Founder Institute graduates statistics show a climb in women entrepreneurship in the U.S. and the Middle East.
Over the years, women have made tremendous strides in the entrepreneurial space, pursuing and thriving in leadership positions.
This March, in line with International Women’s Day, we celebrate female-led startups that keep gaining ground even during difficult times.
Despite being underrepresented, millions of women have managed to build successful businesses that create a ripple effect.
We believe in everyone’s potential to grow their startup from scratch, and we’ve been working with women founders to help them build connections and grow fundable businesses since 2009. In that regard, we're sharing a few interesting findings from our data on female graduates gathered over the last three years.
Best achievements:
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The percentage of women-led startups that graduated from the FI’s Core program in the Middle East jumped more than two times in 2021 compared to 2020. In 2022, it grew even more and hit 27.0%.
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In the U.S., the share of women graduates is steadily increasing - from 29.4% in 2020; it has anchored at 37.4% by the end of 2022.
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In 2021, 31.1% of all FI’s Core accelerator program graduates were women. That year marked the highest number of women enrolled for the last three years.
Getting back on track:
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The percentage of women alumni based in Canada experienced a decline in 2021 (27.8%) and climbed back in 2022 (30.9%).
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Amidst the massive wave of new startups in 2021, FI Core women-founded companies in Australia and Europe peaked, and in 2022, their numbers returned to the 2020 levels.
Interesting facts:
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In 2021, the number of women and men based in Australia who graduated from FI Core program was equal.
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The rough percentage of women founders who went through FI’s accelerators in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia in 2022 is identical - 27%.
More efforts needed:
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The percentage of women alumni in Asia and Africa has slightly decreased over the last three years.
Top performing cohorts:
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Sao Paulo, Brazil - 70.0% women
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Adelaide, Australia - 66.6% women
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Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - 53.8% women
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Cologne, Germany - 50.0% women
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Seattle, U.S. - 50.0% women
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Tunis, Tunisia - 50.0% women
We are eager to see what 2023 has in store for women-led startups and will continue to commit to a more equitable future.
The Founder Institute is the world’s most proven network to turn ideas into fundable startups, and startups into global businesses. Since 2009, our highly-structured accelerator programs have helped entrepreneurs raised over $1.85BN in funding across over 200 cities worldwide.
Learn more about the Founder Institute at FI.co, or join an upcoming startup event at FI.co/events.
