Lawyer and entrepreneur Katharina Kräftner explores why women often struggle with Venture Capital and is convinced that it is time for taboo health topics to get the attention they deserve.

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Katharina, how do you support female entrepreneurs and women in general?

I tackle genderine quality on an international level as a Board Member at UN Women Austria and vouch for having a balance in terms of male and female employees at CELUM, the Austrian software business where I am General Legal Counsel. Previously, I ran my own law firm, and that experience helped me to better understand what female entrepreneurs are dealing with.

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“It is a reality that women have a harder time finding investors”

How do you assess the status quo for female founders?

Startups with female (co-)founders only receive around 10% of overall Venture Capital investments. This means that 90% of all Venture Capital goes to male-only founding teams! There are multiple reasons for that, but it is a reality that women have a harder time finding investors, and there are considerably fewer female founders.

This is a reflection of what is going on in companies and in society as a whole. In 2020, only around 8% of CEOs of the 500 largest listed companies were women. One of my demands is the implementation of a quota for large corporations in order to increase the proportion of female executives. That will push female founders too and direct more investment towards female-only or mixed-team startups.

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“There is huge potential to address these issues using technology in order to benefit women, and female founders have the advantage of being at the forefront”

What is the potential for female founders in the digital health industry?

Digital products are not only defined by the market they are serving, but also by the people who build them. The fact that female entrepreneurs have less funding available helps explain why topics that are fundamental for women, such as infertility, have yet to receive the attention they deserve in technology. And even among women, there are still health topics that are taboo, like in vitro fertilization and egg freezing. There is huge potential to address these issues using technology in order to benefit women, and female founders, with their knowledge of women‘s needs, have the distinct advantage of being at the forefront.

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Who inspires you as a female entrepreneur?

There are several. Tijen Onaran is a great example: she is the founder of Global Digital Women, a leading diversity company with the mission to make the world more digital and diverse. Or Kristina Lunz, Co-Founder of the Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy. They are great examples of women from very different areas, which is essential for a comprehensive system change.

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“Overall, there is a positive trend, but we need even more awareness for and action against gender inequality”

What do you expect for the future?

The situation here in Austria and in Europe is obviously not ideal yet in terms of equality, but it is important to keep in mind that other parts of the world have even more catching up to do. In those places, not much has changed – at least not as much as we would like. So overall, there is a positive trend, but we need even more action and awareness when it comes to gender inequality, women’s rights as well as female entrepreneurship.

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