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Subject: Undistracted

2X Global: Unlocking gender-smart capital at scale

Dear Friend,

And just like that, we’ve completed Q1 2025! How have you been progressing on the goals you set for yourself at the start of this year?

While it may be a bit of a made-up concept, a line drawn in the sand to bring structure to our oft-unruly schedules, delineations such as quarters do help to keep us on track in the pursuit of our goals.

Staying focused on our goals is more crucial now than ever. In a changing and volatile environment, steadfastness is our guiding star.

There’s important work to be done – to continue pushing the boundaries of finance, to make capital more accessible to women and to make capital work harder and better for the half of the world’s population that is still too often excluded from the levers of wealth.

These gaps are foremost in our minds as the end of March also brings us to the end of Women’s History Month. At the current rate, it will still take 169 years to close the economic gap between men and women. Yet, we also know that if women invested at the same rate as men, over US$3.22 trillion of additional capital could be invested globally.

These data points (and many others!) serve as a reminder that our shared mission is too important for us to be distracted. On the contrary, this is the time for us to double down on the real, tangible work needed and be relentlessly innovative and inventive in finding ways to take action.

Just last week, we were powerfully reminded of this when we brought our 2X Global community together for the first of our GLI Deep Dives – a new, member-driven engagement event for in-depth knowledge-sharing on the topics that matter most and can drive the most change.

Seeing and hearing from our keynote and plenary speakers, panellists and members was much-needed motivation. We made a disparate and varied group - drawn from across six continents, myriad time zones and a range of organisations in both the public and private sectors, but we were deeply connected by what we believe in – that economically empowering women and girls will lift us all.

We can’t wait to convene our members on more occasions this year - both virtually and in person, particularly at the 2X Global Summit 2025, set for September 2 to 4 in Manila and co-hosted by the Asian Development Bank. Partnership opportunities are still available - for more details, contact Robert Meloche, Director of Partnerships & Impact at rob@2xglobal.org.

Keep reading for a selection of the latest GLI news and insights.

In Community,

2X Global Team

News from the field

Mainstreaming gender lens investing. Nicola Forrest, co-founder of Australia’s Minderoo Foundation, has committed $160 million to Co-Impact to address systemic gender inequality, making it Minderoo’s largest investment to date. In Japan, only 2% of startup investments go to women-led ventures despite women making up 34% of new entrepreneurs. WPower Fund I, Japan's first women-focused start-up fund, aims to change that. IFC and the Africa Local Currency Bond Fund have invested $7.8 million in West Africa’s first gender bond, from Ecobank Côte d'Ivoire’s. The $16 million bond aims to provide 1,200 loans to women-owned SMEs, addressing a major credit gap. Exciting news out of Nigeria from 2X Global member Alitheia Capital which has announced the first exit of their joint uMunthu Fund with Goodwell Investments - Baobab Nigeria, a financial institution providing inclusive banking services to individuals and MSMEs in underserved areas. Two new facilities will be coming on the market in 2025 aimed at providing capital for African fund managers. The Small Foundation is piloting the two facilities, one aimed at micro funds and the other at macro funds. A milestone for the Vivriti India Retail Assets Fund (VIRAF) which has secured $40 million from British International Investment (BII) and Calvert Impact for its $250-million fund which is focused on financing MSEs and women entrepreneurs. VIRAF is a 2X Challenge participating investor. Despite the challenges in fundraising, female entrepreneurs are increasingly entering high-growth sectors like tech and AI; nearly 60% of VC-funded companies led by women are in these areas. BII has announced a $20 million commitment to the Alterra Accelerator Africa Fund, aimed at supporting businesses that drive financial inclusion, digital transformation, job creation, and women’s empowerment across Africa. Our member, the European Investment Bank (EIB), is expanding its Sustainability Awareness Bond (SAB) to include gender equality and women’s economic empowerment as core social objectives.

