreneurs in the same place over and over again, you’ll get the same ideas, over and over again.”

Jade Mandel
Vice President
Principal Strategic Investments

“When we invest in growth companies, amongst other things we are really backing management teams. We look for resilience, passion, and a demonstrated track record of making good decisions. And we believe that diverse teams make better decisions.”

Nishi Somaiya
Managing Director
European Special Situations Group

“We want to work with entrepreneurs who are humble and willing to do the work with us, because in the end they care about creating a great business that lasts. There’s a vision component to investing – what are you trying to build? And a values component – how are you going to build it?”

Darren Cohen
Managing Director
Global Head, Principal Strategic Investments

“Having worked in this industry for close to a decade, I’ve seen the gender investing gap firsthand. There’s a real economic benefit to having more women in board meetings and on investment committees, and in enabling women to create businesses that serve the broader economy.”

Olga Kaplan
Vice President
GS Growth

“The bottom line is this makes sense for our business – because investing and helping companies grow is our business. We also hope it makes a difference for women who have big ideas but find themselves cut out of the funding ecosystem.”

Stephanie Cohen
Chief Strategy Officer

“We believe that having a diverse team makes investors better at understanding risk. The investing industry as a whole has a long way to go when it comes to gender diversity. We can accept that as the way it is, or we can try to change it.”

Julian Salisbury
Managing Director
Head, Global Special Situations Group

“We’ll measure our success through our investment returns. We want to prove that investing in female-led businesses is not a trend – it’s good economics. That’s important.”

Rana Yared
Managing Director
Principal Strategic Investments

“A successful investment firm requires a special combination of great investment thinking and great business building. We’ve found that the most thoughtful firms recognize these two skill sets are really distinct. The best managers work hard to build teams with a range of talents that complement, where the whole is truly greater than the sum of the parts.”

Chris Kojima
Managing Director
Alternative Investments & Manager Selection

How to Launch

A series featuring insights and advice from Goldman Sachs leaders on entrepreneurship and building businesses

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Board meetings are serious business, but that doesn’t mean the only way to run them is by going through twenty-five slides of charts and spreadsheets. Unlocking the creativity and camaraderie of your board can go a long way in helping your business distinguish itself over time.
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How To Structure Your Board

A board of directors is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Companies benefit from different sets of expertise at different stages in their growth, and it’s natural for board composition to evolve as companies mature. Having diverse perspectives around the table can help fill knowledge and skill gaps as the company evolves.

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How To Get The Most Out Of Your Board

Your board of directors is working for you 24 hours a day. From a company standpoint, making the most of the board as a resource means knowing what questions to ask and when to ask them – and leveraging the board often, not just during quarterly meetings.
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News and Events

Launch With GS: Lead Investors on Their Investing Philosophy and Keys to Success - Three lead investors for Launch With GS, Nicole Agnew, Stephanie Hui and Jo Natauri discussed their approach to investing, and their advice for entrepreneurs, as well as individuals interested in pursuing a career in investing with The Glass Hammer.  Read Article

Macro Drivers and Diversity: All Hands on Deck - As women participate in economies across Asia in larger numbers, investors must consider how this impacts their target markets. Gender-balanced portfolios will no longer be a nice-to-have. Read Article

The Fundraising Network Effect: Local to Global - Goldman Sachs was recently in London and Paris, where we brought together local entrepreneurs, investors and thought leaders. Read Article

Advancing Women Entrepreneurs by Amanda Hindlian and Stephanie Cohen, Goldman Sachs.  Read Article 

Womenomics 5.0 — Twenty Years On - LinkedIn, Kathy Matsui, Chief Japan Strategist, Goldman Sachs.  Read Article

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In this Talks at GS session, Stacey Cunningham discusses her journey at the NYSE from one-time intern to its first female president and her efforts to bring innovation and efficiency to the NYSE during a time of evolution in the marketplace. Watch Video

Womenomics 5.0: Twenty Years On
In 1999, Goldman Sachs Research Strategist Kathy Matsui published a seminal research report on “Womenomics,” exploring how much Japan’s GDP could grow if more women were in the labor force. Matsui reflects on the progress we’ve seen and where challenges remain. Watch Video

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Goldman Sachs’ first Builders + Innovators Summit in Asia brought together emerging and seasoned entrepreneurs from a diverse set of industries. Shan Dandan, Founder and CEO of ForU Trucking, was among the business leaders in attendance. ForU Trucking is a technology-enabled company that provides full truckload logistics solutions. Watch Video

Catch-Up With David: with Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar
Sarah Friar, chief executive officer of Nextdoor, discusses her experience growing up in Northern Ireland, her journey to Silicon Valley where she first entered into the startup world as CFO and face of Square and her commitment to expanding opportunities for women-run businesses. Watch Video


Notes:

1 Stats on VC funding as of December 2018: Fortune, Pitchbook; PE firm data as of December 2018; Bella Private Markets. Women-owned is defined using a 50% equity threshold; CEOs in S&P as of January 2019; Catalyst, Pyramid.
 
*Women-centered firms may include 1) firms that have at least one female voting investment committee member (or a firm’s equivalent to a risk taking authority) or 2) firms where women take 25% or more of ownership or incentive compensation



The material provided herein is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities relating to any of the products referenced herein, notwithstanding that any such securities may be currently being offered to others. Any such offering will be made only in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the offering documents pertaining to such fund. Prior to investing, investors are strongly urged to review carefully all of the offering documents. No person has been authorized to give any information or to make any representation, warranty, statement or assurance not contained in the offering documents. As of September 2018 unless otherwise indicated.

GSAM leverages the resources of Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC subject to legal, internal and regulatory restrictions.

Private equity investments are speculative, highly illiquid, involve a high degree of risk, have high fees and expenses that could reduce returns, and subject to the possibility of partial or total loss of fund capital; they are, therefore, intended for experienced and sophisticated long-term investors who can accept such risks. There can be no assurance that any objectives or targets stated in this material can be achieved; any targets provided are subject to change and do not provide any assurance as to future results. The ability of underlying funds to achieve their objectives or targets depends upon a variety of factors, not the least of which are political, public market and economic conditions. Any historical performance of individual partnerships shown is for informational purposes only and does not guarantee their future performance, which can vary considerably. The trading market for the securities of any portfolio investment of the underlying funds may not be sufficiently liquid to enable such funds to sell such securities when it believes it is most advantageous to do so, or without adversely affecting the stock price. In addition, such portfolio companies may be highly leveraged, which leverage could have significant adverse consequences to these companies and the funds offered by AIMS Private Equity. Furthermore, restrictions on transferring interests in AIMS Private Equity funds may exist so prospective investors should be prepared to retain their investments in any AIMS Private Equity fund until the fund liquidates. For a complete discussion of risks that are unique to a particular AIMS Private Equity fund, please refer to the respective fund’s offering documents, which should be carefully reviewed prior to investing.

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