Study Reveals Widening Gender Gap in Start-Up Funding

Female-founded start-ups in Germany received less than 1% of venture capital in 2024, highlighting systemic disparities in funding allocation.

A study by EY shows that start-ups founded solely by women received just 43 million euros in venture capital in 2024, a 58% drop from the previous year.
Male-only founding teams secured 6.2 billion euros in 2024, accounting for 88% of total venture capital investments in Germany.
Mixed-gender teams received 834 million euros, or approximately 12% of the total venture capital funding in 2024.
The percentage of start-ups with female founders receiving any funding fell to 10.6%, with only 7.1% securing investments of 50 million euros or more.
Structural barriers, such as limited access to networks and capital, continue to hinder female entrepreneurs, particularly in tech-driven sectors like software and energy.