One of the common myths in the startup world is that female founders run ‘small businesses’ that may not be good investment bets. This is despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. But some venture capital funds go the extra mile in supporting founders and ideas that show promise.
What do Romita Mazumdar, founder and CEO of skincare brand Foxtale and Ahana Gautam, founder and CEO of the healthy snack startup Open Secret have in common?
Apart from being some of the mega female growth stories of our times, they are also backed by the same VC fund. I am referring to Z47, formerly Matrix Partners India, which has spotted and funded 11 such top women founders. Their strategy is to invest based on the founder’s merit and only if they’re convinced about the story behind the startup. There’s no space for tokenism.
As Z47’s founder and investor Avnish Bajaj says, “We don’t look for female founders — we look for the force of nature, mission-driven, large business builders, and are excited that many of them are female. The numbers need to go up and we hope they do.”
Some of the other stellar women founders that they have funded include Harshita Srivastava at GreyLabs AI; Aarti Gill at OZiva; Suchi Mukherjee of Limeroad; Ruchi Kalra at OfBusiness; Manisha Raisinghani at SiftHub; Kinnari Gosrani Shah at Gofibo; Sneh Thakur at Inprime; Sneha Roy at Murf; and Anushka Mahanti at Trampoline.
It’s a fact that funding for women-founded companies remains a major challenge.
→A Bain & Co. report suggests that less than 5% of VC funding in India goes to startups with at least one woman founder.
→Tech startups in India co-led by women secured only $1 billion in funding in 2024, a 25% YoY decline, a Tracxn report states.
→In terms of global VC deployment, of the $289 billion invested globally in 2024, only 2.3% went to female-only founding teams ($6.7 billion), according to the Founders Forum Group.
→In 2024, global funding for women-led tech startups fell 11% to $29.6 billion from $33.1 billion in 2023, as per Tracxn data. Despite that, India bagged second spot globally for all-time funding in women-led tech startups.
Some of the issues that bog down women founders include bias and scepticism. A study co-authored by the Yale School of Management highlighted that women are less likely to get funding as compared to men, even with a similar entrepreneurial history. Another critical factor is the lack of networking opportunities.
This is where we step in. At Ladies Who Lead, we empower women to network with mentors and peers and offer professional development opportunities.
By backing women-founded startups, VC firms like Z47 are setting a precedent and paving the way for others to recognise value and invest equitably for a more balanced startup ecosystem. May their tribe grow.