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Women are starting businesses at record rates, but the playing field remains uneven. A recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research, cited in Investopedia, reveals that when ventures fail, female founders are 30% less likely than men to secure funding for a new business. Even after success, women raise 53% less capital on average and face a 27% lower chance of being funded again, often missing out on tens of millions. The data points to entrenched bias, not performance, as the cause of this disparity.
The funding gap is one of the most visible double standards. Globally, women-founded startups receive less than 2% of venture capital. In the United States, the number hovers around 2–3% according to Reuters. Europe fares even worse, closer to 1% according to the Financial Times. In the UK, just 1.8% of equity investment in 2024 went to all-female founding teams reported by The Times. By contrast, male-only teams took more than 86%. This disparity persists despite strong evidence that women-led ventures deliver superior results. A Boston Consulting Group analysis found that women-led startups return 78 cents for every dollar invested, compared to just 31 cents from male-founded startups. Similarly, First Round Capital reported that female-founded firms outperformed male-founded ones by 63%. The paradox is striking: women consistently generate stronger returns, but capital flows overwhelmingly to men.
Part of the explanation lies in investor bias. Reuters Studies show that women pitching to venture capitalists are asked questions focused on risk and potential failure. Men are asked about growth opportunities and future success. This difference in framing significantly influences funding outcomes.
Despite these obstacles, female entrepreneurs consistently outperform expectations. Female-led tech teams, for example, deliver 35% higher returns on investment reported by The Times. Women are also reshaping the investment landscape itself: nearly half of U.S. angel investors in 2023 were women, a shift driven in part by the projected transfer of $30 trillion in wealth to women over the next decade according to Mckinsey & Company. Targeted initiatives show what happens when bias is mitigated. Westpac’s Women in Business fund in Australia has distributed over $750 million to nearly 1,700 female-led companies in just two years reported from The Chronicle.
This is not a women's problem; it’s a funding and systems problem. Women entrepreneurs are building successful, high-performing businesses, but they face persistent double standards that limit their access to capital, credibility, and growth opportunities. The solution is not to tell women to “be more confident” or “network harder.” It’s to change who makes investment decisions, adopt practices that reduce bias in funding evaluations, and hold investors accountable for ignoring evidence in favor of ingrained stereotypes. The data is clear: investing in women is not charity, it’s good business. The only real question is whether the venture ecosystem is willing to catch up to the facts.