THURSDAY PRO // While the French digital ecosystem is flying from record to record, women are still largely under-represented there. In addition, all-female teams are 4.3 times less funded than male teams. Stéphanie Hospital, co-founder of the OneRagtime fund, gives us her insight on the subject.
Last year, 88% of the total amount raised by French start-ups was captured by all-male founding teams. At the same time, 24% of French start-ups were founded or co-founded by women, compared to 18% in 2018 and 9% in 2008, according to the third edition of the SISTA and BCG barometer on the conditions for access to financing for female start-up leaders. At this rate, parity in the founding teams will be reached… in 2055.
These figures underline the vast project that remains to be carried out within French Tech to instil more diversity. Figure of the French ecosystem, Stéphanie Hospital, co-founder of OneRagtime, also draws up an unequivocal observation with her investment fund. “When we receive ten projects, we will only have two that are either mixed or carried by women“, she notes. Before adding: “At OneRagtime, we have funded about 25% of projects carried out by women or with C-Level women, but this is still too little. We should be at 50%.“
It was to get closer to this symbolic bar that the SISTA collective was created in 2018. This structure seeks in particular to reduce gender inequalities in access to investment funds and to help founders and managers to raise capital. A still difficult task, since the 100% female teams are 4.3 times less well financed than the male teams. A situation that has deteriorated in the space of three years (2.4 times less in 2019). The average funding round for a women’s founding team is €4.4 million, compared to €18.8 million for a men’s team.
Compulsory paternity leave,a big step for gender balance and diversity in the workplace“
To progress in terms of diversity, French Tech could notably draw inspiration from the Israeli ecosystem, in the opinion of Stéphanie Hospital. “In Israel, it is very common to have women who are founders“, says the manager of the OneRagtime fund. But to move forward on the subject, there is no magic wand. This requires above all efforts in the context of training in digital professions. “We need to have more women entrepreneurs, we need to have more women who dare to go into digital professions. But we must have barely 20% of women studying development“, notes Stephanie Hospital. “We must make these jobs attractive“, she adds.
But once the training stage has been passed, the question also arises of the duration of women’s careers in the digital economy. Even today, some leave the ecosystem when they are expecting their first child. This is why Stéphanie Hospital is campaigning for a “compulsory paternity leave for men“, not only to allow women not to withdraw from the labor market, but above all to change mentalities. “I believe that we will have taken a big step for gender balance and diversity in the workplace.“, she believes. Stéphanie Hospital is optimistic about the future as 14 leaders or founders appear in the latest promotion of the French Tech Next 40/120. “Next year, we may have a one in three chance of having a fundraiser of more than 50 million euros with a female founder in a structure“, hopes Stéphanie Hospital. The appointment is made for 2023.