“Whenever a woman experiences success within tech, the question of gender is bound to come up,”

Camilla Kerlauge, founder and CEO of Spenderlog, is tired of always being the crippled one among the many startups looking for funding. She speaks frankly on the experience of being a minority in a crowd of male entrepreneurs and does nothing to hide her frustration. Because to her, the question of gender has no relevance to the business she, and her partner Maria Flyvbjerg Bo, is in the process of building.

Luckily, the subject is yet to be brought up by the investors they so far are negotiating with. However, according to Camilla Klerlauge, this is the exception rather than the rule as gender bias regularly proves a problem in her work as an entrepreneur:

”It is not an issue among colleagues, but I often encounter it whenever meeting investors. And now being two female founders, it happens twice as often. I don’t think they are aware of it themselves. But it is like they are unnecessarily kind to us – as if we have some disability in need to be considered. I’m sure they have good intentions, but it is simply not relevant to the business we are running,” says Camilla Klerlauge.

Be aware of an unconscious gender bias

Spenderlog is a fintech startup which helps users to overview their budget. By means of artificial intelligence and the user’s data, Spenderlog provides detailed information on how much money is spent on for instance chocolates, plastic bags, greens or bio foods.

I should be considered in terms of my skills and not whether I have an X- or Y chromosome. – Camilla Kerlauge, Spenderlog.

With a diploma in software development and a long career in large financial institutions, Camilla Klerlauge is used to be the underrepresented part in a male dominated field. And it doesn’t bother her as such. But it bothers her when the question of gender is brought up in contexts where it has neither place nor relevance.

“It is annoying when my gender becomes an underlying premise. I should be considered in terms of my skills and not whether I have an X- or Y chromosome. The selection criteria of women should be based on an evaluation of their professional competences and not a bias – especially not if it is an unconscious one,” she says, addressing the investors.

Female bootstrappers

According to several female entrepreneurs and a handful of investors, the unconscious gender bias favors men in the business industry. Women are especially underrepresented in the leading executive teams and boards of the large companies.

Moreover, looking to field of startups, female entrepreneurs only raise a fraction of the total of VC investments.

According to a survey from the American Data and software company PitchBook, the number of female founders grows rapidly in the USA. However, instead of turning to VCs for funding, the majority of the women are bootstrapping. In other words, they raise money by help from fools, family and friends.

The survey moreover shows how only 5 percent of the VC funded startups have women in their directorships, and only 2.7 percent has a female CEO. Overall, it means that female entrepreneurs in the USA only receive 2 percent of all VC funding – despite owning more than 38 percent of the businesses in question.

Can we mange without the women?

Earlier this year, Breakit, Bootstrapping Swedish equivalent, did a survey of VC funded startups in Sweden. According to the survey only 1 percent of all VC funded startups in Sweden is women-led. Similar data is yet to be found for Denmark, but the Danish Foundation for Entrepreneurship reports a decreasing number of female entrepreneurs, naturally putting the gender equality in VC funding at strain.

Both entrepreneurs and investors believe significant opportunities and potentials are lost when women are bypassed by the VC funds.

“If only 2 percent of all VC investments is raised by female entrepreneurs, we really have some work to do,” says Jette Bjerrum, entrepreneur, business angel and board member of DanBAN.

Last year, also Stephanie Palmeri from Uncork Capital raised the issue during a panel at the accelerator 500 startups. According to PitchBook, she commented on how the USA and England experience a rise in VCs constituted by women alone:

“At the end of the day, female founders shouldn’t be constrained to work with only female VCs. If we invested only in people who look like us, we would be in trouble as an industry. That’s really one of the reasons why we are in trouble as an industry,” she said

Gender neutral investments

In Denmark, the gender bias in investments has become a key issue to several VCs. As a firm made up of predominantly male employees, the VC byFounders aim to limit the unconscious gender bias they might take on:

“We are continuously trying to be aware of the issue when finding and including role models for our Founders Collective as well as being gender neutral in our investments. Our contribution might be negligible, but everyone has to do their part. VC funds simply can’t afford not to,” says Tommy Andersen, Managing Partner in byFounders.

At another VC fund, Voluntas group, diversity has become a downright term for their investments:

“Regardless of the status quo, all companies are welcomed if they commit to obtain a gender balanced composition of their business within 3-5 years,” says Nicolai Ellemann Iversen, Head of Purpose Transformation at Voluntas Group. At the moment, the fund has a portfolio of two companies.

Sexists to become extinct

Instead of solely fighting the gender bias, founder and CEO of the fintech company MyMonii, Louise Ferslev, has decided to embrace it. As woman, she sees it as an advantage to stand out in an otherwise male dominated crowd.

