Web3 startups with female founders raise an average of four times less capital than those with male founders, according to a study by Boston Consulting Globe. It is a well-known fact that it can be challenging for women to establish themselves in male-dominated industries, and the crypto world is no exception. All figures suggest that men currently dominate the crypto industry, which may be partly because there are significantly more men than women attempting to do so. On average, male-led Web3 startups raise $30 million, while those led by women average only $8 million. Furthermore, no female-led Web3 startup has succeeded in raising over $100 million.
Investors may be paying attention to this, but it is also true that only 13% of Web3 team founders are women, with only 3% being exclusively female. If that percentage were closer to 50%, the figures would likely be different. It is possible that investors are naturally more inclined to invest in companies led by men, but this remains a significant topic of discussion. Ultimately, however, people cannot be forced to invest in companies led by women.
The problem seems to lie mainly in the largest capital rounds, where exclusively female-led Web3 startups are entirely excluded from participation. Only mixed-gender teams occasionally participate, but they represent only 29% of teams in rounds of $1 billion or more. A massive 71% of teams in rounds of this magnitude are exclusively male.
Female-led teams have a fair chance of raising capital similar to men only in the initial stages of Web3 startups. Later on, the chances for women to attract capital start to decrease gradually. This could be because projects led by women are not making the necessary progress to attract larger amounts of capital. Alternatively, it is possible that the world of big money has a tendency to invest in men, which is not necessarily a positive development.