1.4
Through Growth to Exit
New Norms: Building In The Stalled Exit Market
As startups transition from early-stage ideation to growth, they require more investment to scale and drive impact. Supporting female entrepreneurs from the Series A stage onwards is pivotal for harnessing the full potential of the innovation they bring and maximising impact.
Growth stage companies play a pivotal role in the wider European economy by driving innovation, creating jobs, and fostering competitive markets.
However, according to the analysis, growth-stage female entrepreneurs have been most impacted by the investment downturn.
Dive deeper to gain a better view of the aspirations, challenges, and goals of growth-stage female entrepreneurs, and to learn more about who are the founders making strides at the end of the funnel who have a significant impact across the European ecosystem and industries.
Key insights
Overwhelmingly, limited deal flow, 70%, and a lack of match with investment criteria, 65%, are the top reasons for no investments made in female-founded companies by those funds, according to growth-stage venture capital investors.
Out of all deals on the Top Rounds in 2023 list, 28% were fintech, 18% health and 10% were deeptech and climate tech companies.
Consistent with early-stage founders, access to a relevant network is the key support that existing investors can provide to growth-stage founders. Referrals to investors can also play a significant role.
Interestingly, half of them operate in the fintech space. Half of them are based in the United Kingdom. What is also interesting is the fact that those with the highest valuations on the list were only founded in the past four years.
Total capital raised in 2023 by European growth-stage female founders
Total capital raised by European growth-stage founders in 2023.
€5.45B
Notes: Growth-stage founders are defined as those who have raised a total of more than €5 million in funding to date.
Source: Dealroom
Founder, SustainCERT
Marion Verles
$37m Series B round in June
Luxembourg
"We saw the downturn coming, and so what we decided was to launch our Series B six months earlier than planned, because we still had runway left, and had already achieved the growth and developed the strategic plan that we felt was sufficient to initiate our Series B.
The first thing we did was to be very targeted in our approach by focusing on impact-driven investors, we felt they would be, at least initially, less impacted by the downturn. The second was to focus our equity story on the credible role we play in the climate ecosystem and how we are different and complementary to carbon accounting platforms. By doing this, we aimed to hedge the risk from the current fundraising climate."
Growth-stage entrepreneurs face more fundraising challenges than they did twelve months ago
Consistent with the responses of early-stage founders, the overall sentiment of growth-stage female entrepreneurs in Europe has been impacted by the global reduction of capital flowing through the investment system.
Fundraising is much harder for growth-stage female entrepreneurs than it was 12 months ago.
In your opinion, is it easier or harder for female (co)founded startups to raise external capital in Europe now than it was 12 months ago?
Female founders only
Notes: Growth-stage founders are defined as those who have raised a total of more than €5 million in funding to date.
Growth-stage VC investors see a minimal increase in the number of companies going through their pipeline
We asked early-stage VC investors about their perception of the number of growth-stage female-founded companies going through their investment pipeline.
Growth-stage VC investors have seen a very small increase in female-founded companies reaching their stage, with the vast majority, 75%, saying that they have not observed any change whatsoever.
Thinking about your pipeline, what change in the dealflow of companies (co)founded by women have you observed in the past 12 months?
VC investors only
Notes: Growth-stage VC investors self-identified themselves as 'growth-stage' in the survey.
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Growth Investor, Highland Europe
Gajan Rajanathan
United Kingdom
"When it comes to investment evaluation criteria, we’ve been fairly consistent strategy wise, as we are focused on capital efficient and sustainable growth investing.
However, there has been more scrutiny around capital efficiency and ability to be self-sustaining long term, vs investments that depend on capital cycles to ensure durability of their business models."
"The quality of female-founded companies at the growth stage remains unchanged" - say growth-stage VC investors
Only a small percentage, 17%, of growth-stage VC investors have seen an increase in the quality of female-founded businesses that go through their pipeline.
Overwhelmingly, 81% of VC investors who participated in our survey have not noticed any difference in the past 12 months.
How does the average quality of deal flow of companies (co)founded by women compare with that of last year?
VC investors only
Notes: Growth-stage VC investors self-identified themselves as 'growth-stage' in the survey.
