Female Business Owners Receive Less Investor Funding Than Men. This Woman Is Trying to Change That

In 1996, Vandendriessche undertook Vlerick Business School’s KMO Excellence program which focuses on Executive Education, helping students who want to start-up businesses by training them in areas such as entrepreneurship growth and strategy, people management and financial management.

Vandendriessche decided she needed to learn more about business following the founding of her business Accent. She says, “I was so lucky. The staffing business Accent was 120th in Belgium when we started, and now we’re second in Belgium.

“House of HR is a holding company which now has 15 staffing businesses; we place more than 40,000 people at work a day in over 10 countries and we have a turnover of 1.5 billion.”

But Vandendriessche knows the importance of lifelong learning, and says she returns to Vlerick every year to take more classes. She says, “For me, it’s very important I stay flexible. I’m still learning today, and I’m still meeting fantastic people in business.

“If you grow as fast as we did with the House of HR and Accent staffing, you change every day.

“We started with one office, then 10 years later we had 150 offices and now we have about 500 offices. In 20 years, you change roles so much, so you need to keep up with knowledge and flexibility and therefore you have to study.

“I invest in a course every year. It’s very important for me, not only the knowledge but also contact with other entrepreneurs and it’s very entrepreneurial – you really feel at home.”

Vandendriessche has achieved so much in her career as a female entrepreneur, and this hasn’t gone unnoticed. She says, “I’m very blessed that I’m a female founder of a staffing business. In 2014 I stopped being CEO as I didn’t want to be operationally involved anymore and wanted to make strategic decisions.

“I was 50 years old then and said it’s a good age to end my operational role and get some oxygen back and start new things.”

Vandendriessche expresses dismay at the fact females are so underfunded in the private equity sector. She says, “I read an article that in the US last year there were 135 new funds founded and only four by women.

“More than 55 percent of people who get a top diploma at university in Belgium are female. Every day, more and more female CEOs and shareholders start so it will be a huge opportunity in the future.

“If you look at articles, more than 94 percent of people in the private equity sector and investment managers are male and only two percent of funds are invested in female companies. There’s a mismatch and total equality will currently take 170 years – that’s too long.”

Vandendreissche notes the entrepreneurial spirit at Vlerick, a factor that had a part to play in her growth as an investor and entrepreneur – leading her to the creation of WeAreJane. 

She says, “Vlerick guided me. I still go to Vlerick four or five times a year, so it’s more like guidance through my career as an entrepreneur.

“It was really important for me to have a base. Not only for knowledge, but to be in the company of other entrepreneurs and to form a network. It’s a really huge thing for me.”

Vandendreissche admits she wants to give back to society, but does she think the fund will thrive? She says, “I really want to be successful and I hope we will be. And I’m not alone, working with two other private investment girls.

“We need to accelerate. I hope more funds will come and say, ‘OK that’s a huge market, we have to look at female founders, female companies, and female shareholders and diversity’.

“I’m on a mission, and if women are on a mission – watch out.”