Funding to women-founded startups declined 12% in 2024, but that wasn’t far behind the broader market

Venture investment in startups run by women has always lagged the overall market, and with companies across sectors cutting back on their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, things seem grimmer than ever for female founders. But the data tells a different tale for 2024 — at least according to this one report by European venture platform Female Foundry: Venture investment to startups founded by women in Europe declined 12% in 2024 from a year earlier, but it was nearly in line with the 11% decrease in overall venture investment. Notably, women who founded deep tech startups are raising more than men are in that area. The report, dubbed Female Innovation Index 2025, found that the number of female founders in deep tech is increasing thanks to that sector’s links to academia, where women tend to be more equally represented. About 33% of all venture capital raised by female entrepreneurs in Europe is going into deep-tech startups — 2% more than gender-agnostic startups. Key areas of ... Read full article.