Short answer, YES
According to Fortune, in 2018, “93% of funds from venture capital firms in Europe went to startups founded only by men.” This 90+ percent number has been ongoing for the past six years, coming from ” Diversity & Inclusion in Tech, a guide created by the nonprofit Diversity VC and London-based VC firm Atomico that aims to help entrepreneurs build more inclusive companies.:
Similar to Silicon Valley, as Europe’s young tech scene grows, it appears underrepresented groups are becoming more underrepresented as more money is thrown into the market. While some cite a pipeline problem the core issue is the inability to look for potential business owners outside the current network.
In the Fortune article, it is argued that some companies are concerned about committing money to diversity and inclusion efforts, failing, and the public blaming them for not doing enough. I have mixed feelings about this, yet in still I agree that in the end, “being transparent about what works and what doesn’t helps the entire industry move forward.”
As Skype co-founder and Atomico CEO Niklas Zennström explained, “Atomico’s own numbers on gender diversity were disappointing when the firm began tracking them, but sharing its efforts to correct the problem in the last year enabled it to better advise companies in its portfolio on working toward inclusion.”
These are the best ways for diversity efforts be succeed.
