Beyond Unicorns: The Unseen Gender Struggle in European Venture Capital

Despite record-breaking growth in European venture capital in 2021, with over Euro 100 billion invested and nearly 100 new unicorns, gender diversity in the industry remains stagnant. A report by European Women in VC highlights that funding for all-male, all-female, and mixed-gender founding teams has seen minimal change. While the number of unicorns increased by 21.4% in Q1 2022, gender disparities persist among venture capital firms, with only 15% of General Partners being female.

This lack of female representation extends to investment power, with female GPs managing smaller funds. Despite some progress in sectors like bio-tech and life sciences, the funding gap for female founders remains significant, with just 1.8% of investments going to female-led startups in 2021. Addressing these systemic issues requires increased capital for female-led funds and greater representation of female GPs in fund management.

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