E692 | Debbie Wosskow OBE, Chair of the UK’s Invest in Women Task Force: Mixed Teams, Better Returns, Real Incentives
Debbie Wosskow, Chair of the UK's Invest in Women Task Force, cuts through the noise on gender equity in European VC with a pragmatic focus on what actually moves the needle. Rather than rehashing the familiar statistics about funding gaps, she zeroes in on the mechanics of deal flow and makes a compelling case that hiring female investors is the single most effective lever VCs can pull to increase investment in women founders.
Key takeaways
- •Hiring female investors is the most powerful action VCs can take to improve female founder deal flow, not marketing initiatives or public commitments.
- •Female investors are twice as likely to back female entrepreneurs compared to their male counterparts, creating a direct mathematical impact on funding outcomes.
- •Creating incentives ('carrots') for inclusive investing proves more effective than relying solely on mandates or penalties ('sticks').
- •The gender funding gap persists despite evidence that female entrepreneurs often deliver superior returns, pointing to systemic rather than performance-based barriers.
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