Some of the most prominent women in venture capital descended upon Paris this week for the first Women in VC Summit, European edition.
The event, organized by investors Sophie Winwood and Ruth Foxe Blader, brought together top minds to discuss creating a more inclusive and equitable venture landscape. The conference was open only to those identifying as women, and panels included topics such as the role of LPs in diversifying tech, finding the next women-founded unicorn and inspiring more women fund managers.
Winwood and Blader were inspired to create the conference after growing tired of the paltry funding and few opportunities granted to women in Europe. In 2021, only 1.1% of all venture capital in Europe was allocated to women-founded companies. Though that number is down from the 2.4% raised in 2020, it is on par with what was raised in 2017, 2018 and 2019, which saw women receive 1.5%, 1.8% and 1.5% of all venture capital, respectively.
Diversity conferences such as these are quite common in the U.S., but that’s far from the reality in Europe. Women in VC Summit: Europe is stunning in the breadth of its vision: Through sunset soirées, wine chats and networking hours, women from across the continent convened to permeate the concrete ceiling.
The event will end today with a happy hour known as “ally drinks,” where men will finally be allowed into the room. It’s a subtle nod to knowing that change is a group effort, and those with power are responsible for how they wield it.
“The biggest problem women have is discrimination,” Winwood told TechCrunch, adding she hopes to encourage women to refuse prejudice at any scale. ”WVC:E is about mentorship, empowerment and recognizable change. The methods are pretty firmly established ones: consciousness-raising, community and solidarity.”
The hill women climb in the venture industry is steep, and the landscape in Europe is little different from what you see in the U.S. Last year, for example, women in France raised €1.6 billion out of the €12.5 billion deployed. Data like this is hard to find across the European Union, as studies are not regularly funded or conducted. It’s further complicated by the fact that countries such as France and Germany do not, for legal reasons, track race data, making it hard to know how deep the inequalities in their venture sectors go.
What can be found are metrics such as this: Between 2009 and 2019, only 10 Black women received VC investments in the U.K., equating to 0.02% of all money allocated in that period. This has led to an exodus of Black talent to the U.S., where Black women receive 0.5% of all venture funds. Last year, for every pound of equity invested into overall startups, women received just 15 pence, according to a study by Beauhurst.
A 2019 report showed that men-only teams received 93% of all capital raised in the Nordic countries of Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark and Norway. Women received just 1% of that money. The numbers behind the scenes are also dismal: Only 15% of general partners in Europe are women, and they have less carry compared to their male counterparts, per a new report by European Women in VC.
Breaking it down by region, the report found that 87% of GPs in the U.K. are men, followed by 81% in the West, 90% in the Central West, 85% in the Nordics, 89% in the South and 90% in Central and Eastern Europe. Furthermore, a 2019 Diversity report estimated that 84% of all European venture capital investors are white, which is nearly on par with the stats in the U.S.
The existing landscape, combined with the lack of information on diversity progress, makes conferences such as the Women in VC Summit imperative. Notable speakers included Roxanne Varza, the director of the startup incubator Station F, and January Ventures co-founder Maren Bannon. Deloitte, Google and Citi Ventures were among the many sponsors.
Many speakers expressed their relief that an event like this had finally been organized in Europe. The demand for such an event was evident in the fact that it was sold out. Shana Hudes, a Paris-based early-stage investor at IRIS, said she liked the conference because it allowed her to exchange experiences, share stories with other women in her industry and find a role model.
“One of the main problems in the VC industry is to be and feel legitimate as a woman, especially when creating your first track record,” Hudes told TechCrunch, adding that being surrounded by successful women is crucial. “The path is still long, but I feel the new generation of female investors wants to promote equality.”
Bérénice Magistretti, an angel investor and emerging fund manager, said having a forum where she can learn from other women investors is “invaluable.”
“I believe we need diversity at every level in order to create real, lasting change in tech,” Magistretti told TechCrunch. She is launching an early-stage health fund and is adamant about finding diverse LPs to back it. “This will hopefully help move the needle when it comes to backing more diverse founders.”
Meanwhile, Carolina Banales, CEO of Eyecue Insights, is based in New York City and looking to expand her data analytics company into Europe. Because she hopes to fundraise on the continent, she said the event was a good networking opportunity and helped her further understand the venture landscape there.
“In Latin America, where home is, the ecosystem for women empowerment and for women in VC is really, really low, so you don’t get to talk to many women who have the power of making decisions of investing,” Banales told TechCrunch, adding that being able to connect with other women is crucial, especially in looking for allies to advocate for her as she enters this new market.
“To be able to be updated and connect is super important and to go out from your comfort zone,” she said.
A few attendees, however, noted the lack of diversity among panelists, as it appeared not many women of color took the stage. Intersectionality is an important point when it comes to creating true equitable change, and topics regarding women’s empowerment have often left out people of color, who must deal with both gender and racial bias. Nonetheless, the attendees appeared to be a bit more diverse than the panelists.
Winwood did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment regarding diversity in the makeup of the panels.
Overall, this could mark a new beginning for women in Europe. There is increasing interest in more ESG initiatives as well as in finding ways to increase diverse founders and managers’ share of funding. What is missing is figuring out a way to execute ideas, make them last and make the powers that be sustain their commitments.
But that’s what this conference was all about. Or, as Magistretti put it: “Watch out, Europe.”
Correction: This article was updated to reflect that two people planned the conference not three.