Startup News for Female Entrepreneurs in Europe

EIF Puts €20 Million Into BackingMinds, the Women-Founded Swedish VC That Looks for Founders Investors Miss

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is committing 220 million Swedish kronor, about €20 million, to BackingMinds Invest III, the third fund of the Stockholm venture capital firm founded by Sara Wimmercranz and Susanne Najafi. The fund looks for early-stage founders that traditional investor networks miss: women, entrepreneurs with immigrant backgrounds and companies outside capital cities. The deal was announced on Tuesday, 20 October, a day after EU ministers approved conclusions saying that less than €3 of every €100 of venture capital goes to women-led teams.

Cover photo: Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash.

What happened

The EIF, part of the Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank (EIB) Group, announced the commitment on 20 October, according to its press release. BackingMinds Invest III will invest mainly in Sweden and the rest of the Nordic region, and it will also target companies working on lower carbon emissions, energy efficiency, healthcare and education.

First institutional investor: the EIF is the first institution to invest in the new fund. Its participation "is expected to help the fund attract other institutional investors", the release says.
EU guarantee behind it: the money is backed by the EU's InvestEU programme, through its "Social Impact Equity" part, which supports funds with commercial goals and a positive social or environmental impact.
Fund size: the release gives no target size or closing date. BackingMinds has been aiming to raise between SEK 0.5 billion and SEK 1 billion for the third fund, the Swedish outlet Impact Loop reports. On that basis, the EIF's SEK 220 million could be roughly a fifth to two fifths of the fund (our calculation).

"Europe cannot afford to leave talented entrepreneurs undiscovered simply because they are outside the traditional venture capital networks." — Merete Clausen, EIF Deputy Chief Executive

Who BackingMinds backs

BackingMinds was founded in Stockholm in 2016, according to EU-Startups. Before they started investing, Wimmercranz and Najafi built some of the Nordics' largest e-commerce companies, the EIF says. Their first two funds backed 23 companies:

46% had at least one female founder;
43% had founders with immigrant backgrounds;
71% were started outside a capital city.

For comparison, startups with at least one female founder took 17.8% of Europe's venture capital deal value in 2025, according to PitchBook. That figure is a share of money, while BackingMinds' 46% is a share of companies, so the two are not a direct match, but the difference in who gets backed is clear.

"A network is a filter. It lets through what already looks like the network and repeats the patterns of the past. As investors, we need to be more open and seek founders out." — Sara Wimmercranz, BackingMinds Founding Partner

Wimmercranz added that the EIF's commitment lets the firm do that "on a larger scale".

The day before: EU ministers name the gender investment gap

On Monday, 19 October, EU employment and equality ministers meeting in Luxembourg approved Council conclusions on "Equality as a driver for economic growth and competitiveness in the EU" (Adopted; Council conclusions are political commitments, not law). We covered the draft text in our preview of the meeting; the approved version (document 14603/26) has only "minor editorial corrections".

The text says that "for every €100 invested, less than €3 goes to women-led teams", citing a European Commission study from October 2025. What it asks for:

Who	What the conclusions ask for
Member states (point 27)	Support women's entrepreneurship and equal access to finance, including measures to eliminate gender bias in investment decisions and to support women-led start-ups; training on gender bias for bank and fund staff
Member states (point 52)	Consider targeted funding for entrepreneurship among underrepresented groups, including women and people with a migrant background
Commission (point 59)	Present a proposal for a European Care Deal that covers paid and unpaid care
Commission (point 67)	Adopt an Action Plan for Women in Research, Innovation and Start-ups; expand gender-smart financing targets; improve access to finance for women entrepreneurs

"Equality and competitiveness are not competing priorities – they go hand in hand," said Norma Foley, Ireland's Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, whose country holds the Council presidency, in the Council's press release. The EIF did not link its deal to the conclusions, but BackingMinds' strategy covers two of the groups point 52 names: women and people with a migrant background.

