Exclusively startups founded by women In 2023, they received only a fraction of the amount that flowed to startups with all-male founding teams. €102 million went to startups founded by women, representing two percent of the total venture capital invested. Conversely, startups with only men on their founding teams received 87 percent of the capital, namely €4.9 billion. A further €608 million went to startups with mixed-gender founding teams. These are the findings of the Startup Barometer for Female Founders by the auditing and consulting firm EY.
A gender gap is also noticeable when looking at the size of financing rounds. The founding teams of startups that completed at least one financing round in Germany in 2023 comprised a total of 1,950 people – 237 of whom were women. This means that the proportion of women among all startups that received new capital last year was 12.2 percent. In contrast, among companies that received investments of at least €50 million, the proportion of female founders was only 1.8 percent. The larger the financing round, the smaller the proportion of women.
The gender investment gap in startup financing likely has multiple causes. The different sector focus of male and female founders certainly plays a significant role. For example, the proportion of female founders in four of the five top sectors by funding amounts in 2023 is significantly below average. While the proportion of women in software and analytics is still ten percent, in the energy sector it is just two percent. In the mobility, media and entertainment, and fintech sectors, it is six percent each.
Female founders primarily active in the healthcare sector
Female founders are most strongly represented in the healthcare sector, where almost one in four founding members (24 percent) is female. The proportion of women is also above average in the recruitment (20 percent), adtech (18 percent), and e-commerce (17 percent) sectors.
EY Partner Thomas Prüver explains:
"In general, startups based on STEM expertise receive significantly more capital than other young companies. This is particularly evident in technology startups, which are currently raising above-average amounts of capital. And it is precisely here that women are significantly underrepresented in the founding teams."
The complete study is available for download on the EY website.