Of course you should drink beer, wine or soda with your investor. It is all about establishing trust. – Louise Ferslev, MyMonii.

Moreover, whereas many female entrepreneurs find grabbing a beer with investors after work hours to derive from a largely masculine culture, Louise Ferslev thinks it is a vital part of creating a good relation between the two. And if beer isn’t exactly your thing, another social activity can easily be suggested, she points out.

“Of course you should drink beer, wine or soda with your investor. It is all about establishing trust. The investor funds you and the two of you has to work together for several years. This is money which he or she risks to loose, and it is only in your own best interest to create a link of confidence. I myself also want to make sure that my collaborators are decent people,” says Louise Fjerslev.

However the perspective, establishing relations is a tricky. In the attempt of limiting risks, investors might unconsciously pull towards partners similar to themselves, and consequently might miss out on opportunities of creating viable businesses.

“It is easy to see a man’s comment as a result of sexism. However, in most cases men welcome more women in the industry. And I’m sure the few who don’t are the last of a dying race,” laughs Louise Ferslev.

A chain of weak links

The debate on gender is not new in the business industry. In several countries the issue has lead to gender quotas for the share of women in directorships and boards, and in Denmark objectives for the general gender composition of companies have been formulated.

The reasoning for the legislations and initiatives roots in the aim of making more women enter the ecosystem.

Women-led startups are generally underrepresented in the system as a whole. As an investor reports to Bootstrapping, the 1-2 percent of the VC investments raised by female entrepreneurs corresponds with the share of female-run startups actually reaching out to the investor. Especially the tech industry is largely dominated by male-founders.

The investor’s experience is backed by research which shows that generally more men than women try to raise money through a VC fund. Moreover, it shows that men usually present themselves to a larger number of VCs whereas women only address a few.

Lastly, according to an American survey, female entrepreneurs more often ask for lower amounts of money as well as the men and women are subjects to different kinds of questions.

Investors thus tend to evaluate women in terms of potential losses and men in terms of potential gains. As a result, men are generally favored – also by larger amounts. Or as Melinda Gates puts it, male entrepreneurs are seen as “promising,” whereas female entrepreneurs are considered “inexperienced.”

Investors are to broaden their perspective

Jette Bjerrum is entrepreneur, business angel and board member of the Danish Business Angel Network, DanBAN. She is moreover co-investor in Rising Tide, an alliance of almost 100 women across the world. So far, they have together funded 6 startups.

Jette Bjerrum acknowledges the general lack of female entrepreneurs looking for VC funding. However, by blaming the ecosystem as a whole, she believes investors may easily see themselves free from responsibility.

We are to recognize the fact that there is not only one way to do things, and that a successful founder can be evaluated on other terms than they are today. – Jette Bjerrum, investor.

Instead she thinks they ought to optimize their search for possible investments and reconsider whether their present selection criteria actually exclude women.

“We are to recognize the fact that there is not only one way to do things, and that a successful founder can be evaluated on other terms than they are today. The industry is still dominated by a masculine culture, but there may be another and more feminine way of doing things. Some may call it being more realistic. At least that is how talented women such as Melinda Gates put it,” says Jette Berrum.

”When only 2 percent of all VC funding is received by female entrepreneurs, it may be due to a combination of a general low number of female founders and the VCs bypassing those that actually reach out to them. We have to obtain more knowledge on the process to understand why women are deselected or not even considered by VCs. Moreover, we ought to reconsider what a good business case actually is,” she continues.

Success come in many shapes

On a political level, the gender equality could potentially be helped by promoting entrepreneurship, making it less risky to initiate new businesses. As it is today, many women are well educated within tech and life science, but they rarely make the leap and actually found a company.

Women are not to be favorized, but we all have to acknowledge that an increased focus on women doesn’t equal a decrease of value and quality. The argument simply doesn’t hold water. – Jette Bjerrum, investor.

Jette Bjerrum stresses how gender-balanced leaderships traditionally has been considered a strength, securing a sustainable economy, innovation, well-founded companies, and positive profiling of the Danish business industry. However, in the field of entreprenurship, the merits of gender equality have only just started to be acknowledged.

“Women are not to be favorized, but we all have to acknowledge that an increased focus on women doesn’t equal a decrease of value and quality. The argument simply doesn’t hold water. On the contrary, the ecosystem as a whole has to face the fact that success come in many shapes and forms. And one should look within and consider what one might miss out on – and if one can afford not including the women. This is not a question of women not working hard enough. Rather, we women ought to listen more closely to the words of Madeline Albright: “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women,” says Jette Bjerrum.