The state of female funding in 2026
The female funding gap has been a steady conversation for years, and while the industry is improving, there is still a way to go. In Startups Magazine’s latest webinar, Female funding in 2026, Editor Anna Wood was joined by Sedinam Simpson, co-founder and strategy lead at The Tech Bros; David Fogel, Founding Partner at Alma Angels; and Agata Nowicka, Serial Entrepreneur, investor, Managing Partner of Visionaries, and author of the Female Foundry Female Innovation Index, to explore the current funding landscape for female founders, what is changing, and what can be done.
The current landscape
To kick off, the panellists set the scene and gave an update on what the market currently looks like.
On the heels of the launch of Female Foundry’s Female Innovation Index 2026, Agata was ready with the stats to give some background: “We have some amazing news for this year. I’ve been in the ecosystem for the past 15 years, and I’ve never seen a year as successful as this year for female entrepreneurs. So this year, female entrepreneurs raised €7.5 billion of funding … this was the third largest year when it comes to VC funding over the past five years.”
The index found that 13% of all venture funding that was deployed into European startups went to female-founded businesses. And it is important to note, that to create a truly inclusive report, these stats include mixed teams, as these are still female-founded businesses. 2025 also saw the highest number of M&A exits for female founders, which is an incredible metric of how that capital can recycle back into the ecosystem, as those founders can become investors, angels, or maybe start another company.
Sedinam explained that while building The Tech Bros, they were challenged with people asking if there were even enough technical women who want to build companies: “But now we see that we are so oversubscribed. We had last year an 8.7% acceptance rate into the cohort. So you can see that there’s a huge appetite for women who actually want to start companies, own something themselves, and actually build the next unicorns.” So claims that investment in women is lacking because there aren’t female founders is no longer a valid excuse.
The industry is moving, while it seems slow, there is a significant difference. David explained how he has seen the sector evolve: “The day-to-day is very slow and you don’t see it, but if you compare it to 10 years ago, it’s completely fundamental change.” Female founder visibility has increased, and female investors are becoming more visible within the industry.
How is the industry improving?
A decade ago, female-focused support structures were almost non-existent. However, today, dedicated accelerators (like The Tech Bros), angel communities like Alma Angels, and initiatives such as British Business Bank’s Investing in Women Code and £400 million Investor Pathways Capital are changing the landscape.
There are now hundreds of women angels, and over 1000 women VCs in Europe alone, a radical shift from just a few years ago.
But there is still a way to go, “We still need more initiatives. We still need more people beating the same drum, echoing the same sentiments, to actually continue to make a change,” Sedinam noted.
Artificial intelligence and its impact on female entrepreneurship
The panel dove into how AI is reshaping early-stage building and fundraising.
AI has democratised building a business. It’s now dramatically cheaper and faster to go from idea to MVP, pilot with customers, and demonstrate traction. For many female founders who previously needed to raise just to get a product off the ground, AI tools make it possible to bootstrap further before talking to VCs – and negotiate from a stronger position.
But it has also intensified competition. Lower barriers mean many more teams are building products quickly. To stand out in the market, founders need strong domain expertise, clear defensibility, and a compelling commercial story. David noted that AI is accelerating a structural shift with lower build costs, founders may raise fewer, but larger, later rounds, changing how pre‑seed, seed, and growth funds operate.
All this, and discussions around success, how the panellists would redesign early-stage funding from scratch, and advice they would share with founders looking to raise this year, is available in the on-demand webinar, here:
