An interesting article by Shivvy Jervis in the Guardian titled: Why women entrepreneurs are far less likely to be funded
The first quarter of 2015 saw a 66% year-on-year boost in the influx of venture capital (VC) funds to the UK, standing at an impressive £459m. According to research from Oxford Economics, the digital tech industry will contribute £18bn to London’s economy alone by the end of this year. This is sit up and take notice stuff.
The reaction to a recent episode of my video series Digital Futures, entitled ‘What it’s really like to be a woman in tech’, genuinely caught me by surprise. Views and social engagement skyrocketed and analytics revealed 75% of the viewers were men.
The representation of, and playing field for, women in science, tech, engineering and maths (Stem) and digital clearly continues to be seen as newsworthy.
As part of my role at Telefonica, I helped unveil the results of the first findings from an ongoing piece of research called Startup DNA. This polled over 220 early-stage, digital startups in the UK in a bid to reveal the social makeup of Britain’s startup ecosystem.
I notice more reticence among young females in declaring their star quality to potential employers or investors.
Two particular findings jumped out – it seems that male entrepreneurs are 86% more likely to be VC funded than their female counterparts and men were 59% more likely to secure angel investment. Read more..
Source: theguardian.com