Decline in growth-stage deals consistent with the fundraising slowdown
Series A and subsequent rounds experienced a significant drop in the number of transactions in 2023.
This is consistent with the overall market dynamic of a market correction after the outlier fundraising years of 2020 and 2021.
Number of European female-founded companies backed at Series A, Series B, Series C and Series D+ stages per year, 2019 to 2023
Tap on a bar to reveal the exact number
Notes:
Source: Dealroom
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Founding Partner, Breega
Francois Paulus
France
"My advice to founders planning to fundraise for a Series A in 2024, is to take the new market reality seriously.
What used to be the 'rule of 40' is now referred to as the 'rule of 60'. The environment where audacious goals were readily accepted even with poor cash flow projections, is over. While it's still good to be ambitious, the current market is about being realistic. If the ideal metrics aren't there, it might be smarter to aim for a smaller Series A round, say €3 to €5 million, where investors are more forgiving of imperfect metrics."
It currently takes over six months for growth-stage female founders to raise funding
We asked growth-stage female entrepreneurs who successfully raised capital in 2023 how long it took them to close their funding rounds, from the first conversation with potential investors to signing the term sheet.
On average, it currently takes just over six months for European growth-stage female founders to secure funding.
Generally, and consistent with the experience of early-stage female entrepreneurs, those growth-stage founders who successfully secured funding in 2023 found the process more time-consuming than expected.
On average, it took growth-stage female founders
to close a funding round in 2023
6.3 months
Note: The duration is counted from the first fundraising conversation with the first investor to the signing of a term sheet.
Was the process shorter or longer than expected?
Growth-stage founders only
Notes: Growth-stage founders are defined as those who have raised a total of more than €5 million in funding to date.
50 Top Rounds List Europe
As part of our analysis, we have compiled a list of the largest disclosed financing rounds for female-founded companies in 2023.
We then delved deeper to gain better insights into the nature of these companies and the profiles of their founders.
Median size of the biggest funding rounds into female-founded companies on the 50 Top Rounds List
€37.5 million
Company | Country | Amount | Founded | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Butternut Box | United Kingdom | €325m | 2016 | food |
Abound | United Kingdom | €290m | 2021 | fintech |
VectorY Therapeutics | Netherlands | €129m | 2020 | health |
Ledger | France | €100m | 2014 | fintech |
Insider | Türkiye | €96m | 2012 | marketing |
AgomAb Therapeutics | Belgium | €91m | 2017 | health |
Oxford Quantum Circuits | United Kingdom | €91m | 2017 | deeptech |
Braincube | France | €83m | 2007 | B2B SaaS |
Synthesia | United Kingdom | €82m | 2017 | AI |
Pigment | France | €73m | 2019 | B2B SaaS |
Aphea.Bio | Belgium | €70m | 2017 | food |
Nouscom | Switzerland | €68m | 2015 | health |
Brite Payments | Sweden | €55m | 2019 | fintech |
QUANDELA | France | €50m | 2017 | deeptech |
Get Harley | United Kingdom | €47m | 2019 | health |
Tissium | France | €46m | 2013 | health |
Agreena | Denmark | €46m | 2018 | climate tech |
Podimo | Denmark | €44m | 2019 | media |
Arthex Biotech | Spain | €42m | 2019 | health |
Peppy | United Kingdom | €41m | 2018 | health |
The Exploration Company | Germany | €40m | 2021 | space |
StudentFinance | Spain | €39m | 2019 | fintech |
Tolremo | Switzerland | €37m | 2017 | health |
Traceless materials | Germany | €37m | 2020 | climate tech |
SustainCERT | Luxembourg | €34m | 2018 | climate tech |
Esmaeilzadeh Holding | Sweden | €33m | 2020 | fintech |
Shorla Oncology | Ireland | €32m | 2018 | health |
eXmoor | United Kingdom | €32m | 2004 | health |
Lunaphore Technologies | Switzerland | €30m | 2014 | health |
Orbem | Germany | €30m | 2019 | AI |
Prolific | United Kingdom | €29m | 2014 | AI |
DRUID | United Kingdom | €27m | 2018 | deeptech |
Uncommon | United Kingdom | €27m | 2017 | food |
ClearSpace | Switzerland | €27m | 2018 | space |
Theolytics | United Kingdom | €26m | 2017 | health |
Sana Labs | Sweden | €26m | 2016 | AI |
Plan A | Germany | €25m | 2017 | climate tech |
Hycamite TCD Technologies | Finland | €23m | 2020 | energy |
Lassie | Sweden | €23m | 2021 | fintech |
Leaf Space | Italy | €20m | 2014 | space |
Kraftblock | Germany | €20m | 2014 | energy |
E-Flux | Netherlands | €20m | 2017 | fintech |
Bend Health | United Kingdom | €20m | 2021 | health |
Globacap | United Kingdom | €19m | 2017 | fintech |
Entia | France | €19m | 2022 | deeptech |
Quobly | France | €19m | 2017 | deeptech |
CHOOOSE | Norway | €18m | 2017 | climate tech |
50 Top Rounds List: Company analysis
On average, it took 7.1 years for the companies on the list to reach this stage.
