EP 59: with Chloe Guilfoyle, Founder of Avalon

"Find your people, find your tribe, find your believers — because they exist."

🏰 The Guild Is Open: Chloe Guilfoyle Rewrites the Rules for Founders!

🎙 In this episode of the InvestHer Podcast, host Anne Ravanona speaks with Chloe Guilfoyle, Founder of Avalon, about cooperative entrepreneurship, raising funds as a woman in France, and building a founder community rooted in strategy, well-being, and collective intelligence.

🌍 Discover how Chloe shut down her first venture-backed startup — not from lack of ambition, but from isolation and the absence of aligned support — and channelled every hard lesson into building Avalon, a hybrid entrepreneurial guild with a physical hub in Paris and a growing digital community now 200+ members strong. From leading France's top female investor network, Femmes Business Angels, to bootstrapping her pre-seed round and securing half her 300k target exclusively from women investors, Chloe is proving that cooperation, not competition, is the new competitive advantage.

💡 Don't miss this episode with actionable insights on:

• Why Chloe shut down her first startup — and what she'd do radically differently the second time around

• The funding biases women face in France: from risk-heavy questioning to being asked about family plans mid-pitch

• How leading a 200-person female investor network changed everything about the way she pitches and builds relationships

• Why she bootstrapped Avalon for six months before raising — and how arriving "de-risked" changed investor conversations

• The power of warm intros and LinkedIn visibility in building a pipeline of aligned, women-led investors

• What makes Avalon different from accelerators, incubators, and co-working spaces — and why "no selection committee" matters

• Her vision to bridge Paris, London, and Casablanca into one decentralised, cooperation-first entrepreneurial ecosystem

Learn how to build a fundable, scalable business — and a life you don't burn out from — on your own terms.

🔗 Listen Now | 🎧 Apple Podcasts | Spotify | ▶️ Full Show Notes

About Chloe

Chloe Guilfoyle is a Franco-Irish entrepreneur and the Founder of Avalon, a hybrid entrepreneurial guild helping founders build strong companies without burning out. With a background in business law, community building, and startup leadership, she previously founded a travel tech startup, led Femmes Business Angels — France's leading network of 200 female investors — and has helped dozens of women entrepreneurs raise funds and grow with confidence.

🌐 Website: https://www.avalon.fr/

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cguilfoyle/

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avalon.fr/

About Avalon

Avalon is a hybrid entrepreneurial guild for high-performing founders who want to grow their business without burning out. Blending a curated digital platform with a physical hub opening in Paris in October 2025 — and soon expanding to London and Casablanca — Avalon offers strategic guidance, expert mentorship, and a human-centred community built on cooperation, not competition. Membership starts at €49/month, with no selection committee and a clear belief that ambition and well-being are not opposites.

Resources Mentioned

🌐 Avalon: https://www.avalon.fr/

🏛 Femmes Business Angels: https://www.femmesbusinessangels.org/

Connect with Anne & Global Invest Her

🌐 https://www.investherpodcast.com/

📂 Funder Directory: https://funderdirectory.globalinvesther.com/

🛍 Buy From Her Directory: https://www.buyfromher.com/

🗨️ LinkedIn: Anne Ravanona https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneravanona/

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