Women are underrepresented in the startup world. Although they make up 50.7 percent of the German population, constitute a majority, according to the Female Founders Monitor only 20 percent of founders are womenAnd only 37 percent of startups have at least one woman in their founding team. The situation is similar in Europe: According to a Study by BCG from 2022, the average share of female founders for new companies is below 25 percent. And the situation is the same for venture capital firms. According to a Study by EIF and Invest Europe Women hold only 14 percent of top positions in European VCs, with a share of 35 percent in lower positions.
With the Gender Smart Equity Investment Programme, the EIF aims to help narrow the gap, at least in the VC sector. To this end, it collaborates with national funding institutions in the respective countries or regions to increase gender diversity in venture capital and private equity. Two mandates have been signed so far: with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and the Dutch government investment fund Invest-NL. Thus, the program currently focuses on funds in Germany and the Netherlands whose investment strategies are thematically aligned with the EIF.
Gender diversity delivers better financial results
Nadia Calviño, President of the EIB Group and Chair of the Board of Directors of the EIF, said:
"Research clearly shows that gender diversity delivers better financial results. Women are clearly underrepresented in the European private equity, venture capital, and private debt markets. The Gender Smart Equity Investment Programme is a novel tool to promote a fairer and more innovative business environment."
Marjut Falkstedt, Chief Executive of the EIF, added:
"Gender equality is a top priority for the EIF. Under the Empowering Equity initiative, 25 percent of our equity transactions are to comply with InvestEU's gender criteria. Against this backdrop, I am delighted to launch the Gender Smart Equity Investment Programme together with our first partners, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and Invest-NL. And I hope that many more will join us so we can make a difference."
Anna Christmann, BMWK representative for the digital economy and startups, explains:
"It's high time to close the gender gap in venture capital funds. Greater gender equality in these funds is an important step toward empowering female startup founders and increasing the proportion of female founders overall. With its contribution to GESIP, the German government is making progress in implementing its startup strategy and the 'More Female Entrepreneurs for SMEs' action plan. Both also aim to increase diversity in startups. The more European countries join GESIP, the sooner we can expand and promote the startup landscape in Europe in the foreseeable future."
The Gender Smart Equity Investment Programme follows the gender selection criteria of the InvestEU Framework for a Single Market Approach, which is also aligned with the EIB Group's Gender Action Plan. Under the programme, financial partners meet the gender criteria if either at least one-third of the management team, at least 40 percent of the senior investment team, or at least 40 percent of the investment committee members are women.