When it comes to sectors, female founders in fintech and health raised the most capital in 2023.
The geographical distribution shows a concentration of these startups in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.
Characteristics of companies on the 50 Top Rounds List
The average company age
the average age of the companies on the 50 Top Rounds List
7.1 years
The most frequent sectors
Fintech
18%
Healthtech
28%
Deeptech and Climate tech
10%
The most frequent HQ locations
United Kingdom
30%
France
16%
Germany
12%
Switzerland
8%
Notes: The data includes companies where the female founder may no longer be active; The rounds take into consideration both equity and debt. All rounds converted to € use the average conversion rate.
Source: Female Foundry,
Crunchbase, Dealroom,
Pitchbook.
50 Top Rounds List: Women behind the numbers
Who are the women behind the companies that raised the biggest funding rounds of 2023?
Even though, as expected, the vast majority, 88%, of companies on the list were founded by mixed-gender teams, roughly one in eight companies are led by female-only teams.
Remarkably, 8% of all companies on the list were founded by a solo female entrepreneur.
When it comes to ethnic background, in a similar proportion to the gender composition, 16% of the founders on the list are women of colour.
How about age?
The overwhelming majority of female founders who raised the biggest rounds in 2023 are between 20-50 years old, with the 30-40 year age bracket being the most common.
All female founders on the list have higher education, with 32% holding PhD-level qualifications and an outstanding 90% of female founders on the list having some form of scientific education.
Female only vs gender mixed teams
12%
female only
gender-mixed
88%
Solo founder vs a founding team
8%
solo
founding team
92%
Founder ethnicity
16%
person of colour
white
84%
Founder age group
30-40
years old
51%
43%
40-50
years old
20-30
years old
2%
2%
50-60
years old
60-70
years old
2%
Founder education level
Masters
degree
38%
32%
PhD
Bachelors
degree
20%
10%
MBA
Lower than Bachelors
0%
of female founders on the list have scientific education
90%
of female founders on the list have a PhD
32%
Notes: The data includes companies where the female founder may no longer be active; The rounds take into consideration both equity and debt. All rounds converted to € use the average conversion rate. If fewer than ten rounds listed, the only rounds available.
Source: Female Foundry,
Crunchbase, Dealroom,
Pitchbook
Growth Equity Investor, Generation Investment Management
Neha Madhotra
United Kingdom
"This year, we did not make any investments in female-founded companies. In VC, especially at the growth stage, 2023 has been a year of significantly lower activity.
The number of investments we made was probably half that of 2021. When you are only making 3 investments per year, there are significantly fewer opportunities to back female-founded companoes. Most deals we considered were pre-IPO, and while I believe we are making great strides at the early stage to back more female-founded businesses, this balance is less evident at later stages."
Limited deal flow and no fit with investment thesis are key reasons for the lack of deals into growth-stage VC female-founded companies
We asked European growth-stage VC investors who did not make any investments into female-founded companies in the past 12 months about the key reasons for not engaging in a single deal with female-founded companies.
Overwhelmingly, limited deal flow, 70%, and a lack of match with investment criteria, 65%, are the top reasons for no investments made in female-founded companies by those funds.
