These European Funds Are Closing the Funding Gap for Women Founders

Jan de Vries · 2026-09-22

Let's talk about a stubborn problem in Europe's startup world. Women are building incredible companies, but the investment money? It's still flowing overwhelmingly elsewhere. Here's a stat that makes you stop and think. A 2026 study looked at 2025's numbers and found that all-female founding teams received just 2.5% of equity investment in Europe. Mixed-gender teams didn't fare much better, getting less than 10%. That means roughly 87.5% of the capital went to male-founded companies. It's more than just a representation gap, you know? It raises real questions about who gets the keys to the kingdom, which ideas get the fuel to scale, and frankly, how much potential Europe is leaving on the table. But here's the good news. Against this backdrop, a growing number of venture capital funds are stepping up. They're building strategies specifically for women founders and more diverse teams. Some have clear rules, like a minimum percentage of founder equity that must be held by women. Others make supporting women a core part of a bigger diversity or impact mission. So, let's dive into 10 European funding vehicles that are putting their money where their mouth is. ### Arāya Ventures & Sie Ventures (London, UK) These two teamed up to create the Arāya Sie Fund. Their goal is to back the next wave of women-led tech startups across the UK and Europe. They focus on the early stages—pre-Seed and Seed—in hot areas like AI, DeepTech, FinTech, healthcare, and sustainability. What's interesting is they don't have a specific minimum percentage for women's founder equity. Instead, to qualify, a startup needs to check a few boxes: - Be building a scalable, venture-backable, and defensible business. - Be launched or in an active Beta phase. - Have a founding team with at least one woman co-founder. - Offer a tech-enabled product or service via mobile/web, or hold patentable tech. ### Auxxo (Berlin, Germany) The Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund has one of the clearest rules in the market. They invest exclusively in European startups where at least one woman founder holds a minimum of 20% of the founder shares. Their mission is straightforward: advance women's ownership, participation, and fair treatment in the startup and VC world. They're sector-agnostic and focus on pre-Seed and Seed-stage companies. That 20% rule isn't a nice-to-have; it's a prerequisite. It makes gender representation a defining part of their investment strategy, not just an afterthought. Auxxo recently closed its second fund, the Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund II, at $35.3 million (that's €33.3 million converted). That's over 75% more than their prior fund. ### Borski Fund (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Borski Fund takes a slightly different approach. They combine a focus on women entrepreneurs with a broader push for gender diversity across the whole team. Their mission is to tackle the investment gap by directing capital to companies with gender-diverse teams, with a special emphasis on women entrepreneurs. The rule is that at least 30% of the founder shares must be held by one or more women founders or co-founders at the time of investment. Now, there's an interesting twist. Borski *can* invest in all-male teams, but only if they're working on a FemTech innovation aimed at reducing the gender health gap *and* they have a solid commitment to improving gender diversity within their team. This makes Borski distinct—it's not a women-only model, but a framework that explicitly ties women founder participation to overall team diversity. ### CapitalT (Amsterdam, Netherlands) CapitalT is a women-led VC firm that's baked measures to reduce bias right into its investment process. They've designed their approach to broaden access, and it shows in their portfolio: 84% of their companies have at least one woman, BIPOC, or LGBTQ+ founder. They don't publicly state a minimum ownership threshold for women founders. Instead, they emphasize that they have no rigid diversity mandate. Their philosophy seems to be about creating a process that naturally uncovers and supports diverse talent, rather than ticking a box. It's a reminder that closing the gap isn't just about writing checks to specific groups. Sometimes, it's about redesigning the door so more people can walk through it in the first place. These funds are part of a crucial shift. They're recognizing that untapped potential has a face, and a name, and an idea that deserves a shot. The road is long, but the map is being redrawn.