European Women in VC together with Experior VC and Unconventional Ventures presented the report Funding in CEE region 2021 – through the lens of gender diversity and positive impact.
Key findings:
✅Over the last five years, EUR 2.47B has been invested into the Central and Eastern Europe tech ecosystem.
✅In 2020, women-founded startups raised just 1% of investment in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). 5% went to mixed-gender founding teams, while all-men teams raised 94%
In the CEE region, Estonia is the country leading the way for creating venture-backed startups founded by women. And the Balkans lead in Europe for the percentage of rounds going to startups with at least one woman (co)founder.
✅ Women-founded startups generate more revenue per Euro invested. Women-led businesses outperform in capital productivity by 96%.
✅ Funders and decision-makers are predominantly men. Of funds active in CEE, 85% of Venture Capital (VC) investment roles are held by men, rising to 93% at the Partner level.
✅ VC funds with all-men General Partner (GP) teams have 5X the firepower (AUM) to invest in companies compared to all women GPs of venture funds