Unlike their early-stage counterparts, only a small percentage, 11%, of growth-stage investors consider the quality of deal flow to be a reason behind their lack of investments.
Why do you believe your fund has not invested in any companies (co)founded by women in the past 12 months?
VC investors only
Notes: Growth-stage VC investors self-identified themselves as 'growth-stage' in the survey. Respondents had the option to select multiple answers.
Growth-stage VC investors see the availability of funding and meeting investor expectations as key fundraising challenges for growth-stage founders
Consistent with the overall macro dynamic, growth-stage VC investors cite the availability of funding as the top fundraising challenge they consider growth-stage founders to face.
While some growth-stage VC investors believe that deal terms, 27%, and the length of the process, 20%, are concerns, the vast majority of VCs see meeting investor expectations and gaining access to investors as their key challenges.
In the past 12 months, which 3 aspects of the fundraising process do you believe female founders have found the most challenging?
VC investors only
Notes: Growth-stage VC investors self-identified themselves as 'growth-stage' in the survey. Respondents had the option to select multiple answers.
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Founder, StudentFinance
Marta Palmeiro
€39m Series A round in March
Spain
"We began conversations with investors in Q1 2022, at a time when we were still in a bull market.
Our new funding round, based on our metrics, was supposed to be straightforward. Everyone was very excited. Then came April 2022, and the world completely turned. Investors shifted from a full-on investment mode to a cautious stance, with many saying they wouldn't engage in any new investments in the foreseeable future, especially in businesses like ours that are exposed to lending. All of a sudden, we found ourselves at the least favourable end of the investor interest spectrum."
Growth-stage female founders quote slow fundraising pace and managing work load as their key fundraising challenges
In our survey, we also asked growth-stage female entrereneurs to share their perspectives on the key challenges they faced when seeking funding in 2023.
Interestingly, a slow fundraising pace, consistent with the experiences of early-stage founders, together with managing workload, are the top fundraising challenges for female growth-stage founders today.
One in five growth-stage founders sees meeting investor expectations as their key concern. Unsurprisingly, at the bottom of the list, dealing with rejections is not a problem for seasoned growth-stage founders.
In the past 12 months, which 3 aspects of the fundraising process have you found the most challenging?
Female founders only
Notes: Growth-stage founders are defined as those who have raised a total of more than €5 million in funding to date. The answers relate only to the founders that fundraised or raised funding in 2023. Respondents had the option to select multiple answers.
Network and referrals are key forms of support that existing investors can provide to growth-stage female founders
Consistent with early-stage founders, access to a relevant network is the key support that existing investors can provide to growth-stage founders. Referrals to investors can also play a significant role.
Unlike early-stage female entrepreneurs, growth-stage founders put more emphasis on specialist knowledge paired with help in recruitment and talent management as they scale their ventures.
What investor support would you like to receive for your company?
Female founders only
Notes: Growth-stage founders are defined as those who have raised a total of more than €5 million in funding to date. Respondents had the option to select multiple answers.
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Founder, The Exploration Company
Hélène Huby
€40m Series A round in February
France
"In 2024, we look forward to our first launch, and to the first successful launch of Starship.
Space tech is humanity's next frontier; it is critical to innovate in this area because we are building humanity's future. For me, it is essential to innovate in a sustainable and cooperative manner."
10 biggest rounds per country, 2023
We have analysed the 10 largest fundraising rounds of female-founded companies in each European country within the scope of the report.
Focusing on the sectors covered, median funding amounts, stages, and company maturity, the analysis provided us with a simple yet powerful understanding of the local European ecosystems for female founders today.
Company | Amount | Stage | Founded | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mathem | €88m | Series D | 2009 | food |
Brite Payments | €55m | Series B | 2019 | fintech |
Esmaeilzadeh Holding | €33m | Series B | 2020 | fintech |
Mathem | €30m | Convertible | 2009 | food |
Sana Labs | €25m | Series B | 2016 | education |
Lassie | €23m | Series B | 2020 | fintech |
Mitigram | €10m | Series B+ | 2014 | fintech |
NA KD | €10m | Debt | 2015 | lifestyle |
Insurely | €8m | Series A+ | 2018 | fintech |
Akiram Therapeutics | €6m | Series A | 2021 | health |
average time to the 2023 round
4.5yr
median amount
€24m
40%
Series B
Fintech
50%
Notes: The data includes companies where the female founder may no longer be active; The rounds take into consideration both equity and debt. All rounds converted to € use the average conversion rate.
