Women-led startups rise to 18%; 105 female-led firms become unicorn in past five years: Report

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Zomato, etc. Also read: How women-led startups bridge the gender funding gap in India? Startups led by women have also received funding support from venture capitalists.

The report highlighted that female founders of Indian startups have seen a 20% rise in funding between 2017 ($5.9 billion) and 2022-YTD 2023 ($29.3 billion). "Even as the number of startups in India is growing at a tremendous rate (from 6000 to 80,000 over the last five years), the growth in women-led startups, both in numbers and funding, is outpacing the industry average.

If this trend continues, we can hope to see the percentage of women-led startups continuing to rise over the next decade," Aakanksha Gulati, Director - ACT said. Also read: Over ₹40,700 cr sanctioned under Stand-Up India Scheme in last 7 years The report underscored the rise of women in charge of startups in contrast to corporate firms.

Startups are currently faring better than traditional enterprises, with 32% of women in managerial positions as against 21% in corporates. This gap widens further at the CXO level where corporates have only 5% of women in leadership positions against 18% in startups.

Additionally, startups with a woman founder have 2.5x women in senior roles compared to male-founded startups. "However, while the overall figures are promising, significant work lies ahead - 10 years into their careers, 8 out of 10 men in startups occupy Director-level positions or higher, compared to only 5 in 10 women," the report noted."Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels