"The funding gap is bigger than the founder gap."

The Stockholm Startup Forum was initiated by the Stockholm Business Region as a new gathering point for key players in Stockholm’s startup ecosystem. The forum meets 3-4 times per year, and holds space for an ongoing dialogue on how we can collectively strengthen and develop Stockholm’s startup ecosystem and capacity for innovation.

Talks from Karin Ruiz, the CEO of STING and Elin Eriksson, Co-founder and Creative Director of Women in Tech Sweden and Mareauline Bernitz, General Partner at Feminvest  were followed by group discussions on how to improve access to capital, networks, and role models and how various stakeholders can collaborate to enable more women to launch, build, and scale tech companies. 

Karin Ruiz highlighted that their focused work, where they for years have kept track, and measured gender balance in the founding teams of the startups that enter the STING startup programs have made sure that now 57% of the companies have at least one female founder. 

From Women in Tech Sweden, Elin Eriksson pointed out that in Sweden, only 9.9 percent of total venture capital in 2024 went to companies with at least one female founder. And when it comes to all-female founded startups, the numbers are as low as around 2 percent. There are female founders, but they don’t get the funding. Companies with diverse teams are stronger from a business perspective and, if you look at such metrics, tend to achieve better exits. Studies of comparable companies show no difference in “performance or profitability” based on whether the founders are men or women.

With a touch of irony Elin Eriksson pointed to the saying: “‘Maybe women just start fewer tech companies, and that’s their choice.’”
And as she continued to elaborate: “Not every gap is discrimination. But two things make ‘it’s just choices’ an incomplete answer: The funding gap is bigger than the founder gap. And investors seem to judge ideas differently if they know the gender of the founder.”

And for now, in 2026, having female founders or co-founders is a disadvantage when it comes to raising capital, even though, in reality, teams consisting of both women and men lead to stronger companies with higher profitability. 

So how do we solve this? 

“One key takeaway I’m bringing with me is a simple but important one: what gets measured gets done! Measuring progress is essential if we want to create real change and close the gender gap in entrepreneurship and investment”, says Ariane Bucquet Pousette, Project Manager Startups at Stockholm Business Region. 

Women in Tech Sweden agrees. 

Thanks for the photos to Anna Forsberg and Ariane Bucquet Pousette.