{"blocks":[{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"A record five European female-founded companies crossed the $1 billion valuation threshold in 2025, while AI companies absorbed 22% of all venture capital flowing to female founders. The numbers come from the 2026 Female Innovation Index, published by Female Foundry, and they paint a picture of a funding ecosystem that is improving incrementally on almost every measurable dimension."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The €7.5 billion raised by 1,307 companies represents a 19% year-on-year increase from the €6.25 billion raised in 2024. That marginally outpaces the 18% growth in venture capital deployed across European startups of all genders, pushing the female-founded share of total European VC to 13%, up from 12% the year before."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"It is a modest gain. But it is the highest proportion ever recorded."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"AI lifts the biggest rounds"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The most striking shift in 2025 was the concentration of capital in AI-driven companies. Of the 50 largest financing rounds raised by female founders last year, 32% went to AI-driven startups, and an equal 32% went to deep tech companies, a category that often overlaps."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The investment is tilted toward applications rather than infrastructure. Of all female-founded AI companies that raised capital in 2025, 47% were application layer companies, while foundation model builders received a smaller but meaningful share. Security was the dominant application, capturing 18% of AI investment, followed by health (16%), robotics (11%), and fintech (10%)."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Generative AI was the biggest single subcategory, accounting for €1.1B of the €1.7B total invested in female-founded AI companies."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"\"We're still extremely early in the AI transition, which is why there is so much opportunity,\" said Erica Beavers, co-founder of Alpic.ai, which raised €5.1 million in September. \"Founders today truly have the chance to build billion-dollar companies. Even people without a deep technical background can build extraordinary things now.\""}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Health holds the top spot"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Outside of AI, health remained the dominant sector for both company creation and capital raised. Health startups captured 37% of all venture capital deployed into female-founded companies in 2025, totalling €3.6 billion, up 75% from €2.06 billion in 2024."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Fintech came second with 12% and €0.9 billion, though that represented a 10% decline from 2024. Energy fell 15% to €506 million, taking third place."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Health's dominance runs deep into the pipeline. It is the leading sector for unfunded female-founded companies started since 2020, which suggests the concentration is structural rather than cyclical."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Funding rounds grew across almost every stage"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Round sizes increased on average by 12% across all stages compared to 2024. Series B saw the sharpest jump, with the median deal size rising 26% to €24 million. Series C rounds grew 17% to a median of €35 million. Female-founded companies at Series B and C stages actually raised slightly larger median rounds than the European average."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The data on conversion rates from one stage to the next is notable. More Seed-stage female-founded companies progressed to Series A, at a rate of 21.1%, than the broader European startup population at 19.8%. The index frames this as evidence that female-founded companies outperform European funding success rates at Series A."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The number of companies receiving venture funding also rose. In 2025, 1,307 companies raised capital, up 6% from 1,230 in 2024. The number of investors backing at least one female-founded company grew to 2,151, reversing two years of decline."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Five new unicorns, 21 more in the pipeline"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Five European female-founded companies reached unicorn status in 2025, bringing the total to 29 and the highest ever recorded. Alongside that, 21 companies are nearing unicorn status, a 50% increase on 2024 and, again, the highest figure on record."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The exit market was also active. M&A deals involving female-founded companies reached 124 in 2025, up 9% from 114 in 2024, exceeding mixed-gender M&A growth by 2 percentage points. Three companies went public: RedCloud in France, Appear in Sweden, and MEDS in Sweden, matching the 2024 total."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The biggest single round of the year went to Finnish health technology company Oura, which raised €759 million at Series E. London-based Verdiva Bio raised €345 million at Series A, and AI video platform Synthesia raised a combined €346 million across two rounds."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The UK, Finland, and France lead in capital raised"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Geography continues to shape outcomes sharply. The UK, Finland, France, and Germany between them captured 67% of all venture capital deployed into female-founded companies in Europe, at 32%, 13%, 12%, and 10% respectively."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"On national share, the picture is more revealing. Finland stands out with 55% of all domestic VC going to female-founded companies, far ahead of any other country. Czechia came next at 26%, Luxembourg at 25%, and Spain at 24%. The UK's 32% share in absolute terms reflects the depth of its venture market rather than proportional representation."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Scientific backgrounds dominate the top 50"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Of the 50 largest rounds raised by female founders in 2025, 71% went to founders with scientific or engineering backgrounds. That figure reflects the weight of health, deep tech, and AI deals in the top cohort."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"\"Deep tech requires funding, regulatory clarity, networks, mentoring, training, shared facilities, and an ecosystem that understands results take time,\" said Gordana Djordjevic, founder of Arsenale BioYards in Italy, which raised €9.5 million in February. \"Innovation can only scale when all these elements align and support the long path from research to real-world impact.\""}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Romana Schirhagl, founder of Dutch quantum sensing company QTsense, which raised €6 million in February, described the moment of decision that led her to leave academia. \"At some point, I had to choose between writing another research paper or building something with real impact,\" she said. \"That growing sense of responsibility became impossible to ignore.\""}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Founders feel the tailwind from AI"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The index includes survey data from founders, investors, and startup employees. Among founders, 86% said they currently leverage AI for their businesses, up from 77% in 2024. Of those who found AI made their work easier over the past 12 months, the figures ran to 53% of early-stage founders and 63% of growth-stage founders."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The shift is affecting fundraising strategy too. Among both early and growth-stage founders, the most common response to how AI had influenced their fundraising plans was an increased ask, while a meaningful portion said it had made fundraising more urgent."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Investors, for their part, broadly expect AI to sharpen the divide between companies rather than lift all boats. The most common investor view on how AI would affect fundraising dynamics was a \"clear divide between winners and laggards.\""}},{"type":"header","data":{"text":"Related reading","level":3}},{"type":"list","data":{"style":"unordered","items":["AI is not a revolution. It's the next step in a process that began in the 1990s","The AI panic gripping the internet is built on vibes, not evidence","Android AI demos to showcase Nanobana, Veo and XR at Barcelona trade event"]}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"\"You can build an amazing AI product, but without real adoption, retention, and positive feedback, it will fail,\" said Delphine Groll, co-founder of Nabla, the Paris-based AI health assistant that raised €60.4 million in June. \"Product-market fit is the hardest challenge in AI.\""}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The 2026 Female Innovation Index was produced by Female Foundry with data from Dealroom.co. The full report includes sector breakdowns, country-level analysis, and profiles of the 50 largest rounds of the year."}}]}

European women founders raised €7.5bn in 2025, the highest total in three years, as AI reshapes who gets funded