VCs Betting On Fewer Women Startups Than Men-Led Ones, Says Minister Smriti Irani

Union minister Smriti Irani took a dig at the venture capital (VC) funds for not backing enough women-led innovative startups, and instead focussing more on entities founded by men.

At an event on Friday (December 16), the minister said that there are many women-led startups in science and technology but they are not getting translated into commercial ventures.

“Even today, risk taking by VCs for women-led initiatives which are based on innovation is far lower as compared to those by men,” PTI reported Irani as saying. 

The union minister for women and child development acknowledged that her recent statement in Parliament opposing period leaves for women has caused an “uproar” but stuck to her stance, saying allowing so will have deep concerns on privacy.

Irani also suggested business schools impart negotiating skills to their students, especially girls. 

The minister’s statement is in line with the findings of Inc42’s funding report. Amid the funding winter, the women-led startups saw an 88% YoY decline in funding during H1 2023. 

The Indian Tech Startup Funding Report H1 2023 points out that Indian startups with at least one woman founder raised $290 Mn between January and June 2023 versus $2.4 Bn raised in the same period a year ago. In terms of the deal count, the women-led startups saw a 55% YoY decline to 62 during H1 2023 from 140 during the same period of 2022. 

However, the startup landscape of India is witnessing a shift never seen before. Even amid the crisis, women founders and investors are gradually seeing an increase in their share in the Indian startup ecosystem. 

Anjali Bansal, Deepika Padukone, Aarti Gupta, Bhawna Bhatnagar, Debjani Ghosh, Namita Thapar, and Padmaja Ruparel are among the leading women investors and entrepreneurs who are frequently talked about in the startup ecosystem.

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