Gender equality in business requires conscious, active work

In 2024, men still dominate in Sweden, both when it comes to starting and running innovative companies, and attracting the capital needed for growth. How can we work in a more structured way to increase the share of start-ups run by women, as well as the share of capital invested in these companies? We asked Darja Isaksson, Director General of Vinnova, what efforts are already being made, and what can be improved.

07 March, 2024 Impact

Last autumn, we reported that companies with female founders or mixed ownership teams, which have been part of the national incubator programme, attract a significantly higher proportion of angel and venture capital than the average in Sweden. This shows that structured and determined work is yielding results, and that Sweden’s incubators are developing a more equal start-up scene in several ways. The National Incubator Programme is funded by Vinnova and run by SISP, among others. On International Women’s Day, 8 March, we asked Darja Isaksson how she sees the continued development and importance of this work.

Even today, women and mixed founder teams still attract only a minimal share of total venture capital in Sweden. How do you see it, Darja?
“It’s a missed opportunity for Swedish business and ultimately Swedish competitiveness. Research shows that companies run by mixed teams are more successful. It is both a question of utilising untapped potential and talent, and that diversity promotes innovation.”

At the same time, the national incubator programme, funded by Vinnova and facilitated in part by SISP, which includes 29 of Sweden’s incubators, shows significantly better figures. Why do you think that is?
“Many incubators are actively working on inclusion. Getting more women to start and continue running growing companies requires conscious, active work. The incubators and environments that work actively to engage underrepresented groups see results.”

Funding for the National Incubator Programme has remained the same since its inception and now there is a risk that the programme will be significantly reduced. Why is this?
“With the budget that has been announced, we need to prioritise hard in the portfolio. We will continue to prioritise startups and scaleups, but we need to focus and slim down somewhat. At the same time, there will be a research and innovation bill in the autumn, so we will see what conditions it creates from 2025 onwards.”

Do you think that a larger government investment in startups and their ecosystems could contribute to more equal entrepreneurship in Sweden?
“A government investment, such as those made in several European countries (for example, the Netherlands and France) can be deliberately designed to lower the thresholds for underrepresented groups. If we compare private venture capital with public capital, we see that the latter is generally invested more equally. Then there are structures that are more difficult (although not impossible to overcome). We see a need to invest extra in deep tech entrepreneurship, and deep tech entrepreneurship is historically more male-dominated than, for example, entrepreneurship in the service sector.”

What else do you see that we need to do together to increase the share of female tech entrepreneurs including attracted capital?
“We as funders need to continue to work consciously with inclusion in the investment of both private and public capital. Innovation environments around the country should share experiences of what has been successful in engaging and supporting underrepresented groups. Government initiatives in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education should also be designed to include both girls and boys. It is also interesting to look at who is investing money. If we can encourage women to invest in early-stage companies, there is a good chance that this would favour investment in female-dominated industries.”

If you didn’t have to take budget into account, what would you see Vinnova doing to contribute to the development of a more equal startup scene?
“We have been working for many years, which has led to about 40% of funded startup projects in our portfolio being led by women. At European level and in bilateral international collaborations, our expertise on gender equality funding is in demand. But Vinnova can definitely do more – there are parts of our portfolio that are less gender-equal – and it is important that these perspectives are built into new initiatives with more technology focus.”