Happy International Women's Day! Today, in line with the UN's call to "invest in women to accelerate progress," let's explore fresh stats on how women are making their mark in technology and innovation around the world, with a closer look at Europe's journey. 

🔥 Across Europe and America, female founders are gaining ground in the venture space, but there's still a long way to go

The latest All In: Women Founders in the VC Ecosystem report from Pitchbook shows some encouraging data.

For example, in the United States, women founders made significant strides, capturing almost 28% of the total venture capital raised in the country in 2023. However, despite this achievement, the percentage of deals closed by female founders dropped by 25% year-over-year, largely due to the prevailing negative market trends.

Without OpenAI's $10 billion raise, the percentage of deal value drops from 28% to 23% but still remains at an all-time high in the US. (Image: PitchBook)

Europe is also breaking records on a percentage basis: in 2023, teams with at least one female co-founder received nearly 26% of the deals and more than 20% of all venture euros in the region. The value share is up 5% from 2022 and the highest level since PitchBook began tracking this data in 2010.

What's more, over the past decade, the deal volume of European companies founded by women has surged, growing more than twice as fast as that of companies founded solely by men.

 Image: Sifted using PitchBook data

But of course, it's too early to raise our glasses. In Europe, for example, all-female founding teams have crossed the €1 billion mark in a calendar year only once — in 2021. By comparison, all-male founding teams in Europe have raised more than €10 billion in funding annually since 2015.

Look at specific industries: ClimateTech startups led by female founders, for example, closed 58 rounds globally in 2023. At the same time, male teams closed 826 rounds in the same market. In Europe, one of the few industries where women-founded companies raised more capital than in previous years was CleanTech, which saw nearly 11% growth with slightly fewer deals.

Look at the investors themselves: only 15% of decision-makers (partners, managers, and managing directors) at major European VC firms are women. The number of European female angel investors involved in at least one deal doubled in 2021 compared to 2020. After remaining stable in 2022, this indicator fell almost to the 2020 level last year.

Image: PitchBook

Have a look at the PitchBook report for more insights.

🔥 To get a clearer picture, let's zoom in on certain European countries

Did you know that, in Spain, only one in five founders is a woman? That's data from WA4STEAM, a community of women angel investors dedicated to boosting female presence in STEAM fields.

Also,

👉 A measly 2% of private capital goes to women entrepreneurs. 

👉  Female angel investors put in smaller amounts of money (around €16,000) compared to their male counterparts, who typically put in €40,000. And they prefer to do so in a syndicate.

👉 The key takeaway? More women need to take the lead in the investment sector if we want innovative women-led projects to get the funding they deserve. Otherwise, up to half the population's talent is wasted.

Сheck out the stats on deals with female founders in the top European hubs. (Image: PitchBook)

Have a look at the WA4STEAM post for more insights.

🔥 And if you're curious about the leading ladies of European venture, look no further

EU-Startups has compiled a list of 100 remarkable women — business angels, founders, journalists — who are shaping the startup and venture capital scene in 2024.

Have a look at the EU-Startups list for more insights.

Cover image: Unsplash