Double Dutch on strategic growth and VC funding for women
Ten years since twin sisters Joyce and Raissa de Haas launched their Double Dutch premium mixer brand, they discuss strategic growth, their recent rebrand, and why more VC funding for women-founded businesses is imperative.
The De Haas sisters launched their tonic and mixer brand Double Dutch in 2015, and unveiled a redesign in July this year to coincide with a decade in business.
This past year, in particular, has been one of growth and change for the sisters both professionally and personally. During the recording of this podcast episode, Raissa is technically on maternity leave, but is willingly, and gladly keeping up to date with the necessary ins and outs of the business.
“Double Dutch is such a big part of my identity that it’s really difficult to completely clock out from,” she explains. “I’m just doing a little bit of work in the background. I thought, actually, I really want to be a bit more involved than I thought I would, so it’s been a strange transition, but I really like it.”
Raissa has been well-supported by her twin sister and business partner, Joyce, who navigated becoming a mother for the first time the year prior.
“It’s also letting go of perfectionism,” Raissa adds. “There was sometimes a mindset in the house that you’re free and are not doing anything social, then you’d better do work. I think we always had this mindset – like no point in just relaxing or chilling. It’s social life or work. And I think, really, nobody’s going to notice any difference if we are working until 10pm or 11pm, or we stop at 7pm. The business runs itself.
“Actually, it’s very empowering to have so much more trust in a team, and being able to really appreciate the team and getting that support, and knowing that they actually do a much better job in certain areas than I would do anyway. So let them absolutely crack on with it.”
The pair have openly discussed navigating motherhood and entrepreneurship on LinkedIn, and speak in further detail about it on this week’s episode of The Spirits Business Podcast.
As any start-up business can attest, the right strategy to achieve growth is crucial. How difficult, or easy, was it scaling up Double Dutch into the acclaimed brand it is today?
“Definitely very difficult,” notes Joyce. “Scaling is never really easy, especially building a physical product brand, and I think logistics, cash and stock management – all of it is super challenging.
“We raised angel investment from the very early days and then went on to raise larger amounts throughout the years. We’ve always been quite selective of who we would bring in because I really think that bringing investors in is kind of like a marriage. We have to get along also on a personal level. We wanted partners that can help, but that can help strategy-wise, [and] also know the industry, and who understand our vision, and bring in more than just cash.”
Why backing women entrepreneurs is good business sense
As a women-founded business, the stats show investment is harder to achieve. According to Founders Forum Group, 2.3% of global venture capital funding went to female-only founding teams. By comparison, 83.6% went to all-male founding teams, and 14.1% went to mixed-gender founding teams.
How can these statistics be improved?
“It starts with representation and getting more women into investment decision-making roles, and also putting a lens on female-founded companies,” says Raissa. “But I also think – and I think that has definitely been changing quite a lot, and that is improving, so there is good movement there – we need to maybe not treat it as a diversity issue in itself, and maybe see it more as a commercial one.
“The data also shows that female-founded businesses outperform male ones on return on investment. So, I think the question isn’t ‘why should we fund more women?’ I think it’s ‘why aren’t we funding the best opportunities?’ We need VCs to look beyond their network and maybe apply more objectivity to female founders that they apply elsewhere.
“I think maybe. There is also an underlying bias for women because investors think, ‘but maybe in two, three years time, they’re going to start having children, and then we lose them as passionate founders, they’re not going to do the house’. Really, I do think that mentality is changing, but I do think it’s still a big part of it.
“The more people talk about it, that is a [positive] step, and shows that it is absolutely possible.”
The full episode with the Double Dutch founders is now available to listen to on all major streaming platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. The episode is also available to listen to for free via the Acast link below.
Past guests on The Spirits Business Podcast have included the founders of The Pinnacle Guide. Recently, Nick Gillett, managing director of Mangrove Global, discussed the myriad challenges facing the spirits industry at present, and how brands can remain profitable in a tough economy.
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