Source: Female Foundry,
Crunchbase, Dealroom,
Pitchbook.
A significant proportion of growth-stage female founders rejected at least one term sheet during their fundraising process in 2023
Over 40% of European female entrepreneurs at the growth-stage rejected at least one term sheet as part of their fundraising process in 2023.
Interestingly, their decisions have been equally driven by unfavourable deal terms, 35%, lack of trust 29%, and not seeing value in investors they received the offer from, 29%.
growth-stage founders that raised funding in 2023 declined at least one term sheet
42%
Notes: Growth-stage founders are defined as those who have raised a total of more than €5 million in funding to date. The answers relate only to the founders that fundraised or raised funding in 2023.
Why did you decline those investment offers?
Female founder only
Notes: Growth-stage founders are defined as those who have raised a total of more than €5 million in funding to date. The answers relate only to the founders that fundraised or raised funding and received term sheets as part of their fundraising process in 2023. Respondents had the option to select multiple answers.
Dexory
Oana Jinga
$19m Series A round in July
United Kingdom
"Unlike human data analysis, which is limited by human knowledge, AI can rapidly reveal patterns and insights beyond our initial scope of understanding.
At Dexory, we capture huge amounts of real-time data. By deploying Gen AI across our systems, we are able to manipulate the data we capture and derive insights from it almost instantly. First and foremost, AI makes our solutions more valuable to our clients - we're now able to provide real, actionable insights, which in turn allows us to charge more for our services and capture a larger share of the market more quickly. We're also developing AI tools to streamline our internal processes, making our communication faster and more efficient that enables us to grow at an accelerated pace."
When looking for funding, growth-stage founders prioritise
shared vision
In our survey, we aimed to understand the priorities of growth-stage female founders across Europe when selecting an investor. Interestingly, a significant 45% of these founders consider having an investor who shares their vision and values as their top priority.
Existing relationships also play a role, with 33% of founders emphasising the importance of trust in their investor-founder relationships.
Investor reputation comes in as the third factor, playing a more significant role for growth-stage than for early-stage female founders.
Why did you choose your latest investors?
Female founders only
Notes: Growth-stage founders are defined as those who have raised a total of more than €5 million in funding to date. The answers relate only to those founders that raised funding in 2023. Respondents had the option to select multiple answers.
There were over 100 M&A transactions of European female-founded companies in 2023
Over a hundred European female-founded companies participated in M&A transactions in 2023.
19% of those transactions involved companies operating in the health sector, 12% in fintech, 15% in the food industry, and 12% were B2B SaaS companies.
M&A transactions involving European female-founded companies in 2023.
102
Notes: The total includes disclosed transactions, both aquisitions and buyouts.
Source: Dealroom
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General Partner, Balderton Capital
Rob Moffat
United Kingdom
"Exit conditions can only improve from 2023, but don't expect a rapid bounce-back.
The few tech IPOs in 2023 such as Instacart and Klaviyo are down on their IPO price. So while I expect the IPO market to improve in 2024 this will be gradual. I do expect more M&A in 2024, hopefully not just software companies buying each other but also traditional companies investing in their future with strategic acquisitions of tech companies."
Six female-founded companies in Europe are nearing unicorn status
Looking at the very last stages of the female-founded company growth funnel, there are currently six female-founded companies in Europe that are nearing unicorn status.
Interestingly, half of them operate in the fintech space. Half of them are based in the United Kingdom. What is also interesting is the fact that those with the highest valuations on the list were only founded in the past four years.
Female-founded companies in Europe nearing a €1B valuation
Company | Valuation | Country | Founded | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Arvelle Therapeutics | $960m | 2019 | Switzerland | health |
Pigment | $850m | 2019 | France | SaaS |
Boohoo | $810m | 2006 | United Kingdom | fashion |
Curve | $780m | 2015 | United Kingdom | fintech |
RevolutionRace | $750m | 2013 | Sweden | fashion |
Butternut Box | $660m | 2016 | United Kingdom | food |
Notes: Based on valuation estimates only, December 2023.
