Women-led startups in Europe secured around $10.8 billion funding in 2024, up from $10.6 billion in 2023, according to Pitchbook’s report, but despite the growth achieved, women-led startup initiatives only received 20.6% of total venture capital (VC) investment, highlighting a persistent gender gap in tech funding.
While the increase in funding signals progress, challenges remain in achieving equitable investment for women-led startup initiatives, birthing a need to foster more inclusivity in the European tech ecosystem.
European Investment for Women-Led Startups
Women-led startups accounted for just over 20% of the total VC funding, noting the decline in the share of deals involving female founders. European women-led startups represented 24.7% of all funding rounds in 2024, down 1.4% from the previous year.
The gender gap will grow when looking at women led startups in Europe with just female founders. These startups raised only approximately $861 million (€814 million) in 396 rounds, compared to approximately $40.6 billion (€38.3 billion) raised by all-male teams in 5,830 rounds.
“In early-stage funding, founders have faced a lower risk tolerance from investors,” the Pitchbook report highlights, “and female founders have experienced more severe valuation drops.”
This trend reflects the continuing gap in funding availability for business startup for women. The peak of the women-led startups started since 2014; however, the business landscape still undervalues those startups, compared to the overall average.
Underrepresentation of Women in VC Firms
The gender imbalance extends beyond startup funding, but women are also underrepresented in venture capital firms. Only 15% of General Partner (GP) roles at European VC firms with over $53 million (€50 million) are held by women.
In fields like media, AI, and hardware, women occupy only 8% of leadership roles, yet they fare better in biotech and health VC firms, making up nearly 15% of GPs. Still, the overall underrepresentation of businesswomen in VC firms remains a big barrier to investing in women-led startups.
The augmentation in funding for European women-led startups since 2014 shows gradual progress, but fostering a fairer startup ecosystem requires investors to address biases and adopt inclusive practices. It is also necessary to increase the representation of women in VC firms to promote Women-led startups in Europe.
Final Thoughts
Women-led startup initiatives will need time to revive and gain the trust of the market to overcome the gender gap bias in the sector. The ultimate solution is to find ways to achieve true equality, and that requires continued efforts from investors and institutions to ensure a safe environment and encourage investing in women-led startups.
The future of European women-led startups hinges on dismantling these barriers in the tech sector. The key dilemma lies in whether the tech investment community will its biases, or if women in tech industry continue to face obstacles that hinder their startup’s growth.
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