Investing in Women in Fintech

Why do women have a harder time rising to C-level positions? Why do female founders tend to get less funding? Why do female-founded startups tend to get lower valuations? 

Bridging the opportunity gap

Women are just as capable of becoming powerful and successful business entrepreneurs and leaders as men. For most, this assertion does not require any debate. 

In fact, a study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group found that, on average, startups founded or co-founded by women return 78 cents for every investment dollar compared to 31 cents from their all-male counterparts. But women still receive only 2% of all venture capital funding. This funding gender gap is especially wide in traditionally male-dominated sectors like Fintech. What can we do about this?

Starting and leading the conversation

Our Speedinvest Fintech Associate, Gunita Bhasin, and Venture Partner, Deepali Nangia, sat down with a panel of female entrepreneurs and leaders from our portfolio to break open the topic. 

Together, they explored some of the reasons for this contradiction and what can women - and the VC industry as a whole - do to even the odds, featuring :

• Nathalie Oestmann, COO, Curve
• Camille Rougie, Founder & CEO, Plural AI
• Aiga Senftleben, Co-Founder & General Counsel, Billie

Key points of discussion: Unconscious bias and the business ladder

We know that success in VC, as a founder, or of any grand endeavor is largely based upon knowing the right people, people give us access to feedback, talent and, of course, funding. The problems come from the human tendency towards unconscious in-group bias. Simply put, while we may not try to discriminate against people, we’re just more comfortable with - and therefore more likely to support - people who remind us of ourselves.

But overcoming this bias isn’t the only hurdle. 

The in-depth discussion touches on everything from challenges of growing a business while also building a family to the impacts of COVID-19 on working women, and much more.

Watch the entire panel discussion or jump ahead to the questions we’ve highlighted.

• Why do women have a harder time rising to C-level positions? (17:52)
• Why do female founders tend to get less funding? (26:47)
• Why do female-founded startups tend to get lower valuations? (30:26)

Traditional institutions have long been the sole gatekeepers of the financial sector. Now, Fintech companies are uprooting business models across insurance, investing, lending, real estate and banking, easing access to financial services we use every day. From wefox to Bitpanda, Luko, Curve and Tide, the Fintech team has a portfolio spanning from Europe to emerging markets and partners with the most innovative tech startups driving this disruption. Whether reinventing payments or embedded finance, our sector expertise, strong industry networks, and in-house operational support helps founders unleash their full potential.

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