Female Entrepreneurship

You cheer for women one day and ignore them tomorrow. Two weeks ago, my LinkedIn was flooded with brands paying anything to book women creators for Women’s Day. It happens every year. The grand celebrations, the inspiring quotes, the LinkedIn love. But what happens on March 9th? As a woman entrepreneur, I don’t just deal with challenges once a year, I fight them every damn day and every woman entrepreneur will relate to it. The funding battles, the societal expectations, the constant need to prove myself. And yet, once the hashtags stop trending, nobody talks about it. Here’s what people conveniently forget: → Investors hesitate when they see a woman at the helm. Less than 2% of VC funding goes to women-led businesses. The bias is real. We’re told to “think big,” but when we do? We’re “too ambitious.” → Women are expected to run businesses like they don’t have families and manage homes like they don’t have businesses. The pressure is relentless and the guilt is huge. → Speak up, and we’re “aggressive.” Play it safe, and we’re “not leadership material.” We’re stuck in a game where the rules were never made for us. Women don’t need a holiday. We need funding, hiring, investments, opportunities and recognition EVERY DAY. Not just when it’s trending. So if you really want to support women in business, put your money where your mouth is. Invest in them. Hire them. Fund them. Amplify their voices. And don’t just remember us when it’s convenient. #womenentrepreneurship #womencreators

The venture-capital world has a serial-entrepreneur problem, and it is gendered. New National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) research comparing male and female co-founders of the same startups reveals disparities that cannot be explained by founder quality or ambition: → Women make up only 4% of founders with 3+ startups (vs 13.3% of all VC-backed founders) → After a startup failure women are 22.5% less likely to secure venture-capital backing for their next venture → Female serial entrepreneurs raise 53.3% less capital after failures and 24.6% less after successes → Men receive larger deals for founding experience regardless of outcomes. Women are penalized for failures and barely rewarded for successes → When an unrelated women-founded startup fails, it hurts funding prospects for all female founders. However, successes do not create positive spillovers.

Let’s call it what it is: right now, the UK is a pretty terrible place to be a female entrepreneur. That’s not hyperbole - it’s backed by data. Just 1.8% of all venture capital went to all-women founding teams in H1 2024. As someone who’s built and sold three businesses, I can say this isn’t a pipeline issue. It’s a pattern-matching problem. Those making the investment decisions are still overwhelmingly male. Just 15% of investment committees are made up of women. When the decision-makers don’t look like you, don’t relate to your journey, or don’t see themselves in your pitch… It’s no surprise that female founders are being overlooked. The silver lining is that change is coming. A few months ago, the Invest in Women Taskforce launched a historic £250m fund. Through which investment decisions will be made by women, for women, and in women. With this, we hope to start ensuring capital finds its way to backing more innovative female-led businesses. It’s high time we stop debating whether the system is broken and focus on fixing it. 📷 - from a recent piece in The Times (linked in comments)

The minute you put "FEMALE" in front of "FOUNDER" the questions change. I’ve been in rooms where instead of asking about scale or market share, the questions were: “Do you have kids?” “What if you want them?” “How will you balance it all?” Questions no man in that room ever got. And here’s why that matters: those questions don’t just sting, they shape outcomes. Investors who ask defensive questions are 7x less likely to fund you. Founders who are framed as “risks” are given smaller checks, harsher terms, and less trust. And that ripples out into fewer women scaling to Series B and beyond. Sometimes the term female founder gets celebrated like a badge of honor. And yes, I’ll wear it with pride when it inspires someone else to step up. But let’s not pretend the label is neutral. It exists because women are still treated as outliers in entrepreneurship. And it carries baggage: That we’re more likely to build “lifestyle” projects. That we’re higher risk to back. That our ambitions are smaller or temporary. Women-founded startups still get less than 2% of VC funding. And that’s not because of performance. It’s because of perception. So where does that leave us? For me, the real badge of honor isn’t being called a female founder. It’s building, scaling, and proving you belong in the founder category, no adjective needed. Until the day the word “founder” automatically includes us.

Women-led teams make up nearly 14% of UK startups. But they receive just 2.4% of the £10M+ investment rounds. These stats don’t surprise me. But they still sting. The Startup Coalition’s latest report on funding for female founders is essential reading - not because it’s shocking, but because it confirms what so many of us already know, and have lived. As someone who became an entrepreneur in my 40s - while juggling motherhood, a mortgage, and a corporate career, I’ve seen the difference access to funding, networks, and belief can make. This report does something I think is vital: it goes beyond pointing out the problem, and lays out the structural barriers clearly - from investor bias and legal grey zones, to angel investment thresholds and childcare costs. What stood out to me most: The quiet toll that fundraising can take when you’re constantly questioned, underestimated, or simply overlooked. I’ve mentored many women who’ve faced this. Brilliant founders, building great businesses - but having to defend their ambition in rooms where their ideas are undervalued. Progress won’t happen by accident. It requires pressure, policy, and persistence. Let’s use this moment to push further and ensure the next generation of female founders doesn’t just survive the system, but reshapes it from the ground up.

