21 women-founded startups reached the 'unicorn' status in 2019 globally – over 5 times more than in 2013; in China, edtech company VIPKID is the largest among such entities.
On December 9-12, EqualOcean is holding the World Innovators Meet (WIM) 2020. This year, the event's main topic is 'Technology and Innovation Connect the World.' WIM2020 gathers innovators from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas to share their knowledge and key achievements, promoting the concept of 'Tech for Equal.'
Around the world, there are over 252 million women entrepreneurs. Regardless of culture or nation, female innovators have been increasingly impacting the economies and creating jobs and wealth. More than this, what cannot be ignored is that the rise of female entrepreneurship benefits societies and women themselves in terms of increased self-esteem, life quality, life expectancy and physical well-being.
Besides the quantity, women entrepreneurs perform extraordinarily on the business quality, indicated by the market valuation. Crunchbase data shows that the year 2019 saw 21 start-ups founded or co-founded by a female become unicorns – six more than 15 unicorns in 2018, those with over one female founder.
The main hardship generally confronted by women entrepreneurs is the fundraising size, which on average tends to be lower than that of men entrepreneurs. A BCG's analysis shows that women-owned companies don't get the same financial backing level as those founded by men.
Explanations provided include: 1) investors’ stereotypes of women founders lacking technical knowledge; 2) women founders’ conservation in projections and assumptions, and 3) male investors’ general little familiarity with products and services in the female market. Thus, much more needs to be done to attach sufficient emphasis to women entrepreneurs, especially considering the rising female economies and expanding women market.
In China, the growth expectations from women entrepreneurs are equal to those from men, which indicates they have firm confidence in their companies' promising outlook. Four other countries – Peru, Slovenia, Switzerland and the UAE share a similar perception status with China.
However, as mentioned before, the hardship of fundraising due to the gender-stereotype is a global issue. In China, the fundraising gap between women founders and male founders is higher than the global average.
Top 30 Female Entrepreneurs in China 2020
About WIM
Hosted by EqualOcean, the World Innovators Meet (WIM) (click to watch the online event on December 9-11, 2020) is a global event for innovators. It provides limitless opportunities to learn from and connect with the most sought-after technology pioneers.
About WIA
The World Innovation Awards (WIA) are announced at WIM to recognize game-changers across various industries and geographies. Selected by a committee of distinguished experts, entrepreneurs and investors, WIA are designed to acknowledge technology disruptors striving to make a positive impact on a global scale.
See this year's WIA lists and download the research reports in English and Chinese on EqualOcean and 亿欧智库 respectively.