European Women in VC published a report showing that European all-female startups are getting access to less than 1.8% of all available VC funds. This is a further decrease compared to 2020 when women startups managed to get 3% of all VC funds. Mixed-gender founding teams did slightly better and received, on average, 9.3% of startups’ investments. All-male companies raised the majority of funds, for a total of 89%.
VC firms are highly men-dominated
According to the report, the disparity can be caused by several reasons, one of which is the high percentage of men working in managing companies of VC firms. In fact, it has been estimated that 85 % of founding partners, managing partners, and general partners are men. These people often own the management company of a VC firm and are responsible for the final investment decisions together with the investment committee.
VC funds across Europe
Not all countries in Europe reported the same rates. Eastern European and Central European countries performed below average, unlike Western and Nordic countries, which positively impacted the overall gender balance. In particular, in France and Sweden, all-female startups got access to way more funds compared to the other countries.
