BREAKING THE STARTUP CEILING: XELLE VENTURES STRIVES TO BUILD A NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS COMMUNITY THAT EMPOWERS AND FUNDS FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS.

• Author: Ranii, David

A community of women supporting women. That's the thinking behind xElle Ventures, a new angel fund created by women in the Triangle, Triad and Wilmington areas to invest in early stage North Carolina companies led by female entrepreneurs. Believed to be the first of its kind in the state, its three co-founders are:

* Robbie Hardy, chair, serial entrepreneur, veteran angel investor and founder of Empowering Women Together, an organization for female professionals;

* Dina Coker, vice chair, founder and CEO of Blink, a Greensboro marketing agency;

* Jennifer Turnage, chair of the screening committee and cofounder and CEO of myBeeHyve, a network-marketing software company based in Wilmington.

The conversation was edited for brevity and clarity.

* WHY IS XELLE VENTURES NEEDED?

Hardy: [Women make up] more than half the population. We own millions of businesses. But [women] get 2.2% of any money that comes into startups. So that basic need is why we [founded the fund]. We also did it to expand the number of women who are willing to invest their own money [in startups].

Coker: [We're really] trying to raise the level of wealth for women on both sides of the table.

* TELL ME YOUR ORIGIN STORY.

Hardy: I tried to do this in 2000 and was not successful. We ended up with The Atlantis Group with 70 men and six women.

In February, I sent an email to about 23 women and said, "I think it's time to do this. You may recall that I tried to do it be fore. Are you interested in getting together and exploring this possibility?" We had our first meeting in March, and 15 showed up.

* ARE THERE ANY WOMEN-INVESTOR NETWORKS ELSEWHERE THAT XELLE VENTURES IS MODELED AFTER?

Hardy: There are women funds, and there are women networks. [By offering debt instead of equity], we are different--I can't find anyone else that is doing what we're doing, though that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.

* WHY FOCUS ON LOANS? WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES?

Hardy: Number one, it's simple. So, if you're new to this, you understand it. It's short-term--one to three years. It's an interest rate of 8-10%.

Turnage: The biggest thing I hear from more traditional angel funds is their members are frustrated by how long their capital is tied up.

* ARE THERE ADVANTAGES FOR THE ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPANIES?

Hardy: No dilution in their capital structure. We don't take any stock. There's no pressure to exit.

* WHAT TYPES OF COMPANIES IN PARTICULAR WILL BE YOUR INVESTMENT TARGETS?

Turnage: The companies that...