Women entrepreneurs in Bulgaria and Europe continue to face limited opportunities for access to venture capital, especially in strategic high-tech sectors. A new European study, supported by the European Commission and the European Parliament, showed that less than 3 out of every 100 euros of venture capital in the EU reaches companies led by women.
The report The Gender Investment Gap analyzes the distribution of investments in technology companies in Europe and who participates in making investment decisions. The data indicate that overcoming this imbalance can stimulate economic growth and competitiveness.
The study highlights deep tech companies (based on scientific discoveries and advanced engineering), which often originate from universities and research centers and include areas such as artificial intelligence, energy and climate technologies, and biotechnology. These companies require larger investments and a longer development period, but are key to the long-term industrial sustainability and economic security of Europe.
Startups with at least one woman among their founders attract only 14.4% of investment rounds and about 12% of the total venture capital volume in Europe. In the deep tech sector, about 80% of the companies are founded entirely by men, receiving nearly 90% of the total funding.
Women are poorly represented not only among entrepreneurs, but also among fund managers and investment committees, who make capital allocation decisions. The report is based on an 11-month study, including interviews and events, to understand the reasons behind this problem.
Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Startups, emphasizes that the problem is in the way investments are distributed, and not in the lack of ideas or capacity. She points out that Europe cannot afford to ignore the creative and entrepreneurial potential of half of its population.
Denis Hristov from the Fund of Funds notes the important role of public financial instruments for markets like the Bulgarian one. Bulgaria is among the leading countries in the number of women with education in the IT field, which leads to more women entrepreneurs. European financial instruments such as equity financing, guarantees and loans are of great benefit to Bulgarian startups.
A key result of the project is the creation of an interactive European dashboard, bringing together data on over 70,000 technology companies, which allows comparisons by country and sector. The aim is to build a sustainable European database, supporting policies and investment decisions.