The Explosive Growth That’s Still Not Enough
🚀 Young women are breaking barriers in entrepreneurship – but the numbers tell a complex story of the persistent gender gap.
In just 4 years (2018-2022), 16-25 year old female founders in the UK increased their business starts by over 22x.
That’s incredible momentum. But here are some reality checks:
This 22x improvement is from just 785 to 17,489 companies. Additionally this is about young founders and we’ve discussed the young entrepreneur myth previously, all the other age groups are too far behind too.
📊 The current state:
❌ Women founded 20% of new UK companies in 2022 (up from 16.7% in 2018, but a figure that has barely changed in 2024)
❌ Male-founded startups still outnumber female-founded startups 4:1
❌ Only 18% of UK high-growth enterprises have a woman on the founding team
❌ All-female founding teams make up just ~13% of high-growth companies
❌ Family SMEs are about 3% more likely to be women led than non-family SMEs
❌ Only 25% of UK patent applications have women named on them
❌ Only 17-18% of patent applications globally have women named on them, with Spain, China, and South Korea among the few exceeding 25%, while many European nations and Japan report rates below 13%.
The pattern is clear: Women are starting more businesses than ever, especially small ventures. But they remain severely underrepresented among founders of larger, scaling startups.
Questions spring to mind:
❓Why are we seemingly stuck with this massive gap?
❓ Are we creating enough pathways for these entrepreneurial women to build the next generation of high-growth companies?
❓What support can be provided to close the gap?
At Exitologists, we see this as a massive untapped opportunity. Supporting diverse founders isn’t just about fairness – it’s about accessing the full talent pool to drive innovation and growth.
The 2% Problem – Why Female Founders Can’t Access Capital
💰 For every £1 of VC investment in the UK, female founder teams get less than 1p
Let me repeat that: Less than 1 penny per pound.
Meanwhile, all-male teams capture 89p of every £1 invested.
Globally, the gender gap is just as large:
❌ Female-only teams: 2.3% of venture capital
❌ All-male teams: 83% of venture capital
❌ Average deal size for women: $5.2M vs $11.7M for men
The “double gap” reality: Female founders don’t just get fewer deals – they get significantly smaller cheques when they do get funded.
At this pace, analysts predict it will take until 2065 to reach gender parity in venture funding.
The most dangerous assumption: “Merit will naturally sort this out.”
It won’t. The data shows this isn’t about capability – it’s about systemic barriers:
❌ Network gaps (75% of VC pitch decks come from all-male networks)
❌ Investor bias (different questions asked to male vs female founders)
❌ Sector concentration (women cluster in lower-funded sectors)
Exitologists works with investors and entrepreneurs to identify these blind spots and create more equitable pathways to growth capital.
What would change if female founders had equal access to funding?
The Sector Trap – Why Industry Choice Matters More Than You Think
🎯 Women founders dominate beauty & personal care (50%+ of startups) but represent only 7.4% of hardware/electronics founders
This isn’t just about preferences – it’s about where the money flows.
The funding gender gap by sector:
🔹 Cybersecurity startup median Series A: $18.5M (10% female-founded)
🔹 Beauty-tech startup median Series A: $8.7M (majority female-founded)
Even in “female-friendly” sectors, the gap persists:
❌ EdTech: 34.7% have female founders, but they receive only 21.5% of sector funding
❌ Healthcare services: Strong female representation, lower average valuations
The trap: Women entrepreneurs concentrate in sectors that investors traditionally value less, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of lower access to growth capital.
The opportunity sectors with massive gender gaps:
These sectors command the highest valuations and largest funding rounds.
Exitologists helps identify opportunities across all sectors and connects diverse founders with the right growth strategies, regardless of traditional industry patterns.
Are we unconsciously steering talented women away from the highest-value opportunities?
The Network Effect – Why 75% of VC Deals Never See Female Founders
🔗 75% of pitch decks that reach VCs come from all-male founding teams
This isn’t because women aren’t pitching. It’s because they’re not getting in the door.
The network reality:
🔹 Warm introductions are 13x more likely to result in funding than cold pitches
🔹 85% of VC partners in Europe are men
🔹 48% of UK VC firms have zero women in their investment teams
🔹 Only 13% of senior VC investors are female
The consequence: Female founders are less likely to have that crucial “warm introduction” to investors.
But here’s what’s really happening: When women DO get in front of investors, they face different treatment:
🔹 Women get questions about risk and downside
🔹 Men get questions about vision and upside
🔹 Same business pitch, different evaluation criteria
The “old boys’ network” isn’t intentionally exclusionary – but its impact is measurable and devastating.
Recent progress in closing the gender gap:
✅ Female-founded startups in Europe reached 20.5% of VC value in 2023 (record high)
✅ UK leads Europe in financing women-led startups
✅ More female angel investors entering the ecosystem
Exitologists actively works to expand networks and create new pathways for diverse founders to connect with growth capital and strategic partners.
How can we systematically expand access beyond traditional networks?
The Fear Factor – Why Women’s Risk Tolerance Is Actually Changing
⚠️ Over the past two decades, women’s reported fear of business failure has increased by over 50% globally
This is happening even as women’s perceived skills and opportunities have risen.
The psychology of entrepreneurship:
🔹 Women often have lower risk tolerance for high-growth ventures
🔹 Social conditioning affects how men and women approach failure
🔹 Cultural stereotypes: “Tech founder = young man in hoodie”
🔹 Uneven family responsibilities limit time/flexibility for startups
The confidence gap underpinng the gender gap:
❌ Women more likely to delay or downsize business ambitions
❌ Less likely to pursue venture-backed scaling
❌ More cautious about “inherently risky” high-growth ventures
But here’s the paradox: When women-led companies DO get funded, they often show strong performance. Female-founded startups in Europe have slightly faster exit times than market average.
The real issue isn’t capability – it’s systematic discouragement:
- Fewer female role models in high-growth sectors
- Different treatment in investor meetings
- Limited examples of successful female tech founders
- Social expectations about risk-taking
The solution requires changing both individual confidence AND systemic support.
Exitologists focuses on building confidence through structured planning, mentorship, and connecting founders with success stories that prove scaling is achievable.
What would happen if we actively encouraged more women to take calculated risks in high-growth sectors?
The 2030 Vision – Turning the Tide on Startup Gender Gaps
🎯 The UK has set an ambitious goal: increase female entrepreneurs by 50% by 2030
That means adding hundreds of thousands more women-led businesses.
The positive momentum:
✅ Record numbers of women starting businesses globally
✅ Younger generations embracing entrepreneurship at higher rates
✅ Growing awareness and concrete support programs
✅ Mission-driven tech sectors (health, education, climate) attracting more female founders
But the hard truth: Progress is fragile and uneven. • Women’s gains can stall during market downturns • Upper echelons of high-growth startups remain male-dominated • Funding gap has barely moved in percentage terms
What needs to happen:
🔹 More women in STEM feeding the startup pipeline
🔹 Equal access to investor networks and capital
🔹 Cultural shift in both entrepreneurship and VC communities
🔹 Active bias-tackling in investment decisions
🔹 Better childcare and family support systems
The opportunity is massive: We’re potentially missing out on millions of innovative businesses and breakthrough solutions by not fully supporting female entrepreneurship.
The trajectory is promising: Despite challenges, the direction is toward greater female participation. The question is speed, not direction.
Exitologists is committed to accelerating this timeline by providing strategic support, network access, and growth planning specifically designed to help diverse founders succeed at scale.
The gender gap in startups isn’t inevitable – it’s changeable. What role will you play in closing it?
