India is home to more than 7,000 startups that have female founders, accounting for 7.5% of all active startups in India. But, India’s women-led tech startups are struggling to overcome the funding winter. In 2024, while male entrepreneurs raised $10.8 billion, women-led/founded companies only attracted $1 billion, according to a report by Tracxn.
Things remain a mixed bag for women. But there are some positive developments, which have caught my attention.
💡The Gates Foundation has committed to invest $2.5 billion by 2030 on women’s health. The investment is one-third more than what the foundation had spent on women’s and maternal health research and development over the last five years. Key areas of focus will be health conditions ranging from preeclampsia to menopause.
“Women’s health continues to be ignored, underfunded and sidelined. Too many women still die from preventable causes or live in poor health. That must change,” founder Bill Gates said.
💡In another significant development, the International Finance Corporation (a member of the World Bank Group) is investing up to $150 million as an anchor equity investment in the H-DREAM Fund, managed by HDFC Capital Advisors. The $1-billion private credit fund will support the construction of 25,000 green-certified housing units for affordable and mid-income segment groups across urban India. A big shoutout to Roshika Singh, who is the Senior Country Officer-India at IFC. This is a hugely significant and much-needed move.
💡In July, The Wealth Company, led by Madhu Lunawat, became the first fund house in India founded by a woman to get SEBI approval to launch its mutual fund business.
💡Assets managed by Indian women fund managers have doubled to Rs 13.45 lakh crore in a year, according to a January report by Moneycontrol. Though the number of women fund managers has risen to 49, the gap is still significant when compared with the 433 male fund managers.
There’s much that needs to change, but we should celebrate the wins while waiting to turn the challenges into opportunities.