Venture capital’s outdated funding patterns continue to shut out diverse founders, stifling innovation and economic growth. Allison Byers, founder of Scroobious, shares how her platform is reshaping investment strategies, unlocking trillions in missed opportunities, and driving a more inclusive startup ecosystem.
TAMPA BAY, Fla., March 11, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Despite ongoing discussions about funding equity, data shows that female founders continue to face significant barriers in venture capital, receiving just 1.8% of all VC funding in 2024. (1) On the latest episode of the Disruption Interruption podcast, host Karla Jo Helms speaks with Allison Byers, founder of Scroobious, —a platform that connects founders with investors and service providers to create a more inclusive startup ecosystem— about how systemic bias shuts out underrepresented entrepreneurs and why investors are missing trillion-dollar opportunities. “Almost 100% of Black founders and 98% of women aren’t being funded by venture capital. Everyone who funds them is in for a fortune. It’s a unique business opportunity,” Byers explains.
“Almost 100% of Black founders and 98% of women aren’t being funded by venture capital. Everyone who funds them is in for a fortune. It’s a unique business opportunity” — Allison Byers, founder of Scroobious
The Everybody Problem: Unlocking Innovation for All
Byers claims that undoing disparities in venture capital holds back progress. When the same group controls investment decisions, the market misses out on solutions that could improve lives on a massive scale. “We’re not only solving problems for ourselves; we’re solving problems and innovating for things that everybody needs,” she states.
The economic consequences of this phenomenon are massive. “Morgan Stanley estimated that our economy in the U.S. is missing out on $4 trillion by not putting money behind other types of entrepreneurs,” points out Byers. “If we’re not allowed to participate in the innovation economy, then the world is missing out on solutions that could change lives.”
Nowhere is this more evident than in healthcare, where underfunding female-led startups means fewer solutions for issues affecting millions. “If women working in these spaces aren’t funded, their ideas don’t make it to market. And that means misdiagnoses, lack of access, and real harm,” explains Byers.
Rewriting the Playbook: The Need for New Investment Signals
Venture capital’s biggest flaw isn’t just who gets funded—it’s how funding decisions are made. “VCs rely on signal processing to assess risk,” Byers explains. “But because past investments have overwhelmingly gone to white male founders, the signals investors trust are already biased.” This makes it nearly impossible for women and minority entrepreneurs to break through.
Fixing this problem requires more than good intentions—it demands an entirely new way of evaluating startups. Investors must rethink risk, expand their frameworks, and actively seek out underrepresented founders. “They’re missing the signals from anyone who isn’t a white male, and that means billions in potential innovation are being left on the table,” Byers says.
How Scroobious Brings Founders and Investors Together
Access remains as the biggest challenge for many startups. Without strong investor networks, underrepresented founders face steep hurdles in securing the funding and resources they need to grow. Scroobious is tackling this problem head-on, creating a platform that connects entrepreneurs with investors and service providers seamlessly and efficiently.
“With Scroobious, we are helping entrepreneurs and investors and service providers find each other in a very efficient and fun way so that we can open access to resources and capital,” says Byers. “If you’re a founder, and you join our platform, you get immediate access to a ton of critical resources and education and community,” Byers explains. “Founders and the providers need each other, now they can work together.”
Links
Disrupting Billions in Dormant Capital: Allison Byers Fuels Underserved Entrepreneurs
https://omny.fm/shows/disruption-interruption/disrupting-billions-in-dormant-capital-allison-bye
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-byers/
Company Website: https://www.scroobious.com/
Disruption Interruption is the podcast where you will hear from today’s biggest Industry Disruptors. Learn what motivated them to bring about innovation and how they overcame opposition to adoption.
Disruption Interruption can be listened to in Apple’s App Store and Spotify.
About Disruption Interruption™
Disruption is happening on an unprecedented scale, impacting all manner of industries— MedTech, Finance, IT, eCommerce, shipping, logistics, and more—and COVID has moved their timelines up a full decade or more. But WHO are these disruptors and when did they say, “THAT’S IT! I’VE HAD IT!”? Time to Disrupt and Interrupt with host Karla Jo “KJ” Helms, veteran communications disruptor. KJ interviews badasses who are disrupting their industries and altering economic networks that have become antiquated with an establishment resistant to progress. She delves into uncovering secrets from industry rebels and quiet revolutionaries that uncover common traits—and not-so-common—that are changing our economic markets… and lives. Visit the world’s key pioneers that persist to success, despite arrows in their backs at http://www.disruption-interruption.com.
About Allison Byers
Allison Byers is a trailblazer in the realm of equitable capital distribution. As the founder of Scroobious, her tech company is quickly driving innovation by removing barriers to partnership among diverse founders, investors, and service providers through scalable online education, community, and data-driven curation.
Before founding Scroobious, she spearheaded a medical device startup, securing nearly $10M in funding before its acquisition, and encountered firsthand the gender bias prevalent in fundraising. With over 20 years of experience in startup and tech roles, Allison stands as a seasoned entrepreneur and a catalyst for change having co-authored California Senate Bill 54, signed into law, which requires venture funds to report diversity metrics.
She is actively championing initiatives in other states including MA Senate Bill 978 and NY Senate Bill A09786. Beyond her entrepreneurial pursuits, she serves as an angel investor, Boston Co-Chair of the national non-profit All Raise, Executive in Residence at Merck Digital Sciences Studio, DEI task force member of the Angel Capital Association, and is a sought-after startup mentor and dynamic speaker.
About Karla Jo Helms
Karla Jo Helms is the Chief Evangelist and Anti-PR® Strategist for JOTO PR Disruptors™. Karla Jo learned firsthand how unforgiving business can be when millions of dollars are on the line — and how the control of public opinion often determines whether one company is happily chosen, or another is brutally rejected. Being an alumnus of crisis management, Karla Jo has worked with litigation attorneys, private investigators, and the media to help restore companies of goodwill into the good graces of public opinion — Karla Jo operates on the ethic of getting it right the first time, not relying on second chances and doing what it takes to excel. Helms speaks globally on public relations, how the PR industry itself has lost its way, and how, in the right hands, corporations can harness the power of Anti-PR to drive markets and impact market perception.
References
1. Masterson, Victoria. “Women Founders and Venture Capital – Some 2023 Snapshots.” World Economic Forum, 28 Mar. 2024, weforum.org/stories/2024/03/women-startups-vc-funding/.
Media Inquiries:
Karla Jo Helms
JOTO PR™
727-777-4629
Media Contact
Karla Jo Helms, JOTO PR™, 727-777-4629, khelms@jotopr.com, jotopr.com
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