DeSoto entrepreneur Gail Warrior-Lawrence is a poster child for investment in businesses led by women.
In 2007, the Texas Women Ventures Fund lent $1 million to the Warrior Group, the construction firm she co-founded and leads. She repaid the money in March and now is becoming an investor to help other female entrepreneurs reports The Dallas Morning News.
“I’m always about paying it forward, if I can turn it around and do the same thing for someone else,” Warrior-Lawrence said. She is investing an undisclosed amount in a $5 million sidecar fund being raised for use along with the Texas Women Ventures Fund’s initial $5 million.
The Texas Women Ventures Fund makes loans to be repaid within three to five years. Venture capital firms, by contrast, typically invest in exchange for common stock or convertible preferred stock in a company.
Since 2006, the fund has invested about $4 million in four companies: Warrior Group; Karlee Inc., a Garland firm that provides custom manufacturing services such as sheet metal fabrication and cabling; Joy Foods Inc., a Dallas pizza maker; and Joy Products Corp., a related food service company.
Photo by Warrior Group.