Female Foundry Celebrates the Launch of the 2026 Edition of the Female Innovation Index

Amid accelerating technological progress, female entrepreneurs across Europe are scaling faster, raising bigger rounds, and reaching higher levels of venture capital funding. Female-founded companies in Europe raised €7.5B in 2025, the highest amount in three years and a 19% year-on-year increase from last year.

The team celebrating on the balcony at LSEG during the welcome ceremony.

Reflected on this year's edition:

“It has been a remarkable year for female entrepreneurs in Europe. AI is now the key driver behind Europe's fastest-growing female-founded companies, with 22% of all venture capital raised going to those leveraging AI technology. The deep tech sector is also a strong area for female innovation; 34% of all venture capital raised by female founders in 2025 went to deep tech startups. With an unprecedented number of female-founded companies reaching unicorn status and a surge in M&A activity in 2025, we are witnessing a generational shift in how women build, innovate, and scale across Europe.”

Agata Nowicka
Author of the Female Innovation Index

The Female Innovation Index is Europe's largest annual analysis of the innovation and funding driven by female entrepreneurs, in partnership with over thirty-five private equity and venture associations and leading European venture ecosystem players across twenty European countries. The 2026 edition unpacks over 150 insights to reveal a granular and vivid picture of the funnel of female innovation in Europe.

Find out more about Female Innovation Index 2026.

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