📬 EWinVC Newsletter: Podcasts, AI biases and the latest in VC

Welcome to the November 2023 edition of our Newsletter!

Nov 13, 2023

Quote of the day: “I am not here to win, I am here to contribute.” Seth Godin

Dear Friends of European Women in VC,

With the incredible support of our 2023 report partner, HSBC Innovation Banking, and our fantastic supporting partner, EUVC, we've just wrapped up a new podcast episode discussing diversity, and the remarkable findings from the European Women in VC report. Take a listen as Andreas Munk Holm has an engaging chat with Juliet Rogan and our own Kinga Stanislawska.

A massive shoutout and heartfelt thanks to everyone who played a part in making this possible! 🙌🏽

This is what we’ve been up to 🤸🏽‍♀️

Last month, we had the absolute pleasure of attending Expand North Star Dubai 🇦🇪, all thanks to EU.VC's invitation to join their delegation. What an incredible experience it was, as we got to connect with innovative startups hailing from every corner of the globe. This event gave us the fantastic chance to rub shoulders with fellow entrepreneurs and passionate investors. Being a part of the world's largest startup gathering, hosted by the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, was as exciting as it sounds.

We also participated in GITEX GLOBAL, the world's largest Tech & Startup Show, which drew in more than 6,000 exhibitors from 180 countries and an impressive 120,000 attendees. Women's Choice invited us to share our insights on diversity, and during a dynamic panel discussion led by the inspiring Nezha Alaoui, we highlighted the pivotal role that women play in identifying solutions to global challenges.

🇫🇷 Our Founding Member, Dr. Gesa Miczaika, took center stage at the WVCE conference in beautiful Paris. We had the amazing opportunity to share the insights from the European Women in VC 2023 Report, which we co-authored with IDC.

🇸🇪 Also, our own Kinga Stanislawska was a panelist at IndustriFonden Venture Summit in Stockhom. A day for delving into the incredible potential of innovation, which serves as a vital catalyst for growth and tackling the significant challenges of our time.

🇱🇺 The Empowering Equity II event by European Investment Fund (EIF) and European Investment Bank (EIB) brought together over 100 senior female professionals from the European VC space. We had some great discussions about fundraising, LP/GP relationships, diversity and survival in venture.

👩🏽‍💻 Additionally, we've had some fantastic MEET THE LP sessions with some outstanding partners, including Cambridge Associates, NATO Innovation Fund, Nysno and Felman Family Office.

Fund News 🤑

KfW Capital is on a fantastic mission to increase the representation of female and diverse managers in the market, and their efforts are truly commendable! Big kudos to Alexander Thees, Jörg Goschin, Theresa Bardubitzki, and Lea Strumberger for their outstanding work. 👏🏻👏🏻 We hope to see more national Funds of Funds inspired by your leadership and dedication! 🚀🌟Read Sifted’s article.
Haylo Ventures, a deep tech investor, has made its debut in London. This dynamic venture is helmed by two former operators: Claire Valoti, who previously spearheaded Snap's EMEA business and David Hayes, founder of WaveOptics, that was later acquired by Snap. These two seasoned entrepreneurs are teaming up to make a significant impact in the world of deep tech investing. 🚀🌟
French VC Korelya Capital unveiled the launch of a new lifestyle vertical dedicated Fund, investing in brands across fashion and home, beauty, wellness, hospitality, and food and beverage. This new venture will be expertly managed by their partner, Julie Roze, with the objective of helping startups grow through their tech expertise and Asian network.

🙌🏼 People who inspired us lately

Congratulations to Kerry Baldwin of IQ Capital, a true inspiration for women in European Venture! GP Bullhound Allstars Awards 2023 awarded Kerry as 'Investor of the Year,' and IQ Capital was a 'Venture Capital and Seed Fund of the Year' finalist for their work shaping policy across governments and innovation driven ecosystems, and always being available to mentor founders and new fund managers. Cheers to more positive impact and innovation! 🌟🚀
Tatiana Jama's work with SISTA and SISTAFUND has been a remarkable inspiration to founders in France 🇫🇷 and across Europe. SistaFund hit a major milestone with its first close last year, boosting support for female-led startups. In France, Tibi is making waves by catalyzing private capital infusion into the VC space. Kudos to Philippe Tibi on launching Tibi2! 👏
Looking for inspiration? Meet Eva Shang, who, at just 27, manages nearly USD 1 billion in assets. She co-founded Legalist, a data-driven hedge fund with fellow Harvard undergrad Christian Haigh. Eva initially aspired to be a civil rights lawyer but ended up taking a different path, leaving Harvard at 20 to start her own hedge fund from a garage. 🌟🚀Read her story.

In other news 📺

With the continuous AI buzz, The Alan Turing Institute publication: Women, AI and VC comes at a crucial moment. The gender gap in science and tech has concerning implications, including embedding biases in AI systems. Achieving equality for women and marginalised groups in VC and tech entrepreneurship is more critical than ever, especially in the era of rapid AI advancement.

Despite some growth in female-founded companies, investment in startups led by women remains stagnant at 11% in 2022, with most UK AI startup investments (77%) going to companies without women founders. Only 2.1% of startup funding for AI businesses over the last decade went to women-led ventures.

One key factor is the underrepresentation of women in the UK's data science and AI sectors, mirroring the situation in venture capital. Addressing these disparities is essential for fostering innovation, diversity, and inclusion in AI and technology. Read more in The New York Times article.

The solo GP funds trend is gaining momentum in Europe. While this concept is well-established and widely embraced in the US, we're seeing first-time managers in Europe stepping up to support early-stage founders, even in the face of reduced interest from LPs in venture capital.

It's a thrilling area of expansion in the European startup landscape. However, solo partners do encounter certain challenges, from navigating a less diverse pool of LPs to meeting minimum check sizes required by institutional funds.

Callum Burroughs delved into the growth of this space and its implications for the maturation of Europe's tech ecosystem. You can read all about it in Insider.

Selin Bucak (Sifted) deep dived into fundraising and the gender dynamics within the FemTech space. Here's what she found:

An impressive 70% of femtech startups are founded by women, but interestingly, male-founded startups manage to secure significantly more capital.
In the previous year, 57 femtech companies with all-male founding teams collectively raised a staggering $731 million, whereas 105 femtechs with all-female founding teams shared a total of $408 million.
On average, female-founded femtechs raised about $4.6 million, while those with all-male teams secured an average of $9.2 million.
The landscape is shifting in 2023: femtech companies founded by women have seen their fortunes rise, raising an average of $7.5 million this year, compared to the $5.7 million raised by their male counterparts.

Access the full article here.

Let's celebrate some noteworthy European success stories in 2023! Thirteen incredible, diverse founding teams have taken the spotlight by securing impressive Series A+ funding rounds, each locking in more than $25 million in institutional capital for their current ventures. 🚀💰 Find them here.
Ada Ventures has just released an amazing report that delves into where £6.6 billion of Limited Partner Capital was invested in the UK from 2017 to 2023.
The report sheds light on how LPs have distributed their capital and reveals disparities in job titles and management company ownership, which directly impacts the share of fund profits.
Here are some key takeaways that stand out:
- "Diversity washing" seems to be happening, with women holding leadership titles but not having the same level of ownership as their male counterparts. Only 17.7% of women with leadership titles have significant ownership, compared to 27% of men.
- All-male owned funds are 10 times the size of all-woman owned funds during this period.
- All-woman owned funds are raising just one fund in the time it takes for all-male owned funds to raise eight.

We hope this report sparks important conversations and drives positive change. Find it here.