𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗖 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻'𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 (𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲) (𝟭/𝟮)

I actually think VC has a bit of an issue with women. Of course, the common wisdom is that equally talented people will do well, regardless of gender.Therefore, nothing to see, nothing to do. And we certainly don’t want to frame “women” as victims of the system (so demeaning!).

At the same time, there is plenty of evidence  𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿-𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗖 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱:
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👉 % of women in leadership positions in European companies getting funded: approx. 15% (c. 25% in the US btw)
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👉 % of women in leadership positions in in European VC funds : approx. 15% (c. 20% in the US)
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👉 % of patents filed by European women: <15%And what is striking is that 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝟭𝟬 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀.

My own direct experience supports this view: only <10% of my #LinkedIn connections are women (of course I am showing my age – but).

The issue has probably lots to do with 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Not so many women are attracted to the macho world of VC where bragging is at a premium.

This may explain why life sciences (more guarded by .. science) has better women representation than tech (c 20% vs 10%). And within “tech”, consumer is faring much better. If I look at my own experience as the Chair of the Investment Committee at Triple B (family office focused on consumer and sports investments), we have at least 3 businesses which were started and are led by women.

The question is: how can we improve things? Let’s discuss next week.

Sources:

‍https://www.un.org/en/observances/womens-day
‍https://sifted.eu/articles/why-iwd-make-us-uncomfortable‍
https://pitchbook.com/news/reports/2025-european-all-in-female-founders-in-the-vc-ecosystem‍
https://sciencebusiness.net/news/r-d-funding/patents/only-138-european-patent-applications-are-filed-women-study
finds‍https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451958824001660 (via Ben Evans)