Gender and Climate Investing. Our climate team is exploring the $1.4 trillion global climate finance flow and how policy can be a lever to make it more inclusive of and responsive to, the needs and innovations of women and girls. Can “climate intuition” be a key skill for investors and executives? JP Morgan explores in a new thought leadership series. Six promising research teams are working on applied research that will bring more clarity on how to increase female engagement in the clean energy sector in Latin America and Africa. ANDE and 2X Global are partnering on this initiative, supported by IDRC.

Leadership, Culture and Policy, JEDI. In Latin America, women are more educated but this isn’t translating into equal participation in leadership. Olga Cantillo, the first female president of the Latin American Stock Exchange, says the issue isn’t preparation but structural barriers and makes a case for implementing quotas, stating they are a “tool to accelerate change”. Global standards and investor capacity building are part of what’s needed to accelerate gender lens investing, asserts 2X Global's Japan Ambassador Tatjana Gerling, speaking at the recent Asia Philanthropy Congress. Sonen Capital has strengthened and diversified its impact leadership, electing Judy Belk and Holden Lee to its board of directors.

Data and Tools. What will an AI-driven economy of the future look like in terms of gender parity? WEF and LinkedIn explore the challenges and opportunities in a new paper. Pivotal Ventures has published a new report on its survey examining attitudes and progress on women’s power. The barriers to power may surprise you - or they may not. UBS's latest report, "Gender-lens investment: The state of women in 2025," delves into the current landscape of gender-lens investing, highlighting both progress and ongoing challenges. A look into a decade of VC data shows some clear takeaways for investors, including that female-led companies have consistently demonstrated higher capital efficiency and despite fundraising challenges, female entrepreneurs are increasingly entering high-growth sectors like tech and AI.

Care Economy. In this new interview, Danish writer Emma Holten, author of "Deficit: How Feminist Economics Can Change Our World", discusses a fundamental flaw in economics - we just don't know how to account for all the time and effort it takes to keep people healthy, happy and alive, a flaw rooted in economic systems designed centuries ago to overlook "women's work" aka care work. A new policy brief from UN Women examines gender-responsive approaches to care in ageing societies facing major demographic shifts. Unpaid family caregivers are filling critical gaps in the healthcare system in The Netherlands, but an economic analysis from Follow The Money shows the economic toll, with informal care for loved ones with dementia, alone accounting for the equivalent of 21,500 full-time jobs, draining more than 1.5 billion euros from the economy each year.

Resilience (GBVH, Financial Inclusion, Security). The EU's new Pay Transparency Directive could gain women working in SMEs between €465 and €700 annually, once it is implemented by June 2026, going some way to evening the pay gap. Read about the initiative and the challenges being put up by business groups. The 3.3.3 Challenge, from We Are Enough (WAE) aims to unlock women's wealth to create wealth for more women by inspiring three million women to invest $3 billion over three years. Our CEO Jessica Espinoza penned this op-ed in City AM, highlighting the severe underinvestment in women's health and the real economic consequences.

Community Calendar

1 April

Join 2X Global and the Skoll Foundation on the first night of the Skoll World Forum, for the 2X Global Happy Hour - an evening of engaging dialogue on the latest trends in gender lens investing. The Skoll World Forum brings leaders and social innovators together every year in Oxford to share ideas. To RSVP, email membership@2xglobal.org.

23 April

Join 2X Global, Citi and Pro Mujer for an upcoming webinar - 2X para América Latina y el Caribe: Instituciones financieras liderando la financiación de género. Register here.

27-30 May

Join KPMG East Africa in Nairobi for the 2025 KPMG Private Enterprise Africa Venture Summit, for an immersive experience of innovation and connection with industry leaders and experts. Register here.

2-4 September

Save the date for the 2X Global Summit which will take place in Manila from September 2 to 4, 2025, co-hosted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Explore https://www.2xglobal.org/membership to learn how you can attend.

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Subject: Undistracted