Gender Gap in Startups? 2025 Statistics Every Female Founder Must Know
Gender Gap in Startups? 2025 Statistics Every Female Founder Must Know
Introduction
In 2025, women represent just 13.7% of founders in million-dollar startups—a decline from 15% in 2022—while female-led teams receive 14% less VC funding than male counterparts for identical pitches. Yet startups with women founders achieve 35% higher ROI when they break through systemic barriers. This data-driven guide exposes hidden inequalities and actionable solutions reshaping entrepreneurship.
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2. SaaS Startups Have the Worst Gender Parity (11% Women Founders)
Male-dominated VC networks funnel 72% of SaaS investments to teams without female leadership, despite women-led SaaS companies showing 28% faster user growth.
3. Female Founders Face a "Relocation Penalty"
Mothers in accelerator programs face a 16% funding gap due to childcare obligations limiting relocation—startups using remote-first incubators close this gap by 89%.
4. Only 2% of European VC Funding Goes to Women-Led Startups
The UK’s £250 million Invest in Women Taskforce aims to triple this by 2026 through gender-lens investing and founder stipends.
5. Female Angel Investors Back Women-Led Startups 4× More
Platforms like Alma Angels connect 450+ female investors with founders, increasing average round sizes by $287k.
6. Women-Led HealthTech Startups Outperform Men by 22%
Despite dominating 70% of healthcare decisions, female founders receive 18% less funding in HealthTech—tools like NeuroValidate’s bias filters help counter this.
7. African Female CEOs Raised Just $48M in 2024 vs $2.2B for Men
Networks like Norrsken22’s growth fund are bridging this gap by linking female founders with corporate procurement pipelines.
8. 92% of Venture-Backed "Million-Dollar Clubs" Are Male-Dominated
The average revenue for women-owned $1M+ startups is half that of male peers due to industry concentration gaps.
9. Female Founders Partnering With Men Raise 3× More Capital
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.