Source: Dealroom
There are twenty-seven female-founded unicorns in Europe
We have analysed twenty-seven female-founded unicorns in Europe to better understand their profiles. Interestingly, 40% of them were founded in the past decade.
Fintech, 25% and fashion, 21%, take a strong lead when it comes to the most popular sectors on the list.
The top three countries on the list are the United Kingdom, 39% of deals, Germany, 14%, and Sweden, 10%.
European female-founded companies with unicorn status, €1B+ valuation
Company name | Valuation | Location | Founded | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|
FNZ | $20B | United Kingdom | 2003 | fintech |
BioNTech | $7.6B | Germany | 2008 | health |
RevolutionRace | $6.2B | Sweden | 2013 | fashion |
Yoox Net-a-Porter | $5B | Italy | 2000 | fashion |
WorldRemit | $5B | United Kingdom | 2010 | fintech |
Relex Solutions | $5B | Finland | 2005 | B2B SaaS |
Mambu | $4.9B | Netherlands | 2011 | fintech |
Reply | $4.4B | Italy | 1996 | B2B SaaS |
Vinted | $3.8B | Lithuania | 2008 | fashion |
Lendable | $3.6B | United Kingdom | 2014 | fintech |
ŌURA | $2.5B | Finland | 2013 | health |
Starling Bank | $2.5B | United Kingdom | 2014 | fintech |
Darktrace | $2.2B | United Kingdom | 2013 | security |
Kry | $2B | Sweden | 2015 | health |
Sono Motors | $1.9B | Germany | 2016 | energy |
Vestiaire Collective | $1.7B | France | 2009 | fashion |
Multiverse | $1.7B | United Kingdom | 2016 | education |
Ledger | $1.4B | France | 2014 | fintech |
Newcleo | $1.4B | United Kingdom | 2021 | energy |
Einride | $1.2B | Sweden | 2016 | robotics |
ASOS | $1.1B | United Kingdom | 2000 | fashion |
Razor | $1.1B | Germany | 2020 | marketing |
Synthesia | $1B | United Kingdom | 2017 | media |
Outfit7 | $1B | Cyprus | 2009 | gaming |
Matches fashion | $1B | United Kingdom | 1987 | fashion |
Interactive Investor | $1B | United Kingdom | 1995 | fintech |
Infarm | $1B | Germany | 2013 | food |
Dental Monitoring | $1B | France | 2014 | health |
Notes: Europe; based on valuation estimates only, December 2023.
Source: Female Foundry,
Crunchbase, Dealroom,
Pitchbook
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Head of BlackRock Switzerland
Mirjam Staub-Bisang
Switzerland
"In 2024, we anticipate a partial reopening of the IPO markets, which could significantly boost exit activities within the private equity sector. Investors in private markets are accustomed to pivoting.
If IPO activity does not resume, investors have been proactive in exploring alternative exit options, such as secondaries. I believe that those prolonged periods of private ownership present an increased potential for strategic sales and market consolidation. Firms are poised to capitalize on these opportunities by selling portfolio companies to strategic buyers or merging them with other entities, thereby creating substantial value on the market. Sectors driven by technology and innovation remain hotspots for exits, with Private Equity firms keenly eyeing opportunities in areas marked by rapid advancements and growth."
Sharp decline in female-founded company IPOs
Consistent with the overall exit market conditions, there has been a sharp decline in female-founded company IPOs in the past two years.
Following the absolute peak of 2021, 2023 saw no female-founded companies go public in Europe.
Female-founded companies that exited through an IPO, 2019 to 2023
2023 2022 2021 2020 2019
0 2 15 9 4
Notes:
There is one European female-founded company touted to IPO in 2024
UK-based female-founded company Starling is expected to go public in 2024.
Headquartered in London, UK, Starling offers mobile commercial banking services, same-day payment services, and real-time spending intelligence.
potential IPO by a female-founded company in 2024
1
Notes: Europe. Based on estimates only, December 2023.