Women continue to be strong in the German start-up scene minority. This is shown by the Female Founders Monitor 2020. The proportion of female founders is just under 16 percent again this year.
Female Founders Monitor – focus on female founders
The Female Founders Monitor from the Bundesverband Deutsche Startups e. V. in cooperation with Google for Startups will also provide a detailed overview of the situation of female entrepreneurs in Germany in 2020. The team of authors focused on a total of 1,926 start-ups in 2020, including 209 female teams, 1,318 male teams and 384 mixed teams. The following central result was the result of the survey: The proportion of female start-up founders in Germany is currently only 15.7 percent. This number has hardly changed since last year.
Anyone who now assumes that women generally do not dare to take the step “to become self-employed” is wrong. Because while the female gender is strongly represented in the general business start-up, the numbers in the start-up world are simply disappointing. But why is it that women in the German startup scene so seldom gain a foothold? What challenges do female founders have to contend with in this country?
Women in the German start-up scene – potential and barriers
What distinguishes both female and male founders in the start-up scene is their high level of education. Both sexes usually completed a degree before founding the company. They have economic, technical and digital know-how – all important success factors for innovation and growth. However, what often differs is that Choice of majors. Women often choose to study humanities or social sciences. They are also strongly represented in natural sciences. However, the situation is very different in the subjects computer science, mathematics or engineering. Female graduates are rather rare here. In economics, on the other hand, the balance is balanced.
differences can also be seen in the motives for the foundation and the approach. Female founders often pursue social problems and are mainly represented in the green economy, in social entrepreneurship and in the health sector. Male founders, on the other hand, are more focused on growth and scalability. They dominate the tech start-up scene.
These differences also affect funding. Here one shows up gender bias. Business angels and venture capital funds give women significantly lower amounts and subsidies. One reason for this is often the lack of contact with financially strong investors.
Women definitely have potential. Its presence in the healthcare. Almost 17 percent of women-led startups fall into this sector. Medicine is thus a best-practice example for strengthening female founders in the MINT field.
One of the biggest obstacles continues to be the Compatibility of family and working life The majority of founders are between 30 and 40 years old when the company starts. The time of founding a company falls into the phase of family planning. The Female Founders Monitor shows that even in the start-up sector, childcare is mostly the responsibility of women. This double burden prevents many women from starting and developing their own company. The founders would like more support from politicians on this topic.
Conclusion: Opportunities and outlook
The Female Founders Monitor (external PDF link) shows one again clear misalignment in the distribution of female and male founders. How can the situation be improved? What can solutions look like that promote the potential of women and strengthen diversity in the start-up scene?
One series of initiatives for example, is committed to closing the gap in the tech space. The biggest obstacles for women, however, are the compatibility of job and family, a lack of networks in the established economy and disadvantages when it comes to capital. Female teams usually fail because financially strong investors to win for your company. A professional business plan could help here.
In many cases, business start-up advice or start-up coaching can help to identify difficulties and possible barriers at an early stage and to tackle them strategically. Incidentally, both will bFunded with up to 70% of the costs, depending on the country (service tips: Subsidy check and find a consultant/coach).