Women Founders and Funding Gaps

Women Founders and Funding Gaps: What the Numbers Say

Women entrepreneurs across Europe—and in Romania—are building ambitious businesses. Yet when it comes to funding, the numbers still reveal a sharp gender gap. A recent report from the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) and the European Investment Bank Group (EIB/EIF), Women Founders in European Deep Tech Startups (November 2024), highlights just how uneven the playing field is. Read the full report here

The Struggles: Fewer Women, Less Capital

• Only 14% of deep-tech startup founders in Europe are women.

• Women-led startups receive just 11.4% of total funding, far below their 17.4% share of the ecosystem.

• In Eastern Europe, including Romania, the picture is even worse: women-led startups capture only 3.6% of funding—compared to nearly 30% in Central Europe and Anglo-Saxon regions

• Women founders are more likely to get their first funding from public sources (grants, incubators, non-profits), while male-dominated teams more often secure venture capital.

• Even when women-led startups raise capital, they receive smaller first rounds and lower valuations, and are less likely to cross the €20 million valuation mark.

A Faster Start, But Smaller Tickets

Interestingly, the study shows that women founders often secure initial funding faster than male-only teams. On average, women-led startups get outside capital within 1.16 years, compared to 1.57 years for men-led teams

But the amounts differ:

• Women-led startups typically raise smaller first rounds.

• They are also more dependent on grants and public programs rather than private venture capital.

• Even in later stages, women-founded teams consistently receive lower total funding per round.

Programs Designed to Close the Gap

To address these inequalities, several EU-level initiatives are already active—and Romanian founders can benefit:

• EIT Supernovas – Supports women-led startups and future women investors. It connects founders to funding, mentoring, markets, and builds the Women Investment Network.

• EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative (DTTI) – Training 1 million Europeans in deep tech skills by 2025, with a target of at least 30% women participants.

• Girls Go Circular – Already trained 40,000+ schoolgirls in digital and entrepreneurial skills, building the pipeline of future female founders.

• EIB Gender Finance Lab – Part of the InvestEU Advisory Hub, working with banks and funds to create gender-smart finance products for women-owned SMEs.

• EIF Gender Criteria in InvestEU – Directs more capital toward VC funds that integrate women in leadership and investment roles, ensuring women entrepreneurs gain better access to inclusive capital.

Why It Matters for Romania

Romania’s ecosystem is dynamic, but women founders still receive a disproportionately small share of private funding. With EU programs already active, the key for Romanian women entrepreneurs is visibility and participation: joining networks like Supernovas, applying for EIB/EIF-backed finance, and leveraging EU training programs that build both skills and investor confidence.

The conclusion of the study is clear: investing in women-led businesses is not only about fairness, but also about economic growth and innovation.

Right now, women founders receive only a fraction of the capital flowing in the market.That gap is not just a statistic, it’s a missed opportunity for jobs, ideas, and competitiveness.If we want Romania’s economy to thrive, supporting women entrepreneurs is not just important—it’s an urgent matter.