Eva Ventures dedicated to the promotion of women entrepreneurship, so women can start up their start-ups In High tech these figures are even more drastic.
Some background:
While women make up more than 50 percent of the U.S. adult population, and about 46 percent of the civilian workforce, they account for only about 35 percent of the people who get involved in starting businesses. The gender gap gets larger as we look at measures of employer firms—companies that employ others. When we look at growth measures by revenue, the gap widens. In the US, o
nly 10 % of founders of start ups are women and the numbers go up to 15% as managers. In Israel these numbers are even lower. In Israel, the overall ratio of women to men among entrepreneurs in early-stage businesses in Israel in 2007 is 0.50; that is, there is one woman entrepreneur for every two male entrepreneurs. There is a huge gap between the numbers of male and female repeat entrepreneurs: 35.8% of the men are repeat entrepreneurs, as compared to only 5.7% of the women! The ratio between men and women in the high and medium-technology sector is 1:4. For every four male entrepreneurs, there is one female entrepreneur. We see 4 major barriers that are standing in women's way to become an entrepreneur:
1. Social Support – From young age, and in most contexts, girls and later women, are not encouraged to be entrepreneurs. Recent study shows that the percentage of women studying computer science at high school stayed steadily around 25% for over a decade. The same goes for higher mathematic studies (5 points). Society doesn't promote young women and girls to this direction.
2. Role Models – there are very few role models of women who “did it”. Even those who actually founded a start up, sold a company, managing a start up or company and so on, are not famous for that. Much less then the equivalent man.
3. Networking – Tech entrepreneurship, as any business, is a very network dependant field. New venture or idea must raise capital in order to start-up. Research showed that women don't have the same access to the required networks, as men, both since there are so few women in the industry, and since women tend to put less emphasise in maintaining these networks.
4. Money –Some of the reasons that money is less accessible to women derive from the previous reasons, but simply - it is a man's world. Almost the all financing bodies (angels' VC's, accelerators and more) are male dominated. Women are facing many difficulties in their way to these bodies and in front of them. And this is where we – Eva Ventures - come in. Women-led or owned companies are the fastest growing sector of new company creation and women now own nearly half of all privately held US businesses. Studies by the Kauffman Foundation have shown that venture-backed companies led by a woman typically produce higher revenues and launch on a third less capital than their male compatriots. Despite a record of greater capital efficiency and a lower failure rate than companies run by all men, women-led companies receive less than 10% of venture capital invested, and substantially less angel capital as well.
