Glass ceilings: Do venture capitalists discriminate against women entrepreneurs?
Mojca Svetek | 27 December 2023
Women-founded startups raise only 2% of VC funds despite accounting for 10% of startups created. 12% of startups are led by gender-mixed teams, which raise 15% of the total VC funds, while 83% of it goes to male-only teams, which represent 78% of new startups in Europe. Statistics are strikingly similar for the USA as well. Because many high-growth ventures rely on early-stage equity capital, women’s access to this type of funding is far from trivial if the goal is to achieve parity with men. Could it be that women are presenting deals that are simply not suitable for investment? Or is it that women are discriminated against in the financing process?
Tune in to this episode to find out:
- What the reasons are behind the early stage equity gap between men and women;
- Why female entrepreneurs outperform male entrepreneurs in male-dominated industries;
- How venture capitalists sabotage female entrepreneurs at pitching events;
- What strategies women can pursue to overcome barriers in accessing early-stage equity capital.
Research articles:
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- Brush, C., Greene, P.G., Balachandra, L., & Davis, A.E. (2018). The gender gap in venture capital- progress, problems, and perspectives. Venture Capital, 20, 115 – 136.
- GIIN (n.d.). Increasing Venture Capital to Women-Led Businesses. Available at: https://navigatingimpact.thegiin.org/strategy/gli/increasing-venture-capital-to-women-led-businesses/
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- PitchBook. (2023). US VC female founders dashboard. Available at: https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/the-vc-female-founders-dashboard
- PitchBook. (2023). European VC female founders dashboard. Available at: https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/the-european-vc-female-founders-dashboard