How big the gap is across Europe

Market	What the latest data shows	Source
EU	Less than €3 of every €100 of venture capital goes to women-led teams	Council conclusions, 19 Oct 2026
Europe	Startups with a female founder: €10.9 billion, 17.8% of deal value (18.5% in 2024); all-female teams: 1.2%	PitchBook, 2025
UK	Teams with at least one female founder: 15% of equity investment; all-female teams: 2%. Investing in Women Code signatories: 32% and 6%	British Business Bank, 2025 data
Germany	91% of funding goes to all-male teams; women are 18.8% of founders	Bertelsmann Stiftung, Female Founders Monitor 2025
Nordics	Companies with women in founding roles raised €707 million (down from €906 million); women-only teams got 10% of that, up from 5%	Even Founders, 2025

The Nordic numbers show the size of the round, not just the share. Women-only founding teams raised an average of €1.67 million in 2025, compared with €4.65 million for mixed-gender teams, a gap of 2.8 times, according to Even Founders. Women-only teams' share of grants rose from 13% to 25%, which the report says means more non-dilutive support but "also signals that equity investors aren't stepping up".

Who decides matters too. Only 15% of decision-makers at VC firms with €50 million or more under management are women, PitchBook says. In the UK, signatories of the Investing in Women Code put 32% of their venture money into teams with at least one female founder in 2025, more than twice the market rate, according to the British Business Bank.

Why the EIF's money matters more than its size

€20 million is small next to the EIF's InvestEU budget: the EIF says it is deploying close to €35 billion under InvestEU, of which about €27.5 billion is already signed. But being first counts: the release says the EIF's participation is expected to help BackingMinds attract other institutional investors.

For founders, that means more money flowing through investors who already look beyond the usual networks. It's one way EU policy on the gender investment gap reaches companies: not as grants to founders, but as public money in funds whose strategy brings in more women.

What this means for you

If you're building in Sweden or the Nordics, especially outside Stockholm, keep BackingMinds on your list. The release gives no ticket sizes or application process, so start from the firm's website and a warm introduction if you can get one.
Target investors with a track record, not a slogan. Code signatories in the UK fund teams with a female founder at more than twice the market rate. Our guide to female founder funding lists investors and funds that back women.
Find your lead first. A fund like BackingMinds can anchor a round that others then join. Here is how to build a lead investor strategy.
Use grants as a bridge, not a substitute. Nordic women-only teams got a bigger share of grants in 2025, but smaller rounds. See the 23 grants and funding options for female entrepreneurs we checked on 15 October.
If you're a founder with an immigrant background, the barriers stack up. Our guide to the systemic barriers women of color face in entrepreneurship has practical strategies.

For more on what is changing, read how female founders in Europe are closing the equity gap and why women in tech startups still face a gender gap.

FAQ

How much is the EIF investing in BackingMinds?

SEK 220 million, about €20 million, in BackingMinds Invest III. The EIF is the fund's first institutional investor, and the commitment is backed by the EU's InvestEU programme.

Who founded BackingMinds?

Sara Wimmercranz and Susanne Najafi, who built Nordic e-commerce companies before founding the Stockholm VC firm in 2016.

What kind of startups does BackingMinds Invest III back?

Early-stage companies, mainly in Sweden and the Nordics, with a focus on founders that traditional networks miss: women, people with immigrant backgrounds and companies outside capital cities.

How many BackingMinds companies have a female founder?

46% of the 23 companies in its first two funds had at least one female founder, according to the EIF.

What did EU ministers decide on 19 October 2026?

They approved Council conclusions on equality and competitiveness. The text says less than €3 of every €100 of venture capital goes to women-led teams and asks governments to tackle gender bias in investment decisions. Conclusions are not legally binding.

How much venture capital goes to women founders in Europe?

Startups with at least one female founder took 17.8% of European VC deal value in 2025, and all-female teams 1.2%, according to PitchBook.

About the Author

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

2026-10-21 09:23