A few weeks ago, the German Startup Association published the tenth edition of its Startup Monitor. Now it is presenting a special evaluation that looks at the role and challenges of female startup founders. The Female Founders Monitor makes it clear: Things are moving forward, but there is still a lot to do.
Startups by women are smaller and have less capital
At 20 percent, the proportion of female founders is at an all-time high in the history of the German Startup Monitor. The number of startups that have at least one woman on the founding team is as high as 37 percent. However, this pleasing trend should not obscure the fact that women have by no means achieved the same status as men in the startup world. This is evident, for example, in the size of the company. With an average of seven employees, startups founded by women have significantly fewer employees than those founded by men with 28.
One reason for this is the significant difference in capital resources. While the female founding teams surveyed have received an average of 1.1 million euros so far, the financing volume among the male teams is nine times higher at 9.7 million euros. More than four out of five women identify a structural problem here and agree with the statement that female founders are scrutinized more critically than male founders when it comes to investment decisions. In addition, significantly fewer women are active as business angels. Only 6 percent of female founders invest in startups themselves, compared to 16 percent of male.
A further reason for the weaker financial resources of female-led startups may also lie in the orientation of their business models. Women are disproportionately found in B2C industries such as food or e-commerce. In addition, 61% of female founders are in the field of social entrepreneurship. Men, on the other hand, tend to focus on B2B business, such as software and other technological solutions, which are often seen as more promising by VC companies or business angels. This discrepancy is also related to preferred fields of study; women are still underrepresented in STEM subjects.
Compatibility of family and career as a key criterion
41 percent of female founders and 44 percent of male founders have children. However, the compatibility of work and family is assessed very differently. For example, women with children see their weekly working hours drop by an average of almost 6 hours, while this effect is hardly apparent for men. This is reflected in the political demands: four out of five women see better offers for reconciling family and entrepreneurship as a central lever for strengthening the ecosystem - among men, only one in two.
