Females founders routinely face bias from European investors when it comes to raising funding, new research by Antler has found.Females founders routinely face bias from European investors when it comes to raising funding, new research by Antler has found.
Among the barriers European tech has to overcome, gender diversity is undoubtedly a pressing one. The numbers are telling. So far in 2023, female-founded startups have raised less than 2% of the total VC capital in Europe.
A new study by global early-stage VC firm Antler shows that, unsurprisingly, female founders have to routinely deal with gender bias.
Antler surveyed founders based in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and the UK on their recent experience with angels and VCs. All of the respondents said that the European investor ecosystem is biased against women.
Specifically, two-thirds (64%) of the founders reported that their gender has actively made it difficult to raise investment. At the same time, a third (32%) have felt the need to call out investors for unconscious bias during pitching meetings.
