Venture Firms invested a total of $434 million in Q3 in female founded enterprises—the lowest figure since the second quarter of 2017, according to PitchBook data. The third quarter total also amounts to a 48% drop in funding from Q2, when female founders received $841 million across 132 deals
Read MoreA report on the leading female founders around the globe was recently published by Business Financing UK, identifying leaders on every continent that are succeeding at challenging the gender bias in funding and founding successful enterprises.
It’s no secret that when it comes to funding and investment for entrepreneurs on a global scale, women (and especially women of color) are being ignored at a depressing rate compared to men. With 98% of Venture Capital funding going to men, to be more precise, the gender gap in the world of entrepreneurship has a long way to go because it means women-led companies aren’t hitting the market in the same way as male-led companies.
Read MoreStudents aren’t quite as keen as they used to be to become lawyers and bankers and management consultants; they want to become founders instead. A quarter of UK students now run — or plan to start a company — while at university. Collectively, they raked in £1bn in 2019; a 32% increase on 2016. Four in ten of these startup teams are led by female founders.
To support this trend, universities now have accelerators, incubators and other programmes to encourage and support tech startups — and Ana Bakshi, director of Oxford’s entrepreneur centre Oxford Foundry, recently called for more to jump on the bandwagon to stimulate the UK’s economic recovery.
Read MoreWomen, especially first-time founders, have long lagged behind men in raising venture capital for their startups. But in the pandemic's heightened climate of caution, anecdotes from female founders suggest that they face even greater hurdles because VCs are suddenly turning more risk-averse. Having a track record goes a long way toward gaining the trust—and checks—of investors, even in a growing economy.
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