Women founded startup raise 0.4% of European VC in 2022

This International Women's Day, we've taken a look at how women founders are faring so far in 2022 when it comes to raising startup investment. Although we are just 10 weeks into the year, we are seeing a similar pattern emerge to recent years. All-women founding teams have secured just 0.4% of European venture capital so far 2022, with mixed-gender founding teams raising a further 15.2% of capital. 

Comparatively, in 2021, all-women founding teams raised 1.1% of capital, and mixed teams 8.8%.

The lack of investment into female-founded startups is a missed economic opportunity. Research by First Round Capital and Boston Consulting Group has previously found that founder teams with women are more likely to exit and have a higher internal rate of return (IRR) — 112% versus 48%. Women founders hire 2.5x more women into their teams, in an industry that struggles with diverse hiring. As this generation of startups shape and define our future societies, also imperative that the make up of our societies are reflected in entrepreneurial teams. 

Key to moving the needle on funding decisions, is moving the needle on decision makers. While women VCs are 2X more likely to invest in female founders, women are also critically underrepresented among the investment community. Much needed initiatives like Included VC, and the Newton Program now offer traineeships aimed at bringing underrepresented groups into VC. 

In other news

🏭 EU Aims to Cut Russia Gas Dependence by Almost 80% This Year. The European Commission is revising its energy strategy after President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in an effort to reduce the Kremlin’s leverage. - Bloomberg

🌳 Amazon rainforest tipping point is looming, data shows. New analysis of satellite observations over the past three decades show forest is losing stability with ‘profound’ global implications. Once triggered, the rainforest would transform to grassland over a few decades at most, releasing huge amounts of carbon and accelerating global heating further. - The Guardian

⛷️ The winter paralympics have begun in Beijing. Because of the invasion of Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian athletes will no longer be able to compete at the Paralympics. See the most compelling photos from the beginning of the winter paralympics in Beijing. - CNN

Latest impact deals:

The largest this week:

🇧🇪 Volocopter, a startup out of southern Germany that has been building and testing electric VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft, has secured $170M in the initial signing of its Series E funding round. South Korean investor WP Investment led the round. 

🇰🇪 Kenyan FinTech startup M-KOPA has raised $75M in a Growth Equity round to expand its financial services platform. The round was led by Generation Investment Management and Broadscale Group. 

🇺🇸 Our Next Energy, a Michigan-based energy storage technology company, has closed a Series A funding round of $65M. This new funding round, which followed a $25M Series A in October 2021, was led by BMW i Ventures. 

🇺🇸 The forest carbon marketplace NCX has raised $50M in a Series B to fund International Expansion and New Natural Capital Markets. The funding round was led by Energize Ventures.

🇺🇸  Finless Foods, a plant-based, cell-cultured seafood company, has raised $34M in Series B funding to launch their plant-based tuna in 2022. The funding round was led by Hanwha Solutions. Additional investors include Japanese seafood company, Dainichi Corp. 

Other notable impact deals: 

🇸🇪 Swedish FoodTech startup Mycorena, which makes a mycelium protein ingredient for meat alternatives, has secured $27M in Europe’s largest alt-protein Series A. Funds will be used to bring their fungi-based protein, Promyc, from a demonstration scale to a commercialized product.

🇺🇸 New York-based diamond startup Aether, creators of the world's first diamonds made from atmospheric carbon, announced the closing of an $18M Series A funding round co-led by Helena and TRIREC. 

🇺🇸 Linear Labs, a Texas-based company manufacturing motors for electric vehicles, has raised $17M in Series A funding. The round was led by THRC Investments and Folsom Point Equity.

🇸🇬 Singapore startup Umami Meats has secured $2.4M in seed funding to scale its cultivated seafood business in Singapore. The round was co-led by Better Bite Ventures, an alt protein VC, and Genedant, an investor in early-stage, biomedical, and agri-food startups.

Read up on all the latest impact deals in Dealroom.co

Notable exits:

🇸🇬 Singapore-headquartered community-driven neobank IN Financial Technology (INFT) has fully acquired MyCash, an international money transfer company focused on migrant workers. The deal will enable INFT to take advantage of MyCash’s consumer remittance business. 

Job opportunities

Kry are hiring for a hybrid remote Design Director (Berlin/Stockholm), and 88 other positions.

Infarm are hiring for a Tokyo-based Urban Farmer, and 184 other positions.

Manchester-based Holiferm are hiring for a Process Development Scientist, and 4 other positions.

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Tip of the week

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We’re entering the era of embedded finance. But why is it rising now? What impact will it have on the financial services landscape of the future? Join Anthemis, ABN Amro Ventures, Banxwave, Lovys for a deep dive into the opportunities, threats, and impact of embedded finance on the industry. On March 9th at 5 pm CET.

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Røskva Richardt

Impact Tech Specialist
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