𝟭 𝗶𝗻 𝟰 𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻’𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱. 𝟭 𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟬 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻. Together with Laura Koch and Elisabeth Berger (JKU - Institute for Entrepreneurship), I surveyed 361 international VCs using a randomized response technique to bypass social desirability bias. The results aren't unconscious bias. The results are open discrimination. And it’s personal. Some of the strongest startups I’ve seen at the University of Hohenheim were women-led, such as Holiroots or Viva la Faba. What a waste of potential. We knew gender bias existed in venture capital. Now we know how much — and where. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄? One recommendation from our findings that’s both practical and powerful: 👉 Increase the share of women in venture capital. Why it matters:  • Women VCs show significantly less bias.  • Diverse teams make better decisions.  • Mixed teams perform better. If we want fairer funding decisions, we must rethink who’s making them. 𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲 “𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.” 𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘁. The paper is open access in Venture Capital—An International Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance. Feel free to share it or use it in teaching, workshops, or policy work. 📄 https://lnkd.in/eN4jfJQx

A new report from Antler interviewing 43 female tech founders from across Europe has been published, and the findings are disappointing…and not surprising. Just 1.8% of European VC funding goes to female-led startups – and, even when investors do engage with women, those women report biases and frankly sexist (my words not Antler’s) behaviour that their male counterparts would never face. “What is it like being 30 and not having children?” “Are you planning to have a major life event soon?” “Do you think you’ll lose interest in the business once you’ve had your baby?” The list goes on, each question more disappointing than the last. The solution? 72% of the founders Antler interviewed reported that when they did receive funding it was from female investors – who recognised them as competent and valuable individuals with names and backgrounds and talents rather than as just ‘women’. It’s not rocket science – the imbalance in funding distribution is changing at a snail's pace while the investor landscape itself is so heavily unbalanced, with a report from Diversity VC stating that there has been no improvement in the gender demographics of VCs since 2019 - almost 5 years 🤯 Until VC investment stops resembling some sort of old boys club, we will continue to see this kind of bias and sexism continue unchallenged, and countless talented women give up on their dreams because they just can’t find anyone to give them the capital they need. That is a tragedy, and a path to a future that is worse for all of us. It’s a global act of shooting ourselves in the foot. So, let’s start at the top. More female VCs. More funding for women. More talented founders empowered to change the world for the better.

Want 2× your angel investment returns? Most investors are missing one of the biggest inefficiencies in venture capital. Only 2% of global VC funding went to women-led teams in 2024. Yet the data shows: • Women founders generate double the revenue per dollar invested compared to all-male teams. • Women-led tech companies deliver 35% higher ROI than male-led ones. In other words: Women receive far less capital, yet deploy it significantly more efficiently. Markets always correct inefficiencies like this. The only question is who moves early and who misses the boat. I’m a Founding Alma with Alma Angels not only because I want to support more women but because I trust the numbers. We’re building £1 trillion in women-led wealth by 2050.🌍 My work has always been helping founders win funding. And as an investor it only makes sense to allocate capital to the founders who consistently perform best. This isn't just a social imperative. It's about being smart money. Alma Angels offers a systematic way to access mispriced, higher-performing startups, before it's obvious.

In 2024, the landscape of #venturecapital investment for #femalefounders has shown both progress and persistent challenges. Here's an overview: 📌 #Funding trends: Female-founded startups have continued to receive a disproportionately small share of venture capital. In the U.S., startups founded exclusively by women garnered only about 2.2% of the capital invested in venture-backed startups in the first half of the year. Meanwhile, #startups with at least one female co-founder slightly improved their share, representing 14.8% of total capital invested. This stark disparity highlights a #fundinggap that has not significantly narrowed over the years. 📌 Sector-specific insights: The femtech sector, which focuses on female health technology, has seen particular struggles. Female-founded #FemTech companies have historically raised less than their male counterparts, with 2024 continuing this trend. However, there's a silver lining with an increase in female investors and venture capitalists, which could influence more equitable funding in this sector. 📌 Investment success stories: Despite the broader funding challenges, some female-founded companies have managed significant rounds. For instance, companies led by female CEOs have raised substantial funding, showcasing that with the right combination of innovation, market fit, and investor interest, female-led ventures can secure significant investments. 📌 Challenges and biases: Female founders often face biases in the investment process. Reports indicate that 84% of female founders feel they encounter gender bias during evaluations, and they are asked significantly more questions about their ability to scale compared to male founders. Moreover, the average cheque size for female-led startups remains notably lower than for male-led ones. 📌 The bright side: There's an increasing awareness and action to address these disparities. Initiatives like the Investing in Women Code in the UK are making strides, with signatories accounting for a significant portion of VC deals in 2023, suggesting potential for positive change. Additionally, there’s a growing narrative that investing in female entrepreneurs can boost global GDP significantly, encouraging more investors to consider diversity in their portfolios. 📌 Conclusion: While 2024 has not seen a dramatic shift in venture capital distribution to female founders, there are signs of incremental improvement and a stronger push towards parity. However, the journey towards equal #investment opportunities for female founders is ongoing and requires sustained effort from both the entrepreneurial and investment communities. Some resources 👇🏽 https://lnkd.in/dX9y58Cd https://lnkd.in/dz2hq44h https://lnkd.in/dNkujwhB

𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿! I am delighted to share my latest research, "𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻-𝗟𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗔𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀," published in the Journal of Entrepreneurship and Management. Women make up nearly half of the global population but are still significantly underrepresented in tech leadership and entrepreneurship. My study dives deep into the opportunities and challenges faced by women leading social-impact tech startups, shedding light on: 💡 How women are leveraging technology to address societal issues like education, healthcare, and sustainability. 💡 The contrasting experiences between mature ecosystems in industrialized nations (e.g., the UK and the US) and emerging markets like India. 💡 Barriers such as funding gaps, networking limitations, and sociocultural hurdles. 💡 Innovative business models and leadership approaches that women are championing to drive community-oriented and sustainable growth. The findings underscore the importance of tailored support from policymakers, investors, and organizations to empower women in tech entrepreneurship and amplify their role in driving social change. I hope this research inspires more female innovators and contributes to building ecosystems that foster inclusivity and impact. Feel free to read, share, and discuss! Let’s keep the conversation going to create a future where women in tech entrepreneurship thrive globally. #WomenInTech #SocialImpact #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #Research #TechForGood